Legacy of screen printing: II

Not only did I find it appropriate to reuse the screen prints for a twist on the logos, I ventured to invigorate the presentation board with them also.

This is the updated version of the initial presentation board (see post 'Logo presentation board'). The 'Patterns' section has found a new addition and 'Sans text' is now the 'Alternative logos' section in order to accommodate the aforementioned experimental logos.

This is a substantially modified iteration of the previous board. The ordinary digital gradients used to separate the sections have now been substituted for their equivalent, dreamy print gradients, which adds depth to the board because it has been substantially developed.

Here is the fully developed final presentation board. The non-primary pattern has been eliminated for authenticity and the colour palette design has been adapted to take on elements from the logo itself (specifically the outer rim) whilst being spread out slightly to use all the available space. I deem it to be successful because it gives the impression that more time and effort has been taken to create the presentation board compared to the other, purely-digital design.

Legacy of screen printing: I

After completing the remainder of the business card design, I was left with a few nice gradient screen prints. It then came to me that I could use these to create some alternative designs of my logo, which was what I was severely lacking on my presentation board. So, I proceeded to load the prints and onto Illustrator in conjunction with the logo, played around with the 'Clipping Mask' tool, and the results were quite impressive.

In the top logo, I isolated the main 'DG' layer, layered one of the prints beneath, and created a clipping mask whilst having both selected together. This created a simple shape with a very beach-like feel to it, which was quite a departure from my digitally-focused, almost clinical main logo; however, this is not to say that was unsuccessful, as the calming mood can be suitable for when the logo is required for more alternative applications, such as advertising during the summer.

In the lower logo the same process was carried out, albeit here the print was layered beneath the blue layer with all other layers of the main logo still intact. Featuring an imbalance of digital and traditional elements, this was personally not as harmonious as the other logo, although this injection of printed gradient certainly gave the inside of the logo more substance by 'grounding' it better than the digital gradient it replaced.

Experimenting with the screen print

With the screen prints completed and photographed, it was time to add some digital touches to the best one and make it worthy of appearing on a business card. It is without a doubt the first version was supreme as the paint was contained well by the stencil and 'bubbling up' was minimal compared to later attempts.

 With this, I first of all created an initial version which I intended use as a base for all other derivatives. This design was a direct transfer of what I had envisioned, and was therefore discordant in some ways.

I presented this design to my peers, who felt as though the it was unbalanced. To remedy this, my first thoughts were to reduce the opacity of the grid so as to shift attention from this grid and towards the overall gradient instead.

The next amendment was more substantial: the grid was shifted for more symmetry and grid spacing was expanded very slightly. Moreover, the gradient columns were overhauled both in their appearance, where some colour manipulation took place to compensate for the inconsistency of the print itself, and position, where they were aligned with the grid for a more harmonious look. Collectively, this took quite some time to perform using graphics editing software, simply because this design uses an actual screen print as a base, which complicates layer mobility and such.

The final incarnation was more of an ad lib design, where the grid spacing was roughly halved, leading to a greater presence of the grid. This was suggested by my peers as one of the ways to resolve the off-kilter feel, but I felt that this should be a last resort purely because the scale of the design in the real world (85mm x 55mm) would mean that the grid would overwhelm the rest of the design.

All in all, the third version seems to be the most successful design. This is because it is nicely balanced, and the colours work in unison to provide a somewhat calm mood. I reject the remaining designs because either they are underdeveloped and uneven (as in 1 and 2) or too busy (as in 4).

Revisiting screen printing

It was time to return to a practical process that I had initially experimented with in the beginning of the year - screen printing. The purpose of this was to ascertain whether my technique had improved using lessons learned from that session.

To remain relevant and progressive, I decided to recreate a portion of my blog's background for use on the reverse side of my business card. However, due to the relative complexity of this pattern I was forced to incorporate some digital manipulation, i.e. adding a grid and adjusting the some details in the gradient; this was not detrimental to the aim of this session as the practical process still accounted for the majority of the design.

Firstly, the organisation and execution of the stencils was excellent, which meant a good base for the printing. Acquiring the ideal hue of blue for the card to be printed upon was unsuccessful, hence I conceded and used the card that was available instead, again, this is not a total loss as I can alter this using a graphics-editing software. Utilizing what I had learned while screen printing, the preparation of the acrylic paint was streamlined and effortless. Working on my own, the process of printing itself was rather tricky as I had to hold the screen in place with one hand and drag the squeegee down with the other. I deduced that this was most likely the reason that the application of the paint was troublesome; that, and the possibility that the mesh screen required tightening.

It appeared that successive prints resulted in faltering quality of the print. In the first attempt the paint was contained very well by the stencil, albeit the gradient itself was corrupted slightly by some areas 'bubbling up'. This was likely due to the viscosity of the paint, which can be changed using textile medium. Following this, the second attempt had streaks of blue appearing in the white, probably because of  inconsistency of the placing of the squeegee in terms of the gradient's layout. For the last two attempts that were both on a single sheet of paper, it was apparent that the stencil was already worn as the paint bled through and created undesirable flares of colour outside of the stencil. As well as this, there were patches without colour because of an insufficient amount of paint and textile medium to match.

Overall, the quality of the prints was satisfactory, albeit not perfect, meaning they were still easy to work with digitally despite some suspected variables in the process that were beyond my control degrading it. If I were to revisit screen printing at least once more, I would like to work with equipment that is properly maintained as well as work with a partner, both for the purpose of neater results.

Business card

My business card is here. Nothing too outlandish, it uses a portion of the banner as a base and simple, professional typography for the vital information. The logo is relegated to the top-left corner in order to avoid drawing attention from the important details on the rest of the card.

Logo presentation board

Banner genesis

I have created various different possibilities for my website banner.

Transparent

Sometimes a website's background forms such a great basis that a separate background for the banner is unnecessary. With this being the interim banner until the entire web design was finalized, I initially concluded this to be true in my case but later realized that the background removed definition and clarity from the logo's wordmarks.

 

 I proceeded to add a background to the banner to inject some personality by inserting the wiring diagram from the website's very first banner on top of a gradient. As well as this, I added a drop shadow to the logo to give it some depth.

 

  Here is a more experimental version of the banner above, deleting a circular area around the logo (now placed to the left) to create a transparent zone. This is essentially a meeting of the two different banner approaches that has more substance than the bare logo whilst still resting the logo on the main background for simplicity.

A totally new design with an arch-like gradient sweep, which is fitting as the banner is like a gate to the rest of the website. It incorporates a part of colour scheme found within the logo for a harmonious and calming disposition, especially against the rest of the website. The logo's drop shadow has been removed here as it is redundant against this gradient.

A further evolution of the above with an asymmetric sweep to stylize the idea and make it my own. The dividing line now being thicker and brighter, this design clearly features shadows, mid-tones, and highlights just as the main background does.

Overall, I believe that the fifth banner design is the best choice as the final banner due to it being intently developed and highly compatible to the rest of the website. Bar the typeface, it is also completely made by myself, which reflects well on my reputation as a designer (the wiring diagram, for instance, was not self-made).

Graphic designer logo: the finale

It seems that with all of the feedback provided and possible routes explored, the ascension of my logo's final evolution is ready. Hot on the heels of my previous reflection in 'Digitally developing a logo', the planning and preparation has culminated in this logo:

It is quite a far cry from the BMW-based design produced at the initial idea stage, and quite rightly so, because the aim was to have a symbol for oneself that reflects one's own personality and creative style. A balanced, compact, and high-quality symbol, it is appropriate for audiences of any age.

Digitally developing a logo

In this installment of 'To Create a Logo', I embarked on a journey that involved taking an initial logo sketch (as can be seen in 'Logo initial ideas + primary research'), reproducing it in vector form, and then taking it down twelve different modification routes. The design proved to be rather flexible.

 Original

'DG' expanded/rim narrowed

At first glance it may seem that the blue dominates the roundel too much, but I believe this may be remedied by applying a gradient to this area, much like in the design below. 

'DG' with a gradient

Simply adding a little more tone to the logo gives it more of a physical presence, like a metallic object that one could almost touch.

 

 3D depth added to the inside section

The inside section is now less abstract through adding a radial gradient. As a result, this change would be great in conjunction with the design above (adding a gradient to the blue 'DG' shape).

  

'D' made to flow into 'G'

This take on the 'DG' shape means the centre is less vertically-biased, and seemingly more fluent and compact; both of these results, I believe, are desirable.

 Print-style typography below logo

Text outside of the logo seems to work best because it doesn't detract from the roundel; I wish to keep the roundel the centre of attention rather than any sort of text.

Handwritten-style typography below logo

Here, the roundel and text clash excessively, most likely due to the colour of the text. Black would be a good substitute, as the text in blue is too bright. The typographic style is mismatched also, but this is not as detrimental.

Print-style typography inserted into rim

Inserting the text into the rim of the logo makes the roundel excessively busy.

'DG' reflected horizontally

The reflection creates confusion, in that the centre is now read as 'GD' rather than 'DG'. The purpose of this design was to ascertain the clarity when both the G and the D are not reflected horizontally, and it seems the clarity is compromised. 

'DG' and inside section colour changes #1

A rather random variation, this design was to test the coherence of a bright centre within a black rim. It is not favourable in this application, but it may work elsewhere when the outer rim is omitted.

 

'DG' and inside section colour changes #2 

This design does not work very well, due to it seemingly accentuating a letter 'C' in the design as opposed to the D and G, which is what is intended. The colour choices for the letters are not cohesive. Perhaps two shades of the same colour would have been more appropriate for each of the two letters.

Colours inverted and stroke highlighted

Another wild experiment, this oddly seems to work, albeit not for this application. The highly-contrasting selection of colours fight for attention and in doing so intrigue the onlooker.

It appears that many of these experimental details have great potential, especially if several are combined. For instance, I can see myself combining the expansion of the rim with a 3D inside section for better form, applying a light-to-dark gradient for the 'DG' section and rearranging of the 'D' and 'G' for more fluency, as well as making some colour alterations to make the scheme slightly brighter and cohesive. 

Logo initial ideas + primary research

Now that a sufficient amount of research had been undertaken, it was time to produce some initial ideas for my logo. For the sake of time, I decided to take the old-school route by taking out a piece of A3 paper and a HB pencil to put down these ideas as they germinated within my imagination. At this point it was important that the influence from my previous research on graphic design companies and existing corporate symbols be made evident within these designs, if only using the most subtle of cues; however, it was not imperative that I remained within these boundaries as some of the symbols within the research, e.g. that of Westfield and Telegraph, were not relevant for the disposition and feel of my envisioned logo. 

The logo research and analysis influenced the initial ideas the most as had I carefully selected these examples for the kind of visual style that I would like my logo to feature. I only looked to the logos that came from the graphic design companies after the inspiration from this had been exhausted. Rather than create 10+ similar initial ideas, I produced 7 unique examples overall and chose to develop most of these instead. Development entailed making the ideas clearer, more pronounced, but most importantly, allowing them to substantially depart from the existing logos that inspired them.

To aid me in my next steps in further refining and then realising a selection of these ideas in traditional and digital techniques, I have also collected a multitude of logos and textures as primary research:

This high-visibility arm band provides a unique shiny, plastic texture.

This phone provides two-for-one textures: rough, leather-like on one end, and smooth metallic on the other. 

This button provides a rounded shape, and gives a reference of how the light falls on such a shape. Potentially useful for a round logo.

This phone shows the iconic Apple logo in use. Provides an indication of metallic tone.

This laptop provides both a metallic texture, as well as an example of typography and arrangement within a logo.

This game controller provides a dark, grainy texture of the main body, as well as the Xbox logo in use and how the light falls on the plastic surface.

This instructional book features the AA logo, a simple yet recognizable logo, which is the kind of logo I aim to produce.

This velvet case provides a soft texture that is accented by a metallic strips. 

Another, top-down view of the velvet case.

This paintbrush is an element that could be used for one of the initial ideas above by itself...

...or in combination with a pencil.

A selection of logos on a smooth, undulating plastic surface. Another reference for tone.

A logo on a smooth, leather-like surface.

A logo in use on a plastic surface .

This intricate metallic logo is an indicator of tone for a logo of this type.