Fall 2014- Building a Brand- Project 1

Topics: |  Project 1  |  Concept  |  Logo  |  Stationary  |  Signage  |  Collateral  |  Result  |

Project 1- Bar/ Restaurant /Hotel
For my first Building a Brand project, we were assigned a fictitious business, which we had to create a brand for from the name up. The business serves as a bar, restaurant, and student housing. It's meant to be located across the street from our campus, and would want to focus on commuters. As it's in a more rural area of PA, one of the major points our instructor focused on was that it's meant to be modern-contemporary design, and not hokey, as this area tends to enjoy.

Concept
First came the name we created, and we were told to make sure it was usable. I decided that, for my concept, I wanted something that would be "everything," as the business has different functions, and has a large spread of demographics. I went to various synonym sites to start. Of the list of about 10 words that might have been workable, I decided to use the Latin root word "Omni," literally meaning everything. The next step was to make sure I could use it, and while there were a number of sites using omni, there were no trademarks or patents on the word. I decided that, if we were going to comp a site, I would use "omnispot" as the URL, and moved on.


Process- Logo

Once we had our overall concept, we moved on to the logo. My first concept was very literal on using the "everything" concept. Experimenting in Illustrator's Pucker & Bloat filter got me a compass-like logo, which I decided to initially use as my icon. With that, I made two variations of this concept, one with very sharp text and another with something more ornate. I got stuck in this phase for quite a while, even knowing that it was, overall, far more suited for a brand that was technology- or transportation-oriented in nature, rather than what I was branding.

Finally, it was decided that I was trapped in my own perspective on the design, and couldn't get in the right headspace to break out. My instructor used the same elements to come up with something that was, by far, less technical. Creating the "O" in Omni from my shape is what likely got me thinking in a different way. As would be expected from the years of experience difference, the logo he created was much better, at least in my perspective. Ultimately, though, it was a logo he created, which wouldn't do for a project meant to go in my portfolio.

In the last steps of my logo, I decided to apply elements from both my original idea as well as his design. I made things a bit blockier, especially the "m," while also giving it more curve than the instructor's example. It was at this stage that I started to form the overall concept for the whole brand, starting with the color scheme in the logo, which would solidify more later.


Process- Stationary Package
Once we had our logo, we moved on to applying it in the simplest form of collateral for a business, the stationary package. I decided to start with the business cards, and made up a general manager for the company, as well as a phone number and address that both translate to omni using alphabetical math, because I overthink pretty much everything I do. This had decent elements, but the layout was full of unintentional white space, if being rather dull wasn't enough.

I decided to rearrange all the elements, now that I had everything I needed. I used the same swirl design that I had in the initial card, but applied it to draw the eye to the text, whereas the initial design did nothing to get attention to any of the information. I also applied a roughen filter in Illustrator, to make the curve spiked to match the theme I developed later on with my signage.

For the back of the cards, I also created a simple design for the url of my site, as well as created a QR code using InDesign's time-saving tool to plug in all the information from the card's front.

 To finish off the package, I designed the envelope and letterhead together. I used the same roughened curve for the edge of the letterhead, and gave it the same text layout as my business cards. I designed the envelopes over a template, before finishing it off by designing another icon using the O in Omni and plugging that icon into the flap.

Process- Signage

The next step was when we got our list of collateral we'd be designing for the client. I decided that the best place to start, and the best way to get an idea for my theme, which I didn't have fully set at this point, was to begin with the signage. I plugged my logo into Illustrator and began what I deem as playing around. I worked the logo into various different icons and graphics. What this eventually yielded was the pattern left. It was from this that I finally came up with my theme, "Everything under the sun," using the color scheme of the designs so far and a series of abstract thoughts that I can't entirely explain, thinking back on it.



This made the next step, coming up with my wall mural, along with the brand's whole theme, much more streamlined. Using my concept, I proceeded to illustrate using elements of the pattern, as well as toying with different random, abstract shapes made with jagged strokes. When I shifted the colors and blended it all together, I ended up with the background image to the right.

I then applied the same process of various kinds of stroke over a sunburst shape, until I created the corner designs. This sun design was also applied across the rest of my brand. To finish the mural up, I worked the business name in, using a clipping mask and a repetition of the background to give it the spraypainted look you see above.

I then applied it into a photo of my imagined interior, which I got from Google's image results, filtered for noncommercial reuse with modification. Using a mask, I shifted the mural to make it look like it was part of the scene, the same as I did to apply the initial pattern to the bar. I then color shifted the whole image to make it match my color scheme, and applied my icon from the envelope stage to the seats, matched for perspective.





With the interior done, the last step to the signage was the exterior. Since the business was a bar, hotel, and restaurant, I decided to go for something that gave the impression of a large, accommodating location. It was during this stage that I also decided on the official brand font, the Elsie typeface family, which was fitting for the overall sunny, somewhat hipster-oriented demographic I decided I would be designing for from here forward.






Process- Collateral
With my theme set, I decided to actually design the look of the theme itself. I decided to apply this theme raw to my food wrapper and coasters, to start.

With slight variations to the theme, I designed my take-out bags, napkins, and matchbooks next, applying most of the previous elements in a bit different way than the coasters and food wrap. I applied a different kind of statement to the matches and napkin, adding to the brand's personality overall. While not bad design in itself, I'd say that the takeout bag was the weakest piece of the whole project.

For drinkware, I decided to take it in a different approach. Like the examples above, I gave the cups more personality, and instead of using my sun, I decided to use text to simulate a sunburst instead. I again used the Elsie typeface here, as well as shifting the blending modes and colors to create the effect I wanted.

Most of the next step was finding a good picture of people in uniforms, and color correcting once I had it. It took quite a bit of time to turn completely blue shirts and black pants into something that conformed to my color scheme, and there were other minor corrections to be made, but this was the least  intensive piece of collateral to create. When I had my theme designed, I also applied it to a textured solid block of color for the back, as I found out that people don't often take stock photos of people from the back.

To balance ut the relative ease of the previous piece, I moved on to what were hands down the most intensive, at least in terms of time. I spent a long time trying to find usable images for both the delivery vehicle and the food truck. I eventually ended up going with a FedEx truck for the food truck, and some green car for the delivery car. Plugging my color scheme, symbol, and pattern into the food truck weren't that intensive, but doing the same to the delivery car came up with a very muddy design. This was made especially clear when I plugged in the business information onto the vehicles. The end result, I think, was still a bit too bright, after the color and contrast corrections, but it definitely reads much better than what it was like at the beginning. 

The last piece of collateral was my bathroom signage. I decided to use my logo's O once again, for the heads of the figures, and used the m as the base for their anatomy. After that was done, I changed them to be burned into a wood grain to simulate them being real and applied, and added the text, once again using the brand's typeface.

Result
I think that, as a whole brand, I did rather well at building a consistent brand with a fair bit of personality. I'd say that overall, I come up with good designs, while some were better. The intent of the project was to teach us the major parts of building a brand, from the name up, and there was a lot of good information I'll take into the future after this whole process. I didn't even realize how much I'd learned until writing the whole process out here. Going forward, the biggest lesson I learned, though, is the importance of taking a break when designing, and coming back with fresh eyes. There were some things that I only realized were flawed as I was writing this post, and I only do these posts once I've handed in the work.

I think I'll go step-by-step through the next projects' posts, before I hand anything in, from now on, since it makes me scrutinize everything in my process and designs. The errors I made were simple, but I only see them that way because I can afford, as a student, to screw up and learn from screwing up without causing monetary damages, like forgetting to update the logo text on my stationary after I'd finished fixing my logo.