Dan Yang_Visual Development Guide

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PHASE 02:

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

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02

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

/ LOGO RESEARCH

06 12

BRAND OVERVIEW

FORMER LOGOS

10

OUR MISSION

02 / 03

/ LOGO DEVELOPMENT

16

KEYWORDS AND KEY PHRASES

20

INITIAL SKETCHES

34

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT

42

REFINEMENT

50

OUR NEW LOOK

56

SIMILAR LOGOS

LOGO RESEARCH

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/ BRAND OVERVIEW / OUR MISSION / FORMER LOGOS

Visual Development Guide

/ BRAND OVERVIEW

(1913 – 1966, the late 1980s - 2005)

An Erector Set (the trademark has always been “ERECTOR”) is a brand of metal toy construction sets, originally patented by Alfred Carlton Gilbert and first sold by his company in 1913. Erector consists of various metal beams with regular holes for assembly using nuts and bolts. Erector was first envisioned by Alfred Carlton Gilbert (A.C. Gilbert) in 1911, as he rode the train from New Haven to New York City. This section of track was being electrified and Gilbert watched as steel girders were erected to carry the power lines. This construction is what inspired him to develop the toy.

RIGHT: Building a lamp from an Erector Set

Visual Development Guide

Period One: 1913 – 1966

1913

1961

Gilbert marketed his first construction toy under the name “Erector Set”.

Gilbert Sr. died. In order to settle estate taxes his majority holding in the company was sold off.

1924

1966

The New Erector, Hudson and Tender, was introduced.

The A. C. Gilbert toy company was bankrupt.

1928 Wooden cases were painted red beginning in 1928.

1940 As the world war II was on and there was a lack of metal.

Gilbert developed wooden girders.

1950 Gilbert came out with the Amusement Park set.

The late 1950’s Gilbert Sr. had turned the company over to his son.

Period Two: The late 1980s – 2005

The late 1980’s The Erector name was purchased by Meccano finally.

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The early 1990’s Meccano started selling its sets in the US as Erector sets. Those sets are just Meccano sets with the Erector name and imported

by Irwin Toys.

09

2005 The Erector brand was relaunched under the global name Meccano.

TOP: Building bridges with an Erector Set MIDDLE: Vintage 1916 Erector Set #4 By Gilbert/ Mysto Manufacturing Co. With Wood Box BOTTOM: A.C. Gilbert Erector 1926 “Whites 7 1/2” Truck

Visual Development Guide

/ OUR MISSION Our mission is to inspire people’s imagination and encourage them to experience the meaning in crafting and teamwork. What’s more, they can build relationships with other people while playing.

Visual Development Guide

/ FORMER LOGOS The Erector Set was originally patented by Alfred Carlton Gilbert and first sold by his company in 1913. The timeline below shows the evolution of the Erector logo.

1913—1931

1932—1958

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1959—1966

1990—PRESENT Bankrupt

LOGO DEVELOPMENT

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/ KEYWORDS AND KEY PHRASES / INITIAL SKETCHES / CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT / REFINEMENT / OUR NEW LOOK / SIMILAR LOGOS

Visual Development Guide

/ KEYWORDS AND KEY PHRASES The next step of the visual development is research and brainstorming. We started with three main ideas which highlight our future direction. We managed to complete the first hand drawings through using the initial “E“ or “e“ of ERECTOR, symbolic marks associating with the three main ideas. We intended to apply the three concepts to the sketches as a combination to present a meaningful and provoking mark.

KEYWORD

PHRASE

INSPIRATION

BUILDING

Build relationship

Architecture Wall Knitting Power Combination 16 / 17

IMAGINATION

Bring imagination to life

FUTURE

Inspire new ways

Bird Railway Nature Abstract

Geometrics Direction Brain Robot

Visual Development Guide

The images shown to the right demonstrate the visual inspiration based on our three main concepts. Specifically, we emphasize a creative way that conveys our mark to express our soul, bringing imagination to life and building the future together. We avoid the logo sketches with complicated illustrations. Instead, we explore simple icons that embody a strong focus of the relevant objects.

BUILDING

IMAGINATION

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FUTURE

Visual Development Guide

/ INITIAL SKETCHES The logo sketches started with the brainstorming. The ideas of the logos came from three key phrases: building—build relationship, imagination—bring imagination to life, and future—inspire new ways. Based on the basic phrases, the rough logo sketches were drawn in three camps respectively.

BUILDING

Build Relationship

IMAGINATION

Bring Imagination to Life

FUTURE

Inspire New Ways

Lower case letters look

Inspired by the brick

Inspired by the air-view

more friendly than cap

pattern of a wall. It

map of an urban planning.

letters. The combination

shows the meaning of

The “E“ is made up of

shows “build relationship“.

the keyword “building“.

the “buildings”.

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Phrase 01: Build Relationship

Visual Development Guide

The mark is too similar to

The cap “E” connects the

The cap “E” is hidden in a

Bayer’s logo.

two shapes like a bridge.

dark round, but still can figure it out. It shows the invisible relationship.

Phrase 01: Build Relationship

The shape shows brand

The mark shows building

The symbol gives a feeling

Erector has power to

relationship is an

of connection. The curved

build relationship.

interactive process.

shape in the middle looks soft. It can be powerful.

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Phrase 01: Build Relationship

Visual Development Guide

The lower case “e� is

The two-little-men mark

made up of two curves

looks weird. It is too

and one line. The mark

illustrated as a logo.

means interaction.

Phrase 01: Build Relationship

Inspired by the pieces of

Inspired by tangram, too.

The mark is tricky. It is

This is another tricky

tangram. The problem is

Compared to the

created by the straight

one. The white space

the whole feeling of the

previous one, the curves

lines only. The lines are

is shown like a cap “E“

mark is too sharp.

make the mark less sharp.

placed together to build

through gathering two

the cap “E”.

black shapes.

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Phrase 01: Build Relationship

Visual Development Guide

The staircases is too illustrated, though the hidden “E“ is interesting.

Phrase 02: Bring Imagination to Life

Inspired by perspective,

Inspired by folded paper

The lying cap “E“ looks

light and shadow.

cranes which have a

like a high building. The

good meaning in life.

mark is too 3D.

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Phrase 02: Bring Imagination to Life

Visual Development Guide

Inspired by rail. The cap

The mark is nice. But the

“E“ is hidden on the rail.

style has been used too

The issue of it is drawing

many times.

too much.

Phrase 02: Bring Imagination to Life

Inspired by the digital watch font. The problem of the mark is not having the feeling of imagination.

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Phrase 02: Bring Imagination to Life

Visual Development Guide

The mark is an interesting geometric shape. But it doesn’t give the feeling of inspiration.

Phrase 03: Inspire New Ways

Inspired by the sharp

The mark doesn’t work

focusing while shooting

because it is complicated

a photography. The mark

and not good for a logo.

means finding new ideas.

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Phrase 03: Inspire New Ways

Visual Development Guide

Inspired by perspective.

Creating a cute robot as a

The mark is similar to

It is a good idea to show

logo is not a good choice.

Sony-erisson’s logo.

inspiration. But the

Because its look makes

same, it is too complex.

viewers think of robots.

That will be limited.

Phrase 03: Inspire New Ways

The mark is potential.

People can feel the letter “E“ and the meaning of “new ways”.

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Phrase 03: Inspire New Ways

Visual Development Guide

/ CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT This section is to develop the extracted potential marks from the initial sketches. After a series of critiques and discussions, phrase one—build relationship, and phrase three—inspire new ways, were combined to go forward. The phrase one and two won because their meanings fitted new Erector’s mission more. In addition, the initial sketches under the two phrases performed better. The combined concept is building the future together.

The sketches of the round two were developed based on the idea—building the future together. Three keywords—power, bricks and arrows—were selected to guide the further drawing. As the first round, all drawings in the second round were divided into three camps as well.

POWER

Future Technology

BRICKS

Everyone Is Needed

ARROW

A Guide to The Future

This is a refined idea

The previous soft curved

The mark is too similar

that show the power of

symbol is replaced by a

to Enron’s logo.

building together.

power icon. This makes the mark powerful.

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The Mix of The Three Camps

Visual Development Guide

The lightning symbol is

The mark is too abstract

It is interesting that the

obvious, but the whole

and complicated,

power symbol is placed

drawing weakens the

although the cap “E“ still

in a different position of

letter “E“.

can be recognized.

the cap “E“.

Camp Power

The mark is the refined

The mark is over-

The mark is a further

version of the previous

changed. It reminds

changing version of the

brick one. The new look

people of letter “L“

organized brick logo to

is more organized. It is

instead of “E“.

the left. The three paralle-

simple but nice.

lograms bring the mark vigor and speed.

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Camp Bricks

Visual Development Guide

The lower case “e“ is

The shape of the mark is

It’s hard to recognize the

separated. This doesn’t

interesting. The problem

mark is lower case “e“.

make sense.

is it’s not focused enough

The placement of all

as a logo.

components is complex.

The Mix of The Three Camps

Overall, the camp arrow is less interesting than the other two camps.

The shape of the mark is off from Erector’s vision.

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The Mix of Camp Bricks and Arrows

Visual Development Guide

The First Digital Sketches

erector

erector

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

erector

erector

ERECTOR

erector

Visual Development Guide

/ REFINEMENT The refinement of the round three focuses on the two key ideas— power and bricks. The reason why narrow down to the two ideas is they can convey the spirit of new Erector the best. The following sketches were divided into two camps. In the round, I began to create computer logos based on the refined sketches as well.

Camp Power

Camp Bricks

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Visual Development Guide

Digital Sketches—Power

Digital Sketches—Power

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Visual Development Guide

Digital Sketches—Bricks

Digital Sketches—Bricks and Power

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR 46 / 47

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

ERECTOR

Visual Development Guide

Digital Sketches

Finalization

48 / 49

Visual Development Guide

/ OUR NEW LOOK Our final logo is created based on the idea that gathering bricks to build. Each brick can be regarded as a person. We establish relationship to encourage people to build the future together.

The initial E hidden in the bricks represents the brand Erector.

The symbol can be seen as a part of a wall; a square in the symbol can be understood as a part of a whole brick. Viewers would have a feeling that the bricks are countless.

Symbol

Logotype

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Visual Development Guide

Prototype One

Prototype Two

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Visual Development Guide

Prototype Three

Prototype Four

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Visual Development Guide

/ SIMILAR LOGOS The new erector logo is inspired by the shapes of lightning and bricks, which represent power and building respectively. The concept is to encourage people to use new ideas that inspired by our products to build the future. The following logos from different fields can remotely be judged as similar to the new erector logo.

The Gatorade Company, Inc. is an American manufacturer of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The lightning sign is set as a part of the letter G.

The lightning sign has three colors excluding white.

Adam Opel AG (Opel) is a German automobile manufacturer headquartered in RĂźsselsheim, Hesse, Germany.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The lightning sign is placed visually centered and horizontally.

The overall logo gives feelings of metal and speed.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. It is a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The lightning sign gives the feeling of power and vigor and set centered.

The lightning sign has two folds and a larger angle.

The TCB Band was a group of professional musicians who formed the core rhythm section of Elvis Presley’s band from August 1969 until his death in 1977. TCB stands for Taking Care of Business

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The lightning sign gives the feeling of power and vigor.

The lightning sign is placed under the letters and has three folds totally.

Telenor Group is a Norwegian mostly government-owned multinational telecommunications company.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The trademark has a lightning bolt symbol and gives a feeling of speed.

The shape of the lightning bolt is distorted a bit.

Hydro-Québec is a public utility that manages the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Quebec.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The lightning bolt is a part of the letter Q and represents a feeling of power.

The designers don’t use the first letter of the company name as its logo.

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Visual Development Guide

The BKW Energie AG (BKW, formerly known as Bernische Kraftwerke AG) is a power production and distribution utility with its headquarters in Berne, Switzerland.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The logo gives a feeling of power.

Viewers can see the lightning bolt.

The logo design doesn’t come from any letter of the company name.

Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990.

The genres of the band are alternative rock, grunge and hard rock.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The logo has an lightning bolt symbol between the two words.

The lightning bolt is placed in the middle of the two words only.

Internet Explorer is a discontinued series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The logo uses lower case e and has a energetic shape surrounding it.

The energetic shape is not a lightning bolt and not a part of the letter e.

NBTel was founded as the New Brunswick Telephone Company in 1888 after Bell Telephone Company of Canada’s attempt to establish telephone service in the Maritimes failed.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The logo uses two lightning bolts with arrow in the round.

The trademark has no connection to letter e.

Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Enron filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York in late 2001.

Adidas AG is a German multinational corporation that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second biggest in the world.

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company founded and incorporated in 1982. The company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry.

Ericsson is a multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Sweden.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

Designers use the concept of a cap letter E for the logo design.

The logo combines the company name with the cap E.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The logo uses the concept of building —making three bars together.

The logo shape doesn’t have a literal meaning with the company name.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The letter E in the logo gives a feeling of power and trend.

The logo is made up of the two initial letters from the company name.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The logo use three angled stripes to represent the cap letter E.

The round corners of the three stripes look too friendly.

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Visual Development Guide

Pine Hall Brick is one of the leaders in the field of brick making. The company employees over 300 people and still remains loyal to our mission to be a company “easy to do business with.”

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

Designers use the concept of brick to build the logo.

The bricks in two colors are built into a square.

The new World Trade Center is a sprawling 16 acre mixed-used environment composed of 5 iconic office towers, an 8-acre Memorial Plaza, and over half a million square feet of shopping and dining.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

Designers fit the five stripes together to represent the building group.

The concept of the logo comes from the horrific memory in 2001.

Microsoft is an American multinational technology company that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal computers and services.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The squared logo is made up of four colored squares.

The color match makes the simple logo meaningful.

Ace Hardware Corporation is a hardware retailers’ cooperative based in USA. It is the world’s largest hardware retail cooperative, and the largest non-grocery American retail cooperative.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The letter A made by two shapes gives a feeling of building and hardness.

I am considering and trying to use the design thinking of the letter A for E.

Xiaomi Inc. is a privately owned Chinese electronics company. It is the world’s 5th largest smartphone maker. Xiaomi designs, develops, and sells smartphones, mobile apps, laptops.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

Look from another

The logo is made up of two letters, although the M is designed like a chip.

angle, the letter M is similar to E.

Sega Games Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational video game developer and publisher with multiple offices around the world. Sega developed and manufactured numerous home video game consoles.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The E’s composition in the logo gives a feeling of building.

The round corners of the E reduce the feeling of hard building as well.

China Post Group Corporation is the stateowned enterprise operating the official postal service of China, which provides the service in mainland China.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The overall shape of the logo shows a trend and speed.

It is a symbol only and does not represent any letter.

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is a multinational automotive manufacturer.

Mitsubishi Motors was the sixth biggest Japanese automaker and the sixteenth biggest worldwide by production.

SIMILARITY

DIFFERENCE

The logo is made up of three parallelograms, shows the concept of building.

The logo has three rhombuses because the ‘Mitsu’ means three in Japanese.

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“

Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. —Stephen Hawking A British theoretical physicist

Visual Development Guide

/ WORKS CITED Watson, Bruce. The Man Who Changed How Boys and Toys Were Made. New York: Penguin, 2003. Print.

Farris, Jeff. “How to Build a Lamp from an Erector Set.” EHow. Leaf Group, 24 Jan. 2014. Web. 24 May 2017.

Windsor, Grace. “How to Improve Your Project Leadership with Coaching and Mentoring.” BrightWork. N.p., 05 Apr. 2017. Web. 24 May 2017.

“Books in Shelf Close Up Free Photo Download.” Picjumbo. N.p., 27 Mar. 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

“Young Girl Enjoying Crazy Ride on Swing Carousel Free Photo Download.” Picjumbo. N.p., 08 Jan. 2017. Web. 12 Apr. 2017.

“ALI P.S.D.” Google+. Google, n.d. Web. 24 May 2017.

“Railways.” Railways | Eca Group. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2017.

“Clients.” Crystal Van Lloy. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2017.

“Vintage 1916 Erector Set #4 By Gilbert / Mysto Manufacturing Co. With Wood Box.” Terapeak. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 May 2017.

Primary Typefaces Body: Museo Sans 500 8pt Heading: Museo Sans 700 24pt Quote: Museo Sans 500 32pt Folio: Avenir Heavy 8pt Academy of Art University School of Graphic Design GR 604 Nature of Identity, Spring 2017 Instructor: Hunter Wimmer