Eye-On Victoria Icon Design Competition Process Book
Background p.4 Brainstorming p.7
Idea Generation p.14
Sketches p.21
Reference Research p.18
Visualization p.32 Typeface p.35
Prototype p.39 Refinements p.45
Implementation p.52 Final Design p.56
Background What is it about?
1. To contribute a creative design for the Victoria Harbour Icon for reference, adoption and future implementation by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). 2. Victoria Harbour is a natural landform harbour situated between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong.
Icon’s meaning, aspect:
1. A picture, image, or other representation. 2. Eastern Church, where there are representations of some sacred personage, as Christ or a saint or angel, painted usually on a wood surface and venerated itself as sacred. 3. A sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it. 4. Computers, where a picture or symbol that appears on a monitor and is used to represent a command, as a file drawer to represent filing. 5. Semiotics, which is a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it.
Background What we need to do:
1. Develop a unique, dedicated and consistent visual identity 2. With a view to promoting and branding Victoria Harbour
Definition:
Sea line of Victoria harbour Victoria Harbour is situated between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong. The sea line starts from Lei Yu Moon to Tsing Yi Island.
Brainstorming
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Brainstorming 1) Colors
The light reflections from advertising light-boxes are mainly red, white and blue colors. The “RedWhiteBlue” Plastic bags (紅白藍膠袋) is representative to Hong Kong cultures and spirits. The “Act Now” campaign slogan is red and blue in colors. The illustrations on walls of buildings are mainly yellow and white in colors. Victoria Harbour can be described as the lightest harbour. Harbour view with neon nights is the most distinguishable in both tourists and Hong Kong citizens. Society For Protection Of Harbour Ltd had a “Blue Ribbon” project to protect the harbour from further destruction.
Brainstorming 2) Buildings along the coast For example, the Hong Kong Conservation and Exhibition Centre, Bank of China Tower, International Finance Centre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Clock Tower, etc.
3) Water of the harbour When sun shines, the water’s reflection glistens.
4) Hong Kong’s night views Brainstorming They are memorable and unforgettable to most Hong Kong citizens and tourists.
5) Ships
Star Ferry/Container ships/Aqua Luna (張保仔號)
Brainstorming
6) Metaphor/
Visualization/ Abstract:
Brainstorming
Regional Emblem of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China Satellite images Chinese pictograph An axle center/ axis/ center e.g. the “Heart” of Hong Kong/ a target (箭靶) “Heart” shape: whipping top Focus: microscrope, light rays penetrate in a magnifying glass, the front sight (of a gun), lens, f-stop Core: the pivot point of “V”>“V” can represent Victoria Harbour, crossbeam>the hardcore Gearwheels>connections between finance and cultures Visual reference Color tone and reference Typography Analog Dynamic Think of 3D>computer 3D models/ Photomo ?
We first had brainstorming about what should be included in the icon. At the beginning, each of us thought of one idea about the positioning of the icon. We came up with four different ideas.
Idea Generation Idea 01
Victoria harbour is a natural landform harbour. The most important elements are the sky, mountains and sea. The idea is developed from the two parts of land beside the harbour. There are many financial buildings built in the Hong Kong Island, so if people look at the Hong Kong Island from Kowloon peninsula, they will see many financial buildings along the coast of Hong Kong Island. The original idea is a “V” shape, which means the buildings “extended” from two sides of the harbour. Color reference is taken from the laser lights “A Symphony of Lights”. And the harbour has a dynamic effect. When things above combined together, the first draft of the icon is created. Then the further investigation is the idea of “Eye”. This idea comes from the “V” shape. Since there are distinguishing buildings along the two sides of the harbour, there should be two “V”s face to each other in an opposite direction. So the whole icon looks like an eye. This describes the situation of Victoria Harbour.
Idea 02
Idea Generation
The approach of the icon is based on four important and identifiable buildings along the two sides of the harbour. These buildings actually represent different kinds of activities in Hong Kong, which are finance, art and exhibition centers. These are the “functions” of Hong Kong to be an international city. Furthermore, neon lights that are out focus are used as decorations of the icon, since Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour is famous for its fascinating views at night from the Peak and its panoramic view of Hong Kong Island skyline at night.
Idea 03
The original idea is come from the Chinese pictograph. (the pic) this is the Chinese pictograph of water. Reference is taken from the “Water” pictograph. The line in the middle is kept, this represents Victoria Harbour. Then the two sides will be the buildings along the harbour. Some representative buildings are used, and they are presented using symbolic meanings and simplicity (e.g. the outline or layout of the buildings). In the panoramic view of Hong Kong Island, the Hong Kong Conservation and Exhibition Centre, Bank of China Tower, CITIC Tower and International Finance Centre are some of the representative buildings in Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Clock Tower and Hong Kong Museum of Art are some of the distinguishable buildings in the Kowloon peninsula.
Idea Generation Idea 04
The idea is about writing “Victoria Harbour” in Chinese, which is“維港”. Chinese calligraphy is used to write part of the words, as Chinese calligraphy can represent the cultural characteristics of buildings at Kowloon peninsula. “Computer language” like programming language and numbers on bank notes can be used to represent the financial buildings along the coast of Hong Kong Island. These materials are mixed up to “write” the Chinese word“維港”, this can explain the functions of the buildings along the two coasts of Victoria Harbour.
Different expressions of heart
Centre
Reference Research
Eye
Focus
Reference Research
Mosaic
Reference Research
First approach: The idea is come from the letter “V”, which represent the first letter of Victoria Harbour. The two lines represent the two coasts, which are Hong Kong Island and Kowloon peninsula. The concept is come from the MTR icon. These are sketches about different forms, shadows and compositions of the letter “V” and the lines.
Sketches
Sketches Further developments on the first approach. Other elements like the waves of water and the laser lights in graphic style of the regular show at 8 pm every night, A Symphony of Lights are added to the design.
Second approach:
Another approach is developed of combining the two “V�s in opposite directions, which creates a shape of an eye, the middle will be the name Victoria Harbour.
Sketches
Sketches with colours of the first and second approaches at the very beginning. The colour reference is mainly based on the colours of the buildings along the coast of Victoria Harbour.
Sketches
Third approach:
Composite elements that can be always seen along the coast of Victoria Harbour into a heart shape, like silhouettes of the distinctive buildings, the reflections of illustrations at night on the water and the shinny illustrations on the walls of the buildings.
Sketches
We thought of using the Chinese word “心” instead of the heart shape. The middle part will be the silhouettes of the buildings.
Sketches Forth approach:
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2.
The idea is creating a metaphor of the heart shape and the letter “H”, which represents the word Harbour. A ribbon-like thing is used to represent the middle line of the letter “H”. The ribbon means to connect the two coasts of the harbour, which are Hong Kong Island and Kowloon peninsula.
Sketches no. 1-3:
Testing different positions of the ribbons and degree of thickness of the ribbon and the gap in the middle.
Sketch no. 4:
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The ribbon is in hollow shape. Different red and blue colours are used.
Sketches Sketches no. 5-7:
Testing on different forms of waves, angles and degrees of thickness of the ribbon.
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Sketch no. 8:
Trying to add gradients of the colours in the design.
Sketches Sketch no. 9:
Gradients are only added at the bottom of the icon.
Sketch no. 10:
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Gradients are added at the bottom of the icon and on the ribbon. Light colours are added to the ribbons.
Sketches no. 11-12:
Gradients are added to the ribbon only. And different red and blue colours are used.
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Sketches Sketches no. 13-14:
Testing of different levels of gradients on the ribbon.
Sketches no. 15-16:
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Different red and blue colours are used. Gradients are added back to the heart shape. Idea changed of arranging the two parts of the “heart�. They go across each other at the bottom. In sketch no. 16, there are two ribbons instead of one.
Sketches Sketches no. 17-18:
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18.
Testing on different levels of gradients and placements of the ribbons and the two parts of the “heart.” In sketch no. 18, the word “Victoria Harbour” is added to see the overall composition of the icon design.
Visualization Originally, we thought of using “RedWhiteBlue” colours, which is described as “Hong Kong’s Identity” by Stanley Wong. Excerpt from global.designdb.com: Hong Kong’s Identity : Redwhiteblue by Stanley Wong (Oct.16.2008)
“To Stanley Wong, ‘RedWhiteBlue’ shows the color that traces the diligence and struggle for survival of the Hong Kong people in the 1960s. In addition, it symbolizes the positive mindset, adaptability, and patience of the Hong Kong people that created today’s metropolis from scratch.” Ref. website: http://global.designdb.com/disko/read. asp?boardseqnum=4710
Visualization Our explanations of the colours used at the beginning, Red (Kowloon Peninsula): China Hong Kong, Love and Care, Happiness, Chinese culture Blue (Hong Kong Island): Freedom, High Technology building, British Colonies White: Equality, water But later on we changed the idea. Since we think of the main theme of the icon is Victoria Harbour. Although “RedWhiteBlue” is Hong Kong’s Identity, colours used in the icon should be more related to Victoria Harbour.
Victoria Harbour 2. Victoria Harbour 3. Victoria Harbour 4. Victoria Harbour 5. Victoria Harbour 6. Victoria Harbour 7. Victoria Harbour 8. Victoria Harbour 9. Victoria Harbour 10. Victoria Harbour 11. Victoria Harbour 1.
Typeface
English fonts research for the word “Victoria Harbour”: 1. Fiesta by Barmee 2. Landsdowne by Paul Lloyd 3. Monika by Miroslaw Bobrowski 4. Nadall by Eric Grunin 5. Nite Club by Thomas E. Harvey 6. Rebel Caps by Jay Batchelor 7. Rothwell by Typodermic Fonts 8. Dolphian 9. Scara Conquers the Universe by Hans De Bisschop 10. Stony Island NF by Nick’s Fonts 11. Myraid Pro (font in Adobe Illustrator) Sources: www.dafont.com
Typeface Final font choice:
n s u x yz a b ef hi j kl n p r s u x yz
Nite Club by Thomas E. Harvey Sources: www.dafont.com, http://www. tomzweb.com/index.html Brush paint is used on modifying the font. The brush style and brush paint tool are from Adobe Illustrator.
Typeface Chinese typeface design for the word “維多利亞港” Brushes used are from Adobe Illustrator.
Prototype Feedback of the first prototype: 1) The composition of the icon is too complicated, especially the silhouettes of buildings. Icon design nowadays tends to be as simple as possible, but memorable. 2) The idea of using water reflections of illustrations is good, as this is quite representative to Victoria Harbour. 3) The idea of “Centre” to represent Victoria Harbour as Hong Kong’s “Heart” is okay. 4) Using connections of many streets in Hong Kong to make up a “Heart” shape is better than using silhouettes of buildings. As buildings have commercial meanings, while streets can include cultural meanings.
Prototype Feedbacks on the idea/ approach: 1) Elimination of the elements at the first draft, so there are no variation of development of the icon 2) The diamond’’ eight arrows, eight hearts’’ -> okay structure->not too complicate , has the centre point and separate in balance. 3) The building should be included in it-> Feedback of the second prototype: victoria Harbor-> building + sea About the colour usage: 4) The heart should not be separate-> 1) “RedWhiteBlue” -> cultural represent heartbreak, using the mixing heart -> tai HK-> need to be considerate ji’’-> harmony. 2) Colour reflection of the harbour light-> 5) The different angle should be considyellow included. eration-> maya to have different point of 3) Gradient is difficult to put in the apps -> view of hong kong should be mono (negative and positive) 6) The V represent many things, but VH can be more represent the victoria harbor meaning
Prototype Other ideas: 1) The glimmer when sun shines on the surface of water can be considered. Also, the water waves (e.g. 蓮猗) can be considered too. 2) Try to think of using objects appeared on the sea, e.g. a sailboat 3) Typography can be considered e.g. using “VH” as short form of Victoria Harbour. Also, “V” can represent many things, see if these things can be linked up as the meaning of the icon. 4) Sometimes the word “Harbour” can be used rather than only the word “Victoria”. 5) Photomontage is a method, so the design will not be “locked” in a specific shape. It seems to be more flexible.
Prototype Considerations: We think of some considerations we need to be aware when design the icon, and there are things that we discover during the research on Victoria Harbour: 1) The most inspiring moment is when you take Star Ferry from Wan Chai to Tsim Sha Tsui at night. The night views of the harbour and the illustrations on the walls of buildings are breathtaking. 2) Mostly the icons, which are used to represent Hong Kong, are colorful. They are eye-catching, the Brand Hong Kong Logo is an example. 3) The idea of using coastlines of Victoria Harbour can hardly work. We thought of using the coastlines of old Hong Kong, but in fact, many citizens may not know about the old coastlines very much. Besides, a sensitive topic may be aroused that some people may think it is a satire on the shortening of the coastlines. This may cause negative feelings on the design of icon.
Prototype 4) The advantages of Victoria Harbour must be showed in the design of icon. More importantly, the icon should avoid being too commercial, since Hong Kong citizens as well as tourists will see this icon. Objects with more cultural meanings should be used more in the design. The icon should be more cordial to Hong Kong citizens and tourists. 5) Try not to focus too much on functions of Victoria Harbour, which may make the icon be too complicated. Icon should have the concepts of signs. When people look at signs, they can understand the functions immediately. 6) Geographical features and buildings along the coastlines are not necessary needed on the design of icon. 7) Arrows may be too directional, they look like giving ways for people to follow. And they are universal, which have tons of meanings. 8) Try to put all the elements into the design first, then remove/ simplify the icon bit by bit. But be careful once it is too simplified, the process needs to go backward to make the composition of the icon be clearer.
Based on the feedbacks given and the considerations we thought of, we developed a new approach on the icon.
Refinements
We decided the position of the icon, Heart shape: • Centre of Hong Kong • Care and Love • Role of a heart is similar to a human heart The first draft of the icon. Different meanings when focusing on different parts of the icon: • The heart shape’s meaning, mentioned above. • Ribbons are often used for celebration when there are special events happen along the coast of Victoria Harbour. • There are silhouettes of buildings on the icon, which represent the most distinctive buildings along the coast of the harbour.
We changed the colours used instead of “RedWhiteBlue”: Refinements • Blue colour represents water of Victoria Harbour. • Purple ribbons that represent many special events are often held at the two sides of Victoria Harbour, e.g. Firework show at the 2nd day of Lunar New Year. Also purple colour can create harmony with the blue colours. Purple colour means noble and graceful in ancient China, many vestments in ancient China used purple colour as the main colour. • The two colourful ribbons represent the reflection light from the water at night, this is actually the illustrations on the walls of the buildings along the coast of the harbour. • A combination of different colour can create a cheerful mood.
The first design & composition of the icon.
Refinements Many versions of the icon are then developed:
1.
Version 1: The distances between the buildings are longer to make them easier to be seen. A colourful ribbon is added to the upper part of the icon. Typeface is added to the icon. Version 2: The blue dots on the upper right part are changed to colourful dots. The typeface of the Chinese word “維 港” and letters “V” and “H” are thinner.
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Refinements Version 3: An additional colourful ribbon is added to the lower part of the icon. Blue dots are used in this version.
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Version 4: This one is similar to version 3, only blue dots are changed to colourful dots.
Refinements Version 5: The layering of the colourful ribbon on the lower part is changed, the colourful ribbon is placed between the deep pink and the deep purple ribbons.
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Version 6: This one is similar to version 5, only blue dots are changed to colourful dots.
Refinements Version 7: At last, we chose colourful dots for the icon. And the colourful ribbon on the lower part is deleted. This is the final version of the icon design.
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Different styles: Stained Glass
Accented Edges
Poster Edges
Monotone
Graphic Pen
Positioning:
Implementation
The Heart of Hong Kong
Concept:
Victoria Harbor locates between the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, it is easy to identify the functional difference alongside the harbor – Hong Kong Island mainly for business and financial; Kowloon Peninsula – culture and residential. We think Victoria Harbor is a linkage of financial and culture of Hong Kong, which helps Hong Kong to achieve the sustainable development, each depends on the other. It shows how important the Victoria Harbor is.
Tone and Manner:
We design the logo can communicate with the audience with a friendly and casual tone. Since Victoria Harbor is important not only for functional reason, but also it is an icon for people to go and celebrate during some big festivals like Christmas and New Year. As if Victoria Harbor can is a person and wants to communicate with people, she would be mostly talking to the general public of Hong Kong and people who want to visit Victoria Harbor.
Meanings of the overall shape:
Implementation
1) It is a “V” shape, which means Victoria Harbour. 2) It looks like the lower part of a heart, this means Victoria Harbour is the “Heart” of Hong Kong. 3) The extension of the ribbons can be seen as the coasts of Victoria Harbour, which are Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula.
Meanings of different layers of the icon: The lowest layer> different brightness of blue colours represents the water of Victoria Harbour. And there are rolls that represent splashes. The middle layer> those are purple ribbons that represent many special events are often held at the two sides of Victoria Harbour, e.g. Firework show at the 2nd day of Lunar New Year. Also purple colour can create harmony with the blue colours. Purple colour means noble and graceful in ancient China, many vestments in ancient China used purple colour as the main colour.
Implementation The top layer> as the extension of the ribbons represent Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, there are buildings along the ribbons. As many buildings can be seen along the coast of Victoria Harbour. Moreover, the colourful (purple, red, yellow and orange gradients) ribbon means the water reflections of the buildings at night at Victoria Harbour, since the night view of Victoria Harbour at night is memorable to many Hong Kong citizens and tourists. And the water reflections of the illuminations on the walls of the buildings are distinctive. There are circles as the decorations near the upper right hard corner. Those blue circles represent the water droplets from the splashes. And the colourful circles represent the lights illuminated from the illuminations on the buildings. Dots are used as simplified forms.
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