The Process of Creation of Logos in Graphic Design

The graphic design pathway project revolves around the creation and rebranding of an existing business’ logo. Firstly, a research study was done various aspects and areas in graphic design, throughout the study a research book was compiled. In chapter one of my studies I explored and investigated what a logo is, how to design one as well as what is a brand and its importance for a business. After exploring the various definitions of a logo, the definition which most captured the essence was that a logo is “ the symbol that represents the business”; they can be a mixture of images, text or both. I have learnt that logos are the main key to allowing consumers to identify the business’ products and services, it is the way to recognise the business and make an association between the product and brand. Additionally, the logo enables one to differentiate your brand from the competitors. Therefore, I understood further that research on the competitors and their logos can allow your brand to gain a competitive advantage. This is as it can potentially attract more customers if the logo is unique and stands out from the other brands in the industry, whilst remaining relevant to the brands principles and ideas. From the research conducted, I have gathered that the focal point and purpose of a logo is to get the audience to find it captivating so that the business’ services and products are easily connected with the logo - it is a visual depiction of what the business aims, does and has to offer.

In brief, a logo design must be five things: memorable, simple, versatile, appropriate and timeless. Whilst designing a logo, a lot of research and thought is involved in both the target market and the key elements and principles of a logo. Through the research and development process later on I observed that this process is time consuming, but the result is worthwhile being the creation of a successful logo. The logo should be an intermix of the business’ story and what the business is representative of, this is to ensure that the audience has a connection with the organisation. It is crucial throughout the process of development the designer must keep in mind that the logo mustn’t be crowded, the font must be different yet legible, this is as generic fonts will not attract many customers as well as that the font should represent the business name when it is on display without the logo. A crucial point while designing is that the logo should easily be expandable or decreased in size as well as being adjustable to be able to be on different platforms and signs without decreasing the quality - the logo has to be legible and clearly visible, despite the size of the logo. On the other hand, from the research gathered I can say that a brand “is the business’ image within society as a whole”, this is a result of the business’ goals, background and strategies. Whereas, brand identity is “the visual aspect of the brands’ representation”, in other words, the method by which the brand interacts with its consumers. Brand identity is encompassed by the language, typography, photography style and more through the brands communication.

The second chapter of my research explores the elements as well as principles of graphic design. This area of research began with investigating colour theory which in graphic design is “the guideline to mixing colours and its visual effects of a colour combination”. I explored the colour wheel and how it is often associated with the colour theory, and it consists of primary, secondary and tertiary colours - it helps to visualise the correlation amongst colours. The colour wheel consists of four types of colours: monochromatic, analogous, complementary and triadic. Through this research I came to know about the psychological aspect of colour is that the hues are determinant of an emotion or mood; the hues are divided into two categories: warm and cool colours. Warm colours are like red, yellow and orange - they can evoke a sense of comfort and warmth or hostility and anger. Whereas, cool colours consist of green, blue and purple - they often are associated with feelings of calmness or sadness. Towards the end of this section I understood that it is crucial to research the colours prior to choosing the colour scheme in accordance to the target audience as in different cultures the same colours can mean and represent something else.

In the same chapter I researched on the graphic design elements and principles; the elements include: lines, shapes, texture, value, size, and colour. These elements are used to create effective designs; the aim is to attract the viewers’ attention and get the message across. The elements of graphic design combined with the principles which are: alignment, balance, repetition, proximity, contrast, and space, creates a good and effective design or composition. The principles of graphic design address’ the ways in which the designer can create the individual elements into one great piece. The designers aim here is to draw the viewer's attention to the important element which is then placed to where the eye would naturally look towards. Also, grayscale (also referred as achromatic)is “the range of monochromatic gray shades”, it ranges from black to white or vice versa; grayscale only “contains the brightness details hence why everything between white and black is a shade of gray”.

Typography is the style and appearance of type; the typographical principles help to showcase the idea to the viewers through mainly good effective communication. Thus, typography is key if trying to get an idea or message across. On the contrary, a typeface is the collective name of a family of fonts. I looked further into the typographical elements and found out that the common elements consist of: typeface, hierarchy, consistency, contrast, colour, alignment and white space. Using and implementing these elements correctly can change the appearance of the design, making aesthetically pleasing as well as successful at the same time. Hierarchy keeps the ideas organised so that categories can be easily detected by viewers, it can also be defined as a visual cue that allows context to be understood without a lot of thought. Hierarchy can allow the text to be scannable, meaning readers are able to get a sense of what the information is about and decide if it is something they are interested in or not. Visual hierarchy elements include size, colour, contrast, alignment, repetition, proximity, whitespace, style and texture. Layout is the arrangement of the visual elements, it is a crucial aspect of graphic design as if the layout is not suitable then the purpose of the design will be diminished, thus for example leading to the message to not be conveyed. So it is important that the layout meets the standards of the elements and principles and it should remain harmonious at all times. Grid is a tool which gives order, rhythm and consistency to a design. Grids have horizontal and vertical lines crossing called rows and columns. Grids allow the designer to arrange textual and pictorial elements on a given page; grids can vary depending on shape and size.

Illustration boards are the surfaces made by giving different backing according to the purpose of use. They can be used for presentations, artwork and creating visual models. The primary types of paper which is used to create this board is Kent paper, drawing paper and crescent paper. Illustration boards are available in various colours and multiple thicknesses varying from 1mm to 3mm. In addition, they are also very durable and long lasting, water resistant in terms of wrinkles and are functional to a variety of purposes.

Furthermore, in chapter 3, I conducted research upon 6 brands and their logo history, brand values, aspirations as well as the background history and most importantly brand aims and then compiled a case study for each one. The 6 brands that I chose were: Baskin Robbins, Calvin Klein, Coca- Cola, Twitter, Target and Google. I paid close attention towards the “elements and principles” that each respected brand had applied towards their logo creation.

After this I once again looked back at the 6 brands and the principles and elements which they have applied, I began to decide which brand I wanted to rebrand their logo for. I came upon the conclusion that I would choose Baskin Robbins as it is a brand which I feel closely linked to as well as my personal admiration for the vast amount of ice cream flavours they have to offer. I then began to plan out the processes that I would have to undertake in order to create the most suitable and well designed logo for them. This began with a general brainstorm in relation to Baskin Robbins, what they have to offer in terms of products and services, their values, aspirations etc. After the brainstorm I had begun to sketch out any ideas for logos for Baskin Robbins - in total I had sketched 20 logo ideas. After some thought and consideration I chose 2 designs which I decided to explore and experiment with further until I came to the decision of the logo design I most preferred. Once the design was chosen I then began to experiment with different typography and fonts as well as colour schemes for the new logo. Finally, after all these decisions were made I have produced 2 versions of the final logo, one in colour and the other one in black and white.