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Maxfactor Visual Development Guide
EMILIE GARNIER / 03983865
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“Sexual chemistry involves a balance of both behavioural and chemical elements and we still have lots to learn about their complex interplay.�
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Visual Strategy Development GuideGuide
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“Scent profiles, in conjunction with other biochemical processes, such as the production of chemosignals and pheromones, increase levels of sexual responsiveness between well-matched individuals.” —Stephanie Liffland, B.S Chemistry The PIT Journal
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Contents
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Visual Analysis
The New Vision
The Evolution of the Mark 010
New Concepts 016
The Old Mark 012
Visual Comparisons 018
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Visual Identity Development Concept Explorations 028 Digital Sketches 040 Final Development 045
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Visual Analysis
The Evolution of the Mark 010 The Old Mark 012
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The Evolution of the Mark
The start off the visual analysis phase, it is important to take a look at the brand mark, the past marks and how it has evolved along the years. Especially an older brand like Max Factor that has been around since the early 1900’s, it is interesting to observe the evolution from the marks as early as 1914 to the 2000’s. Studying how the brand mark has evolved and adapted to the different mediums and materials and thinking about the timeline is extremely helpful to start critically thinking about how the mark could potentially be evolved and transformed in actuality.
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The Old Mark
One of the first steps toward developing a new visual identity is to take a closer look at the current mark. It is important to visually examine and analyze the mark, and reflect upon the brand itself, its evolution and what the brand stands for. Within this phase of analysis the next step in the process is to think about the core essence of the brand, the mission and how these attributes could potentially be translated into visuals which will consequently re-new the brand positioning and refresh the brand identity within the scope of a more contemporary context.
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Visual Emilie Development Garnier / 03903865 Guide / Nature of Identity
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The New Vision
New Concepts 016 Visual Comparisons 018
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New Concepts
Moving toward new visual and conceptual territories, while staying true to the brand mission requires a wide array of conceptual and visual explorations. First off is ideation, identifying the key attributes that need to constitute the brand mark, which will then be explored and developed visually. According to research, the brand history and evolution and strategy the key elements/ concepts identified are: the initial “M” which stands for the name “Max Factor”, science the scientific approach and study of attraction, attraction being our last element. “M”, science and attraction.
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Visual Comparisons
At this point it is crucial to conduct logo research focusing on visually similar logos, first to see what already has been done, to understand what exactly constitutes these logos, how and how they were created, the thinking behind the visuals and of course to differentiate the new visual identity. This is an important step in the development process which helps anchor ideas and visuals in a more concrete realm.
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01. The Letter “M” 02. Use of Script 03. Geometric Container
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01. The Letter “M”
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Motorola exists to invent, build and deliver the best mobile devices on the planet, improving the lives of millions of people. The logo depicts a highly stylized “M”, reduced to practically abstract shapes. The shapes are sharp, angular and geometric. The “M” is also contained within a geometric shape, but within a circle.
Herman Miller, Inc., based in Zeeland, Michigan, is a major American manufacturer of office furniture, equipment and home furnishings. It is notable as one of the first companies to produce modern furniture and, under the guidance of Design Director George Nelson, is likely the most prolific and influential producer of furniture of the modernist style.
MTV is widely regarded as one of the world’s most influential and widely watched television networks. MTV is one of the most popular and recognized brands globally. It is available in about 400 million homes in 166 countries. The logo depicts a bold and heavy “M”, drawn in perspective, with “TV” spray painted on top of the “M”.
McDonald’s is the world’s largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries across 36,538 outlets. Originally, real arches were part of the restaurant design. They were incorporated into the chain’s logo in 1962, which resembled a stylized restaurant, and in the current Golden Arches logo, introduced 1968, resembling an “M” for “McDonald’s”.
City of Melbourne, is a bold “M” that represents sustainability, innovation, and a sense of culture. There is no positive and negative space in the logo, the “M” is made up of lines and angles, which perceptively
Movistar is the major Spanish mobile phone operator owned by Telefónica S.A. operating in Spain and in many Latin American countries.
appear as colorful planes overlaid one on top of the other.
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02. Use of Script
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Budweiser is an American-style pale lager. Budweiser has stripped back all unnecessary decorations and finishes off of the logo. In this case, the process reveals an elegant and classic script wordmark. The letters look crisp and curvaceous with the “B” now standing out beautifully. General Electric is an American multinational conglomerate corporation that operates through the following segments: Power & Water, Oil and Gas, Aviation, Healthcare, Transportation, Medical devices, Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical, Automotive, Software Development and Engineering industries. Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia. The script was developed as a unique oval-based penmanship style that could be written very quickly and legibly to aid in matters of business correspondence as well as elegant personal letter-writing. Ball Corporation is an American that is best known for its early production of glass jars, lids, and related products used for home canning. The logo is in script emphasizing a beautiful “B”.
Movistar is the major Spanish mobile phone operator owned by Telefónica S.A. operating in Spain and in many Latin American countries. Tahnee Freeman is a self-branding logo for a makeup artist. The logo is feminine and bold, with a strong contrast between thick and thin strokes, with detailed curves. CS is a monogram created by Otto Climan Studio, it uses negative space and have a circular effect or are contained in a circle. VM is a monogram created by kissmiklos for award winning Hungarian perfumer Viktoria Minya. The logo is feminine, curvy and elegant. Victoria’s Secret is the leading specialty retailer of lingerie operating more than 1,000 stores across the U.S. Victoria’s Secret has helped, perhaps more than any other brand, attract attention to the lingerie industry. The concept was to establish a cozy, inviting atmosphere similar to that of a victorian boudoir.
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03. Geometric Container
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OCAD University, formerly the Ontario College of Art and Design, is a public university whose campus is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Inspired by OCAD U’s iconic and transformational Alsop-designed Sharp Centre for Design, Bruce Mau Design created a base of black and white pixel “windows” — modular frames to hold actual student art and design work. Through these ‘windows’ the core of OCAD U is presented — conceptually strong, relevant, diverse, and compelling. Uniqlo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese casual wear designer, manufacturer and retailer. Uniqlo has decided to focus on them as a global business strategy and a great example of this is their redesigned logo with the color red which is symbolic as “land of the rising sun” and
Square, Inc. is a financial services, merchant services aggregator and mobile payment company based in San Francisco, California. The name and shape refers to Square’s card readers, which are square in shape. Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American multinational computer software company. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California, United States. The logo represents an abstract “A” forming a square shape that remits to its original logo, Adobe Systems. Colony Square is a mixed-use development and sub-district in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, located on Peachtree Street in between 14th and 15th Streets. The square and simple “open-feeling” geometric shapes represents the public open space in context.
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Concept Exploration 01: Science
The first concept visually explored is science. Through sketching I explored the vernacular of science, elements and symbols that people relate to science. I explored elements from chemistry such as chemical compound symbols, the periodic table, the double helix, I explored geometry with proportional diagrams, and math with symbols referring to fractions, the squared symbol, and the square root sign. For this first round of visual exploration, the more simplified periodic table and chemical compound references combined with typography seemed to communicate the idea more clearly.
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Concept Exploration 02: Attraction
For the concept of attraction, I focused on a typographic exploration of the concept, with curved forms, accentuated spines and swashes. The exploration focused on the idea of a feminine, sensuous form and of two elements being drawn, attracted toward each other. In example, the descenders and ascenders of the “m” and “f” respectively are curved toward each other. For this second exploration, the thicker stroked sketches were working better from a formal standpoint in combination with the curvaceous letterforms.
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Concept Exploration 03: Human
The third concept exploration was “human”, the idea was to focus on the “human” aspect of attraction and these feelings and emotions tied to attraction that are characteristic of the human being. These ideas were translated visually, through organic, textural and more natural feeling shapes. This study proved to conceptually be the least evocative of the core attributes of the brand. This third round was an interesting exploration, yet after close observation this round did not communicate the conceptual thinking as clearly as the first two explorations.
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Concept Exploration 04: Mathematical Beauty in Nature
After the first phase of exploration, the next step in the process was to start combining these elements and ideas. Start combining the idea of science and attraction, start thinking about creating a cohesive visual that expressed both attributes equally. So I started exploring the idea of mathematical beauty in nature, I explored ideas such as the Fibonacci Sequence and The Golden Ration, in combination with natural organic elements.
This phase was interesting to explore a more graphic approach, yet the results were slightly too delicate and complex for efficient reproduction on a variety of media and on various scales, which of course needed to be considered.
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Concept Exploration 05: Symbolism, The Orchid
The next step was to explore symbolism. After thoroughly researching and analyzing symbols of feminine beauty and sensuality, I decided to set aside overused symbols that fit within the brand sector and adjacent sectors such as, the swan, the butterfly, the antelope, the leopard, the apricot and the rose. But I did find one symbol that I thought could be different from competitors while still strongly evoke the idea of feminine beauty and sensuality: The Orchid. This exploration proved to be quite valuable for conceptual thinking and how to represent the brand visually, and allowed for symbolic exploration which inspired the photography style for the overall brand.
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Digital Sketches
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Digital Exploration 01: The Chemical Coumpound
The idea of the chemical compound was further explored through digital sketches. I explored the idea of the chemical compound in two divergent visual styles, the first is the way chemical compounds are normally represented in diagram format with united hexagons. The second version was while still using the combined hexagon diagrams the approach was a bit more minimal. Instead of visually showing the entire hexagon, the shape that sits above the “M� are the lines that meet each other in the adjacent hexagons, the other lines were removed while only keeping the lines that meet.
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Digital Exploration 02: The Double Helix
The shape of the double helix, evolved and was synthesized into one of the main strands translated into the diagonal curved stroke, and the other main strand served as the axis on which the letter “M” and “X” laid on, forming this synthesized double helix typographic mark.
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Digital Exploration 03: Perfect Proportions
The idea of perfect proportions and the geometric measurements that are representational of these harmonious proportions were further explored in this digital round. The symmetrical lines and measurements were combined with the letter “M” and in some cases the letter “X”, but are practically indistinguishable as they merge and live with the lines and proportions as an integrated whole.
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Final Development
For the final development stage, the next step was to critically analyze the ideas and sketches that had been developed so far and think about which ones were more evocative of the ideas that needed to be translated and which ones were not. During this process it was important to analyze why certain sketches worked and others did not, pick the elements that are working and further develop them. The final idea was to combine the initial “M”, the “x” as a symbol of the atomic number, “f” as a symbol of feminine beauty, brought together within the form of a chemical compound.
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f After the final round of the visual development, after the phases of hand drawn sketches, digital sketches, conceptual and symbolic exploration and a second finalized round of hand drawn sketches, these were the three finalized digital versions of the mark. The final three variations that finalize this visual development phase and would lead to next phase of the project.
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“The neuroendocrine system, which controls hormonal releases, works in tandem with these biological mechanisms, using systematic chemical cascades in the brain to further increase feelings of love and attraction.” —Stephanie Liffland, B.S Chemistry The PIT Journal
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Sources
Stephanie Liffland, B.S Chemistry The PIT Journal
Photography: Greg Allikas Marcus Goldhahn Fabian Oefner
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Colophon
This book is a non-commercial project for education purposes and is not intended to represent the Max Factor Brand. All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, recording, photocopying or otherwise, without prior permission of Emilie Garnier
Copyright Š 2016 Emilie Garnier
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emi.k.garnier@gmail.com www.behance.net/emigarnier Design/ Emilie Garnier Course/ Nature of Identity Instructor/ Hunter Wimmer Academy of Art University
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