02 VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
MERIC ONLINE
02 VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
“DESIGN IS THINKING MADE VISUAL.” —Saul Bass (Graphic designer, and art director)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01
03
LOGO RESEARCH
02
INITIAL SKETCHES
02 / Identity Evolution
18 / Initial Sketches
04 / Brainstorming & Keywords
30 / Refinement
DIGITAL SKETCHES
04
FINAL LOGO
38 / Digital Sketches
44 / Details Refinement
40 / Symbol with Wordmark
46 / Final Logo Standardization
LOGO R ES EAR C H
C HA PTER 01
LOGO RESEARCH [ THE RESEARCH AND BRAINSTORMING FOR AOL NEW LOGO DESIGN. ]
01 02 / IDENTITY EVOLUTION 04 / BRAINSTORMING & KEYWORDS
1
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
IDENTITY EVOLUTION [ AOL’s Identities Throughout History ]
1983 2
1991
2005-2009
PRESENT LOGO
LOGO R ES EAR C H
WHAT WILL BE THE NEXT AOL LOGO?
C HA PTER 01
DESIGN OBJECTIVE 3 The new logo design should be connected to the original logo, and it should be focus on improving the simplicity and legibility. Therefore, I hope that the new logo could be modern and have great flexibility to the future of the brand.
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
BRAINSTORMING & KEYWORDS [ Brainstorming yielded three main keywords to think about the new vision for AOL. ]
CONNECTION / KEYWORD NO.1 4 AOL gives people a lot of resources to get information about their lives, and also it can build a community to find different kinds of things to share with people. However, different groups of people have different requirements for their interests, so making a good connection between different groups of people is a good way for AOL.
LOGO R ES EAR C H
C HA PTER 01
5
AOL
6
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
LOGO R ES EAR C H
C HA PTER 01
7
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
MOVING FORWARD / KEYWORD NO.2 8 AOL should not be stopped by current issues, and finding other approaches is a main challenge. Therefore, forward is a way to show that AOL has courage and confidence to face following problems and never give up.
LOGO R ES EAR C H
C HA PTER 01
9
AOL
10
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
LOGO R ES EAR C H
C HA PTER 01
11
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
ORGANIZED / KEYWORD NO.3 12 Because it appeals to different groups of people, AOL should to have a good organization for their services. Also, it needs to pay attention to some details about culture. People can receive information through good organization.
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
13
AOL
14
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
15
AOL
16
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
INITIAL SKETCHES [ THE AOL NEW LOGO DESIGN PROCESS. ]
02 18 / INITIAL SKETCHES 30 / REFINEMENT
17
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
INITIAL SKETCHES [ Following the three keywords, I drew some logo sketches . ]
CONNECTION / 01 / SYMBOLIC 18
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
The combination of circle and lines represents connection and the globalization process.
19
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
The idea of “e” represents the original internet services, which are starting to expand to other fields.
CONNECTION / 01 / GRAPHIC MARKS 20
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
Using dots and lines aims to represent the idea of connection and access to information.
21
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
CONNECTION / 01 / WORD MARKS 22
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
A simple and strong wordmark could easily catch people’s attention and make the brand easy to remember.
23
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
MOVING FORWARD / 02 / SYMBOLIC 24
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
In this stage, the main idea of design is to make movement on different shapes, then combine different shapes to show the idea of building a community by accessing information.
25
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
MOVING FORWARD / 02 / GRAPHIC MARKS & WORD MARKS 26
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
The idea of using the triangle moving into a circle represents the concept of accessing information.
27
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
ORGANIZED / 03 / SYMBOLIC 28
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
ORGANIZED / 03 / GRAPHIC MARKS & WORD MARKS 29
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
REFINEMENT [ Refined logos for final direction based on initial sketches. ]
30
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
31
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
REFINEMENT [ Refined logos for final direction based on initial sketches. ]
32
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
33
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
REFINEMENT [ According to those refined sketches, I got one direction to keep refining. ]
The concept is to combine the three letters—a,o,l into one graphic symbol. The main idea was to design the letter “A”, which including the letter “L”. Then, I used the “O” as the biggest part of the logo, around the “A”. 34
IN IT IAL S K ETC H ES
C HAPTER 02
35
AOL
36
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
LOGO R ES EAR C H
C HA PTER 01
DIGITAL SKETCHES [ THE AOL NEW LOGO DIGITAL DESIGN PROCESS. ]
03 38 / DIGITAL SKETCHES 40 / SYMBOL WITH WORDMARK
37
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
DIGITAL SKETCHES [ Through the initial sketches and refinement, I have had several visions, then It’s time to turn into computer. ]
38
DIGITAL S K ETC H ES
C HA PTER 03
Through changing the proportion of the design of the letter “A”. I hope to get some better shapes for AOL. However, the small “A” does not work proportionally.
39
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
SYMBOL WITH WORMARK SKETCHES [ According to the new logo I chose, I drew some sketches for its logotype. ]
TYPE EXPLORATION 40 Proxima Nova Bold/Regular
Blender Pro Bold
Futura Std Bold
Din Pro Bold
AMERICA ONLINE
AMERICA ONLINE
AMERICA ONLINE
AMERICA ONLINE
DIGITAL S K ETC H ES
C HA PTER 03
41
AOL
42
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
FIN AL LOGO
C HA PTER 04
FINAL LOGO [ THE AOL FINAL LOGO. ]
04 44 / DETAILS REFINEMENT 46 / FINAL LOGO STANDARDIZATION
43
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
DETAILS REFINEMENT [ When I finished my first draft of final logo Anatomy, I found my logo still have a problem with letter proportion. ]
44
FIN AL LOGO
C HA PTER 04
10X
C A
5X
45
D 3.5X
2X
B
The proportion of A, B, C, D should be the same.
X
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
FINAL LOGO STANDARDIZATION [ Finalization & Logo Anatomy ]
46
MERIC ONLINE
FIN AL LOGO
C HA PTER 04
X
47
X X
MERIC ONLINE X = The width of the left diagonal stroke of the “A”.
X 1/3 X
X
AOL
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
SIMILAR LOGOS [ After I finished my logo design, I did research to find some logos that are similar with my design so that I can know the difference and keep refining. ]
48
FIN AL LOGO
C HA PTER 04
According to search similar logos, I realized the design of letter “A” is the most important part. It should be different with those similar logos. Finally, the final logo is work. It has different shaps , and it includes letter “L” inside. 49
AOL
50
V I S UA L D E V E LOPM E NT G U I D E
FIN AL LOGO
C HA PTER 04
51
MERIC ONLINE
TYPOGRAPHY BLENDER PRO BOLD DESIGN HAOLAI (FRANCIS) ZHOU INSTRUCTOR & CLASS INFORMATION HUNTER WIMMER GR604 NATURE OF IDENTITY