The Brief Creating a logo and business cards for music artists ‘Distant’ Third year LCA music students have approached me to create the branding for their new upcoming band. I have been given an open brief and will be contacting the two artists constantly throughout London and Leeds. The logo must consists of the words Distant in a word/image format. Background Distant are a music brand that have been working together since they met in Spain. They have both moved from Spain to the UK where they have gone individual directions (London and Leeds) to pursue their ambitions. They are now forming together after 3 years apart in education and would like me to create their branding. Deliverables - Logo
- Business Cards CONCEPT FOR THE BRIEF Distant are two DJ’s who have share a love for music. They both have individuals styles however, when they join together they form electronical music like never heard before. I am going to use this inspiration to create a brand identity that will help Distant improve on their current logo. Using electrical research I will be creating a neat, musical logo.
Daniel Carter - OUGD603 - Extended Practice
Research Understanding the artists My first bit of research is understanding the artists and what they have given me to work with. Firstly, Kyle and Danny are both bestfriends from their home country Spain, Sotogrande, city in Galicia. They both have lived there and have come to the UK to gain a bigger understanding about the music industry. This is where the name ‘DISTANT’ has come from; both coming from a distant country and still working together from a distant. Danny currently studies in London, whereas Kyle studies in Leeds. This gives me more chance to work closer with both artists as one is from Leeds where I study whilst danny is close to my home town in London.
Daniel Carter - OUGD603 - Extended Practice
Research Music sound bars / illusions Looking at the first image it is Distant playing their live show in Spain. What I liked about this image was the lights used. The image looks like the start of a optical illusion. I also feel as if the word distant relates to an optical illusion which focuses on the distance within the image; optical Illusions can use color, light and patterns to create images that can be deceptive or misleading to our brains. I would like to create something that shows distance (Distant) within the image to represent the two artists working away from their home country, Spain. Their first album is called ‘US’ therefore it’s important to highlight the factor that this album is all about them and since it is their first album it needs to be more personal and welcoming. Equalizers are software or hardware filters that adjust the loudness of specific frequencies. As with all sound engineering, the basis is on the human ear. Certain frequencies are louder than others to our ears, despite having the same or even more energy behind it. Since the artists want a logo for their branding, I have decided to look further into sound waves/bars/equalizers. This is what constantly changes throughout the song to create different frequencies. I intend to play around with sound waves/bars to create a logo.
Daniel Carter - OUGD603 - Extended Practice
Research Musical Equipment
After viewing Distants promotional video, We Don’t Talk Anymore - Distant Version (Charlie Puth), I noticed that they use a lot of a musical equipment. The artists from Distant use various electronic equipments however, they use mini jacks the most throughout their sets as this is what allows them to create music and listen back to their own music. The artists wanted their logo to be unique and I wanted to give them some personality behind their branding therefore I am going to design some logos that work alongside their musical equipment. Distants promotional video
Mini Jacks used in Distants promotional video.
Daniel Carter - OUGD603 - Extended Practice
Initial Ideas Initial sketches For the initial ideas, I decided to play around with the name ‘Distant’ and my research. Throughout my research I found that the two artists both use electronic music in a subtle way. By watching their promotional video you wouldn’t expect that many musical equipment in a music video. Therefore I looked further into electronic music and how I can make their logo communicate subtle electronic music. I started by playing around with the words Distant and making them look ‘distant’ (from a far). I then started to play around with icons that could potentially be used as iconic figures within their logos such as Kyle always having an afro and Danny always wearing a snapback hat. After the initial ideas me and the clients decided that the word ‘Distant’ as a word only logo would work better for their branding as well as making it easier to understand their music.
Daniel Carter - OUGD603 - Extended Practice
Devolopment Making an iconic logo From my research, I have decided create my own illusions as best as I could. I have also left spaces within the designs so that I could place the artists band’s name within. I wanted to keep the optical illusions round as it represents the globe that they intend to travel around. I have also taken inspiration from my research about the artists. Using the image with the lights (research page) I wanted to recreate something similar (development 1)(Top right illusion) working from a distance to eventually come in the middle and make it look more like an optical illusion. I also wanted the design to feel more welcoming therefore starting from the middle which is a dot to then expand. Development 2 is about using music bars and their personalities to try create something unique for their logo. I started playing around with the music bars/ equalizers. Their favourite design was the top right design as it reminded them of music bars being used as a representation of the globe. I also wanted to create the spanish flag within the design however, I really struggled with the bar lines. Instead I have placed their band name in the middle (typeface is still subject to change). The last 3 designs on the bottom of the page are an afro and a hat as these are two personal traits that Kyle and Danny use when they are on stage. Development 3 is playing around witht he word Distant but only using text and maybe a small illustration. I wanted to keep it simple therefore I didn’t want to play around with illustrations too much but focus purely on the word Distant. This is my favourite development page out of the 3 because it uses text only and you have to be more creative whilst being subtle. Daniel Carter - OUGD603 - Extended Practice
Development 1 - Optical illusions
Development 3 - Using only words
Development 2 - Music bars / equalizers / personal traits
Further Devolopment Making the logo When most of us talk about fonts, we’re really talking about typefaces, or type families (which are groups of typefaces with related designs). The typeface chosen was Aileron as it is a serif typeface. Serif typefaces are most often used for body copy therefore I wanted to choose a typeface that was easily recognisable and easily legible. However, after several changes, I spoke to my clients who wanted a more elongated typeface as they are both tall and wanted to communicate that in their logo. I then decided to change the typeface to a more elongated, simplistic one that would work alongside the mini jack cable. LibelSuitRg-Regular is the typeface used for the final design. The logo itself is very eye catching and symbolises what makes the artists unique which is the different musical techniques that they use within their production.
Daniel Carter - OUGD603 - Extended Practice
Final Outcome Logo and Business Cards After speaking to both Kyle and Danny they both really liked the text only logo with the small illustration of the aux cable. I wanted to represent the disntance between the two countries with the line through the middle whilst the line is being used as an aux cable. Therefore it shows that they are music artists as well as the split between the two countries. For the business cards I wanted to create something quirky and unique. I played around with the layout and positioning a lot and wanted to create a business card that is simple and efficient. I also attempted to create a business card that works both ways. My personal favourite business card is the bottom left hand side business card as the two aux’x are almost touching each other and show a divide between the two artists. The business card would work in two parts; One is Danny’s side and the other Kyle’s. It would work using a paper perforator.
Daniel Carter - OUGD603 - Extended Practice