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VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
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VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE ANNE HELLERSMITH
TABLE OF CONTENTS
06 Our Logo Over Time
47 Logo Refinements
08 Rebrand Key Words
53 Look-A-Like Logos
11 Initial Logo Sketches Confident (And in Control) Tough (Feminine Power) Supportive (Stronger Together)
29 Further Logo Exploration Confident (Tough and Inspiring) Digital Explorations
39 Logo Development Flames Flames in Shields
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Shields Flames & Fire Flames in Shields
61 Final Logo Logo Anatomy
67 Sources
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THE LOGO OVER TIME
How Our Brand Has Evolved So Far
The Girl Scout logo has evolved significantly over time. Starting in the 1910’s with a very militaristic brand, the mark continued to evolve until it got famously redesigned by Saul Bass in 1978. Saul Bass did a great job, as he is known to do, of representing all that the Girl Scouts stand for and do. This logo stood strong from the 1980’s till 2010 when it got a slight update by the New York based design firm Original Champions of Design (OCD). The changes include the pointing of the bottom, to lessen the clover image; the addition of the bangs and pointing of the nose and lips, to make the girls look more youthful, and the straightening of the necks to make them more striking. They did all this without losing the beauty of the mark Saul Bass designed. Now, the whole organization is getting an overhaul. And despite the beauty of the current mark, it no longer represents the mission of the new GSA. It is time to update the logo entirely.
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REBRAND KEY WORDS
GSA is an organization working towards the empowerment of young women in all aspects of their lives, especially focussing on achieving personal, social and financial strength, wellbeing and confidence. GSA hopes to provide young women from all walks of life with the tools to take control of their lives, and shape their own future to become leaders and experts in their own right.
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Supportive & Encouraging GSA should provide a safe environment for young women where support will always be available, no matter what life throws at them. GSA will become a community where support will be readily available and encouraged for any young woman who feels she needs help regaining control in personal, social or financial aspects of her life.
Strong & Confident This is one of the main goals GSA will aim to achieve in every young woman they encounter. Far too many young women struggle with confidence and self-esteem. GSA will work towards turning this around and encouraging young women to find their inner strength and sense of self worth. In order for them to take/regain control of their lives.
GSA is there to help young women realize their dreams. Building a better future for young women everywhere. The new GSA believes that no dream is too outrageous and will do their best to be supportive and encouraging to anyone who needs it.
Empowering Through all their activities, the end goal will remain the empowerment of women across America. A GSA woman should become powerful and be encouraged to do whatever she dreams of, in part due to her experience and learning at GSA.
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INITIAL LOGO SKETCHES To start off the logo exploration, it was helpful to come up with three key phrases, related directly to the re-branding direction chosen, to help focus the logo sketching.
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INITIAL LOGO SKETCHES Confident (And in Control)
The first set of sketches were grouped under “Confident (And in Control)”. As a starting point, simple graphic shapes were explored, moving into symbolic depictions such as flames, chains and wings.
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Throughout the logo explorations, simple type solutions were explored as well. Most were still pretty rough, but they’re all inspired by the category.
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Not every sketch you do will be good nor usable, but it’s important to sketch them none-the-less. Being critical of every step of the process is key to any good design. So, before moving on to the next group, a selection of the rough sketches were refined somewhat as a means through which to identify whether any of these would be worth exploring further.
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INITIAL LOGO SKETCHES Tough (Feminine Power)
A particularly challenging part of this stage of sketching was this category. Making a logo sketch look feminine without being too delicate and still portraying a certain amount of toughness, is a tricky combination.
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Simple graphic shapes move to symbols of feminine power such as the phoenix, arrows, the moon and triangles. All to explore the options.
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The combination of icon and type is another common form that logos take. Therefore, exploring these is very important. That being said, most of these proved too complex to realistically become a logo.
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Once again, a selection of the rough sketches were refined further. Overall, these were too complicated but especially the flames concept seemed to have potential.
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INITIAL LOGO SKETCHES Supportive (Stronger Together)
The final grouping was defined as “Supportive (Stronger Together)�. The challenge here was to avoid the mark becoming a cliche. The idea of connections were the most appealing concepts and sketches at this stage.
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None of these were quite there yet but the simple graphics seemed to be working best so far.
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Though there were some interesting concepts happening within the icons alone, the type solutions needed further exploration. The biggest issue with these was still the overcomplicated nature of the marks.
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Overall, it looks like this category might not be the one to go for. Preparing for further exploration the first two categories could be combined to give a large range of additional options and sketches. The main challenge with this category was to find a balance between complex mark-making and over-simplification. In addition it proved difficult to stay away from the cliche imagery associated with connection and support.
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FURTHER LOGO EXPLORATION
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FURTHER LOGO EXPLORATION Confident (Tough and Inspiring)
Based on feedback, the next step was to choose one key phrase and continue sketching, working off of the successes from the previous selection. This also includes starting to work with Illustrator and creating a range of digital sketches. The first round of feedback revealed that the idea of a flame or spark could be effective for my logo. It plays in on the idea of power and confidence as well as hinting at what the new GSA will do; inspire and empower women. This meant that the second stage of sketching involved exploring flame shapes, sizes and styles. Basically as many different graphic ways to represent fire, flames or sparks.
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Though most of these would probably have proven too complex to be practically used as a logo mark, it did prove a useful exercise to narrow down how the flame should be constructed eventually.
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Another element that had been identified as interesting during the first set was the shield image. This meant that in addition to flames a combination of both was explored, playing off of military shields and badges.
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The bolder letter forms were definitely the most powerful at this point but the combination of graphics and letter forms were not quite there yet. Most of the “spark” graphics look too much like explosions or even tears and not enough like a “spark of inspiration”.
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FURTHER LOGO EXPLORATION Digital Exploration
Drawing a logo by hand is one thing, making it work digitally is another. Even though the final shape had not been decided at this point, digitally exploring the options can be useful in terms of figuring out what might work in general terms.
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LOGO DEVELOPMENT
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LOGO DEVELOPMENT Flames
After the first round of digital explorations, it became clear that the concept that was working best was the flames and shields idea along with the graphic/bold version of the text. This meant that the next step was to look into refining this concept further and focussing in on this concept specifically. The next two rounds of logo development became focussed on exactly this.
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LOGO DEVELOPMENT Flames in Shields
In addition to exploring the general shape and style of the flames that might be used, the shield aspect needed sketching out. The challenge here was to figure out how best to combine the flame motive with the shield. Variations within the use of the flame include considerations about number of flames, flame placement and whether or not the flames remain contained by the shield. And then the shield itself also needed exploring, considerations about shape and placement being important to think about.
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LOGO DEVELOPMENT Digital Development
From early on in the sketch explorations, one type style seemed to be working best. Though this top version was the type form explored earlier, some modification was still required. Based on earlier feedback, slight rounded edges were added to soften the mark up a bit to match the rounded shield better. The digital development of the shield and flame image clarified the fact that the equilateral triangle shaped shield works better then the elongated shield. It also revealed that a more varied shape for the flame is more visually interesting then a uniform one. The decision was also made at this point that breaking the shield works well and should be explored further in the next round.
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LOGO REFINEMENTS
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LOGO REFINEMENTS Flames in Shields
This is where the sketches are getting much more refined and consistent. The direction is clear at this point so it becomes a question of refining the details of the flames.
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In addition to the shield shape, some consideration was made towards using a circle to link the mark to the traditional girl scout badges.
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LOGO REFINEMENTS Conversion to Digital
Again, going from sketch to digital proved a challenge. Here, the top right seems to have resulted in the closest solution so far, but will need refining further.
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LOOK-A-LIKE LOGOS
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LOOK-A-LIKE LOGOS Shields
Before solidifying the logo, it is always a good idea to look into what logos are already out there that look similar. This avoids the chance that our new logo will look too similar or end up being confused with an existing brand. Legally this is important to do to avoid copyright issues. This first set of similar logos researched were those that use shields. There are a lot of them out there, so the ones shown here are only a small subset of those logos that use shields.
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Gemeinde Kรถniz is a Swiss regional identity logo. Serving as a reimagining of the regions traditional crest it still hints at its heritage.
Haderslev Kommune, a municipality in southern Denmark.
Cricket Australia is the Australian Cricket organization. This is their logo.
Bluestar Jets is an American private jet rental company.
St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center is a Manhattan based hospital that has gone bankrupt recently.
CEC bank is a Romanian financial institution.
Rudersdal Kommune. This is the s y m b o l o f a m u n i c i p a l i ty n o rth of Copenhagen.
ABN AMRO is a Dutch bank and financial institution. The main similarity to my brand lies in the logo. The use of a shield in particular is key.
Favrskov Kommune, symbol for a municipality in the Central Jutland Region of Denmark.
UPS is one of the biggest postal services world wide. Based out of the US, their logo is probably the most recognizable use of the shield shape.
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LOOK-A-LIKE LOGOS Flames & Fire
Flames are, surprisingly, less common in terms of their use in logos. But they do exist. Here are a bunch of but definitely not all examples. Luckily for this project, the logos that use flames are very varied in their shape and color, leaving a lot of options open for the flame in the logo of our new GSA.
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Scribner is a publishing company founded in 1846. They started as a publisher of religious texts but moved to novels in 1870.
Brandschutz Keuchel is an organization dealing with emergency services related to fire protection.
British Gas is the British equivalent to PG&E as the biggest energy provider of the UK.
This is the logo of the Dutch Police force. Formed when the National, with their flaming grenade logo, and the Municipal, with the heavy law book, merged into one combined police force.
Wheeler School is a k-12 school in the College Hill neighborhood of Providence.
Silke Weggen is a hair dressing shop based in Germany. Though these lines are representative of flowing locks of hair, there is a hint of flames in their design.
Logo for a Honda Motorcycle dealership called Greenwing in Thailand
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a private pro-democracy radio station funded by the US Congress.
New York University. Founded in 1831 NYU is now one of the largest private universities in the US.
Harper Collins Publishers is a UK based publishing house. This logo was born out of the merger between Harper & Row which had a torch as their logo, and William Collins which had a fountain as their logo. Visual Development Guide
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LOOK-A-LIKE LOGOS Flames in Shields
This is the category of look-a-like logos that is the most risky. Here is where the chance of our new logo being too similar is highest. The middle logo on the right proved this point. This mark is very close to some of the earlier logo sketches. This meant that which ever logo becomes the final GSA mark needs to be different enough not to be confused with this one. Luckily, there were very few logos already out there that combine a flame and shield, so very little risk that our new GSA logo will overlap or become entangled in copyright conflicts of any kind.
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Logo for the Fuego Brew Company based out of Costa Rica. The graphics of the hops hints at flames in a way that bring the overall mark a bit closer to the Girl Scouts rebrand. That being said though, there’s still enough separation for them both to be distinct.
This is one of those ready-made logos that can be found on any google or pinterest search when you type in “flame shield logo”. I used this one and images like it as a starting point, but am not aware of any real-world uses of it.
Valparaiso University’s “shield of character” serves as a logo and a symbol for the values the University want their students to strive towards.
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FINAL LOGO
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FINAL LOGO
This is the GSA’s new logo. The overall mark is meant to exhibit power and strength while the hint of red and the graceful lines indicate a feminine touch. Bold yet feminine is key here and the mark stands for that. By only using one pop of color the emphasis is on the flame and adding the gray softens the overall mark. The Girls Scouts will from now on be known as the GSA, moving the emphasis away from the scouts aspect of the original organization, as well as making it sound less juvenile. The GSA is a mature version of its former self. The name being GSA makes it sound a lot tougher while still holding on to its heritage.
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FINAL LOGO Logo Anatomy
There’s only one simple rule: don’t mess with the logo! The logo anatomy shown here provides an insight into the construction and proportions of the logo mark. These are the proportions the logo will always need to subscribe to. Whenever this logo is used, the proportions as well as the scale of the letter forms as opposed to the icon should always stay consistent.
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SOURCES
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SOURCES
02–03 Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/sunset-sunny-sun-women-54566/ 05 Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-mother-daughter-silly-25410/ 07 Images: http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/this_is_not_your_moms_girl_scouts.php#.WDZ KB7RX_zI 09 Image: https://static.pexels.com/photos/3100/person-woman-music-pink.jpg 10–11 Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/girl-woman-glasses-smiling-27882/ 28–29 Image: https://unsplash.com/search/woman?photo=L1kLSwdclYQ 38–39 Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-jeans-style-boots-6762/ 46–47 Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-coffee-cup-mug-3016/ 52–53 Image: https://www.pexels.com/photo/nature-woman-feet-legs-51397/ 55 Image & Info: http://www.ee-news.ch/uploads/articles/images/f54f1f8589f15f5c9efd3fd83453d1a5ef66a9db.jpeg http://www.indoor.cricket.com.au/files/17000/images/2015%20Champs/Cricket-Australia-Logo-2003p1.jpg http://www.freedentalcare.us/gallery/774_logo_main.gif https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Rudersdal_Kommune_shield.jpg http://virtuelbostoette.dk/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/LOGO-Favrskov-Kommune.png http://denstoredanske.dk/@api/deki/files/11512/=39153104.jpg http://executive-charter-flights.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/blue-star-jets-logo.jpg https://www.qualys.com/asset/image/logo/cec-bank-500.png http://logok.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ABN-AMRO-logo-logotype.png http://logodatabases.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/ups-logo.jpg
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57 Image & Info: http://www.scribnermagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Scribner-Logo_New-copy.png https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/11/British_Gas_logo.svg/1280px-British_Gas_logo.svg.png http://wheelersummercamp.com/portfolio-view/sparrows/ https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/max_1200/426f1b18937445.5603f5c0643ae.jpg http://topmedicaluniversities.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/nyu_logo_new_york_university1.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/600x315/9e/41/bb/9e41bb0e6c7733091cacd265723f99e4.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/18/POLITIE_Logo.svg http://logooftheday.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/silke-weggen_logo_mobile-hairdresser_284.jpg http://www.rferl.org/Content/responsive/RFE/img/top_logo_news.png http://logok.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/HarperCollins-Publishers-logo.png 59 Image & Info: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/7d/58/3a/7d583aceb9400c8eab8f1a86bf2e2a48.jpg https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/cf/5a/31/cf5a3182d51ff9978003f0bbc05929bf.jpg http://www.valpo.edu/college-of-nursing-and-health-professions/files/2016/08/master_separated_flame_shield- 450x600.jpg 60–61 Image: https://unsplash.com/search/woman?photo=3kmDKoHY7as 66–67 Image: https://unsplash.com/search/woman?photo=HKquADJl8CU 70–71 Image: https://unsplash.com/search/woman?photo=xVHr4B1WApk
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Design_Anne Hellersmith a.m.hellersmith@hotmail.com www.behance.net/ahellersmith Class_Nature of Identity Instructor_Hunter Wimmer College_Academy of Art University
Disclaimer: This book is a non-commercial project for education purposes and is not intended to represent the Girl Scouts of America Organization nor Brand. All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form of by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission of Anne Hellersmith
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