OUGD402 STUDIO BRIEF 2 - UPDATED LOGO

Following printing out my business cards and starting creating my creative resume, I decided that I didn't actually like the logo I had created for myself, as I thought it was a bit too feminine, and I wanted to appeal to a wider range of prospective clients, rather than just women, so I set about updating my logo, but still illustrating that I can work in both digital and practical methods.

I was really inspired by Amperian's business cards, matching two complimentary colours together in a diagonal shape, showing two sides to the brand. They also created a wide variety of colour combinations, to show the brands diversity. This works really effectively and is very aesthetically appealing, however I want to stick to just two main colours for my business cards to hold my identity together as it is not fully formed yet.

I was also really inspired by the back (or front) Acne Studio's business card as well, as the combination of the soft pink stock and the black, contemporary sans serif typeface creates a gentle yet eye catching appearance. The text is also quite small so that you have to look very closely to read it, making you concentrate harder and therefore take in the information better. I like how the text is all centrally aligned, as this creates balance on the card.

Taking inspiration from these findings, I set about redesigning my business cards and logo:

I wanted my designs to include more shapes into my designs, as this is what I liked about the Amperian business card design, however I don't think this worked well at all (top left corner), as it just looks too childish and like a child's playroom toys. I then thought that I still wanted to include my mono prints in my designs, as this shows off my more practical side, so I tried combining this with the same split block colour design, making it more sleek and contemporary. I really liked the pastel pink used in the Acne Studio's business card, and thought this would sit well with my pink mono prints, so this is where I started off. I tried having a circular mono print logo, which works nicely, and then I tried cutting the circle out of the pink completely, however this looks a bit odd, like a chunk has been taken out of a block of cheese. I then tried having the half of the circle that is o the white side made pink, which I really like. I think is shows really strongly the two opposite sides, however doesn't include any visible sign of the more practical side to me. I then changed the pink part of the circle to a pink mono print, which I think works really effectively, and definitely shows my concept more clearly. I tried with the background mono printed, and the circle pink, both with a full pink circle and only half a pink circle, both with cut out and not cutout parts of the background. I do quite like this design, however I think the cut out style works a lot better, as it breaks up the pattern and colour a bit, so it's not too overwhelming and crammed with colour. I then thought about inserting a bit of my blue mono print into the designs, as I had used this on my last business cards too, and thought it was vibrant. I tried the same layout only replacing the pink mono print with the blue, to see the effect of the contrasting pink and blue colours. I think the designs where both the pink and the blue mono print have been used with the split effect work the best, as this emphasises the contrast greater between my work styles, and how versatile I am as a designer. I then developed on these designs, trying just plain blue, which I think creates a much more unisex appearance than my blue and pink combinations, something that I am striving to achieve.

I chose my favourite 3 designs, as I wasn't sure which I preferred, and then created the back sections for them, experimenting with the same diagonal split colour design, sometimes filling in the opposite section a colour, sometimes the same, and in a few of them I have changed the shape of the section, always making sure it starts off inline with the front though at the top. As you can see I also experimented with a new logo, as this new design renders my previous logo useless, having changed my design. I wanted again to show my two different sides and also keep it in fitting with the style of my business cards. I stuck with just the split circle for my logo, in blue, as I thought this would appear unisex and be a direct reference to the centre part of my business cards as well where my name is shown. I tried the circle in many layouts, however thought that where the BEX sits inside the circle works best as this creates a solid base for my name, and makes it look more sturdy, although it does look a little like my name is in a fish bowl. I also tried outlining the white part of the circle to make it look less like my name was hanging out of the circle, but I think this just adds unnecessary detail to y logo.

To help decide which design to go for, I printed them out to see how they look when I can physically hold them, and when the two sides are put together.

The colours came out very inaccurate due to the poor printing quality, however this was just a test so it doesn't matter. By these test prints, I prefer the mono print and blue front design a lot better than the pink one, as I think the pink background combined with the blue mono print looks a bit too feminine, which with this design is what I was trying to get away from, and I thought this addition of pink wasn't helping this.

Logo:

Finalised logo. Throughout my business cards and logo, I changed the typeface from DIN Condensed from my previous designs, to LFT Etica Display, both for the logo, front and back of the business cards, as I thought this typeface was more rounded and less aggressive looking, being of a thinner stroke weight as well, as I was conscious of my name appearing slightly aggressive on my previous designs. I think this works a lot more effectively in looking more welcoming.