Part 5 Layout Project - Branding
What to I think I will be exploring here?
- I will be looking more specifically at how layouts are used within branding. For example, creating a branding style or in house style that is used across all marketing and publicity for a company. - In a way this is a development on the previous exercise but creating a style that gets seen across multiple different formats. - Logo designs could also feature within this.
What skills do I want to develop?
- If my assumptions are correct, and logo designs do feature, they have often been something that I am scared to attempt as I don’t know where to start so I hope I am able to develop my skills in creating logos that then influence the rest of the branding. - I didn’t get to practice my drawing or sketching skills in the last exercise so this skill carries forward. I hope that I am able to use this method as a way to start projects. Considering these are two skills I want to develop and relying on this as a starting point could take a little work but this is something that I have identified needs work.
What do I need to make sure that I focus on during my research?
- Focus groups could again be something to focus on. Gaining feedback from the target audience will prove vital in developing the designs and avoiding cliches. - Not just looking at one way that a company has enforced the branding style but how the style resonates throughout all components of advertising.
Branding Research Point
Behance showed me a project that eliminates the name of the company and instead replaces it with the name of the font. The way in which I now viewed the logos was really interesting as some of the letters aren’t featured in the company name so without looking at what each logo was, I was simply trying to use the base elements of each logo to identify the company name. Some were easier than others but by viewing the logos in such a reduced manner, it is interesting to see exactly what the eye remembers and whether the wording really helps to identify the brand (job the memory) or whether some of the most commonly seen logos really can just rely on some of the most basic elements.
For this research point, instead of just listing words, I wanted to look at the symbols that first came to mind and try to draw out similarities. Why are these the logos that I remember, what makes them so successful? - Simple layout. If a logo is too complex, then the audience will find it difficult to remember. You want something that the audience can immediately identify and if there are too many components this becomes harder and harder as the logo isn’t supposed to require so much reading. - Simple colour choices. The majority of the colour combinations are done with two colours which makes it easier to identify. Having too many colours makes it harder to place within advertising contexts and can suggest that using the company is complex. However, there are benefits to using colours within logos as they can help portray a sense of security, luxury or warmth. - There is a clear message. Keeping the logo simple, with everything pointing to the same message, means it is clearer and easier to understand. - They are explicit, there is no inferences that are relied upon for you to be able to read or understand the logo. - Although they are explicit, they can still have multiple associations made with it. Having something that can be open to personal connections is important as it makes the brand more personal to each person as their experiences with it inform the way in which the logo is viewed.
Exercise: Chance Housing Association
This exercise specified that this should be a logo that is targetted at first time buyers and although the age for this can vary, I asked people aged between 20 and 25 for their opinion of these logos. I found that these were most influenced by logo choices and wanted to work out what they thought worked best before I started designing my own logo. - Wallers seemed to be everyone’s favourite for the fact it wasn’t cliche like many of the others. - The font choices put many people off of the other ones, in one person’s opinion they were poorly selected and seemed to target an audience within a higher age range. - The point about target audience appeared a few times but this is understandable as many agents will see this group to be the ones with money to buy the houses. - Hilton & Hyland looks posh and expensive. In one person’s opinion, they would look at the houses trusting the agents opinions and high standards but they probably wouldn’t buy from them due to costs. - The keys used within Reeds Rains gave some people the idea of security and feeling safe with their choice. - Chancellors uses luxurious colours yet uses a very simple shape, with a slight twist in terms of having curved corners. This suggests a high standard of service with perhaps not the same cost as Hilton & Hyland. - Interestingly, red appears a few times but doesn’t appear to draw in anyone’s attention like the colour has previously done, this time it is purple. - Important to note that it isn’t just the colour, on purple bricks the colour choice doesn’t make the logo more appealing to the target audience, it is the combination of fonts and simple illustration used with this.
This designs all seem very upper-class and as though not only is the service going to be expensive, but the price range of properties that these companies show you is going to be equally as expensive. To first time buyers who are just trying to get their foot on the ladder, this may seem a little overwhelming and make them avoid the company. So what makes them appear this way? - A couple of them use either Didot or a similar looking font. As established in other parts of this module, this font looks the most expensive and will therefore enforce this opinion about the company even when the font is the main feature of the logo with a black font, it is very simple and clean. - Illustrations are kept at a minimal. It helps to keep up the appearance of being clean and simple and there being no faff in terms of service. - If illustrations are used, they are used to mirror the fonts or add something that the font doesn’t have. The Williams & Williams logo for example, the slanted roof mirrors the slant of the capitalised W, it doesn’t go at the same angle or in the same direction but this doesn’t have to be the case in order to mirror the effect. Also, the font isn’t particularly weighted therefore, the slant is done at a heavy weight for the illustration in order to add some contrast. Although this should take your eye away from the text first as part of the visual hierarchy, it actually makes the eye want a slight break and therefore, the text is where you are first guided to. If this isn’t the case, your eye naturally still goes down the frame and you aren’t going to miss the name of the company. - Colour combinations are kept to a minimum. It isn’t about trying to create depth or contrast in a way. Soft but definitive and established colour choices are used to keep a limited palette that would sit well on all advertising.
What have I learnt at this point? - As logos are going to be looked at in many different contexts, contrast is not an element that should necessarily be focused on, the form is something that should be developed with more of a focus from the start. - The heights of a font are particularly important, they can change the way a logo appears. One logo that I designed looked good in the first sketch but once I recreated this, the effect wasn’t so good. - Spacing that is provided from computer mockups gives a better idea of the real impression of a logo. By hand, the spacing between letters specifically is less easy to control when making sure something is designed at full width. - It is important to consider how each individual letter appears and what I expect from it. Creating digital designs are helpful to work out full phrasing but being able to design each letter individually by hand helps to identify when a font works or doesn’t work digitally. - Spacing between lines is something I will need to consider, I set up a default of 1cm for most of these and for some this was too far away. Equally considering the position of where the letters line up will need to be considered in terms of readability.
All the pointers that I looked at previously were important to consider at this point. The height of lettering, the capitals/lowercase lettering combinations, the spacing between lines of text and wording all quickly transformed these logos. When the C was in a different font, it was also important to consider the slant, the curvature of the tails and the space between the C and the following H. Each component quickly transformed the logo and it was important to continuously go back to each sketch to consider the style that I wanted to employ from the start.
- Implementing the word visually and in the text elements helps to reinforce the message, it makes it easier to remember the logos, especially for different types of learners. - I especially like the ‘Piece’ one. The simple alteration between using capitals and lower case makes the message subtle, it took me a minute to notice it and having more subtle messages like this, instead of making the text and illustration really obvious can have more powerful impacts. - The contrast helps to identify the empty space that doesn’t fit the ‘stereotype’ that is expected of how the text appears. Because the lowercase i still fits the stereotype of what we expect, this is why it appears to be more subtle. - The font choices also help to identify the form of the font. With ‘Charge’ the curves of the charger shape are mirrored by the typeface to further enforce the identification.
The point was raised about feeling safe with your choice of estate agents through the use of keys on the logo of Reed Rains. As I haven’t yet decided on an illustration, I thought it important to see how this could also be applied through text choices and colours. The Independent declared that Times New Roman is the most trustworthy choice. A study done by SoloPress of over 1,000 participants found that it was the most trusted font and The Independent put this down to its common use in academic articles. A second investigation undertaken by Alessio Laiso at A Medium Corporation found that Baskerville was considered the most trustworthy. These results obviously all vary based on what fonts the participants are given to compare the fonts against.
Going back to earlier investigations into colour psychology, blue is a colour that portrays a sense of trust, logic and calm. This is everything that you want an estate agents to be. You want them to be trusting, show you the logical options for you budget as well as having a calm and pleasant experience in what can be quite a stressful situation. The combination of blue and the key illustration for Reeds Rains would suggest that this would be the most trusting company to go with but what makes it interesting, is the fact that nobody that I asked actually picked this estate agents. Equally, in the logos that seem to portray a higher class kind of proporty, style and service, only one of the companies also uses blue. Is this because it seems like a cliche or stereotypical choice? Has blue had the connection made to social media too much that companies try and avoid it? Blue being the choice for trust is quite ironic as Facebook isn’t very trust worthy. The data collection that takes place and the information they store about you is very personal and goes against the whole idea of it being trustworthy. Although blue seems to be the obvious choice, I think I will need to experiment with different colours because I don’t want the logo to become bland and expected, this will not benefit the company in any way. The reputation of trust can be built up over time so it may be more interesting to play with the word ‘Chance’ in the colour choices and possible illustrations, this will provide something slightly different for the eye as the font choices at the moment are not expected either. The choices have gone against the investigations that I found (shown on the opposite page). The study shows that trustworthy and appealing don’t always go in hand, neither does the portrayal of easy to use. Trying to balance all of these within one logo is realistically not going to be achieved but it is the overall house style that can be developed that will help portray all three. All final choices should be run past the same people that I asked in regards to the original logos to see if they think that these choices have been made successfully. They can judge them against the criteria of trustworthy, easy to use and appealing then further developments can be made.
As I was sat designing these, I was actually sat with a friend so that I could get constant feedback on my work and it was interesting what I was finally picking up about fonts. Previously, I was always saying it isn’t right and I didn’t know why or I didn’t understand fonts having a target audience but with some of these designs I started to say, it’s too tall, too squashed, it looks like it should be on an accountants logo and not something targeted at younger, first time buyers. Earlier feedback suggested that this age group is not wanting the cliches and stereotypes of logos, they are wanting something that is better quality, interesting and the fonts aren’t boring or once again stereotypical choices. Also the logotypes were interesting for their examples, but for the word ‘Chance’ there aren’t such basic symbols that can be identified with the word. Chance is an undescribable term, dice can be used but they do not fit in with the design, as shown by some of my sketches. Trying to play on the housing aspect of the logo becomes too stereotypical in my opinion, I will ask for some responses but this becomes expected and doesn’t differentiate itself from other logos as well as some of the type options do.
Having focused on the form previously, it was important to know consider the colours. Although it is hard to say what contexts these will be viewed in at this point (in terms of size and paper colour), it can be assumed that white paper can be used as a basis. Therefore, using yellow wasn’t probably the wisest choice. Having said this, yellow is a spontaneous colour and plays with the idea of chance. Bearing in mind that the page will probably have black text on, having the logo also all in black won’t make it stand out and in any advertising material, black would be quite bland and once again, blend into the rest of the content. Yellow was an alternative way to using the dice. Using dice was something that I considered a bit of a cliche, I wanted to avoid using any stereotypes within the advertising any this seemed a suitable way, playing with colour psychology more. However, after considering the readability of any yellow elements, it became clear that this wasn’t the best choice. The yellow rectangle was an alternative to this as the rectangle isn’t an important thing that needs to be understood.
What have I learnt from these developments? - Sometimes priorities need to be taken over which will portray the message best, illustrations or colour choices. Colour psychology is not a universal language, not everyone understands why a colour has a certain impact on them so sometimes it is best to defer back to the easiest way to understand a work, through images. - Readability is important on something no matter how small it is. On a logo, this will be something that is read quickly but it will be the thing that is remembered the most so making sure that each individual element portrays one message and can be clearly understood, - Don’t just consider how this is going to be viewed on screen but also where it is going to be seen. The rest of the exercise requires various mockups of where the logo will be seen but if this weren’t the case, creating mockups would be beneficial.
In order to see what typically works and is used during advertising, I looked at stocklayouts. com, this gave me a more general idea of the structure of letterheads before I started designing.
Typical characteristics: - large margins around all edges - logo and contact details at the top of the page (header) - some put details at the bottom of the page, I can see the logic with both but got to see what fits with the style. - Something else is needed other than just putting the details, the page needs something else with it.
The grid structures vary a lot more than anticipated across the page. Some spread the information out a lot, some cramp the pages. There is no regular structure to follow with my own examples but the more simple yet well structured examples work most effectively. The logo being positioned in the centre is slightly disconcerting in my opinion, the structure fails from this point in terms of being very methodical. Margins always need to be considered and applied equally around the page.
What visual communication methods have been utilised here? What points do I need to consider? - Often the simplest grids work most effectively especially when there is so much information on a page like there is with this letter. - Consistent margins around the page make the reading easier and gives the eye a break form reading such a large block of text. Previously I have been told to consider the line lengths on projects but with letters I think it would seem out of place to start trying to break this down. Letters are known to use the full width of the page with margins as well. - Although full width text often is something that that I opt for, using it on here would have made the letter format very boxy and seem a lot harsher on the eye to read. For something that has such a large quantity of text, I thought it better to soften the edges slightly and not opt for this alignment. - Using the same box that I had used on the logo as a border to the letter did seem like a good idea but when I asked for feedback I got told that it actually makes the letter appear uninviting. If this is just an enquiry letter, it can seem too much and put people off purchasing through this agency. - At one point I did consider red as an alternative choice to the previous colour choices however, once put into the letter format, having red in such a block text at the top of the page made me think of a notice letter, demanding for some money or like an eviction notice. This kind of visual language is not something that I had considered until it was put within the structure of a letter. Therefore, although the contrast of red and black was effective, the visual signals that this portrays does not work to my advantage when advertising.
Visual communication consideration points - These designs really made me consider which part of the logo helps with readability and which part of the logo is important for the branding. The fonts were clearly going to help with the way in which the company is branded which means the same fonts should be carried on to the business card however, I wasn’t sure whether the dice or the C should be the focal point. - Orientation is something that I personally always like to play with but with this purpose, I don’t think it is entirely appropriate. It makes the information harder to read quickly, instead everything should be on a horizontal plane that is easy to read from left to right. - Line length is something that I wanted to consider here although as it was an address, I thought the default was to have a new line for each line of the address. Having this as one block text is rarely done and it would make it harder to read therefore, it wasn’t something I even tried as there is an obvious reason that it hasn’t been done on other designs. - To consider the branding and the business cards being clearly linked, when putting the C next to the details, enough needed to be seen that it is clear what this addition is but I didn’t want the C to be so visible as I found these designs often became confusing, where is the rest of the text instead of just having a C randomly placeed on the page. - Also, looking back on the designs now, having the woman’s name so closely to the C, although they are two separate elements, because they are the same fonts, it appears that these need to be linked in some way when they don’t. This once again reduces the readability so these designs, having thought they worked, don’t prove so successful at this point.
Baskerville
Times New Roman
Revisiting some of my research made me reconsider the choices I had made. Baskerville and Times New Roman are seen as more trustworthy, as is the colour blue so why haven’t I used any of these? Chance isn’t an important part of the logo to portray, this is only reinforcing the words, not wanting the logo to be trusted by its customers. Equally, chance has been enforced through the dice image. Everything is portraying Chance and this isn’t the right message to be portraying to the audience. If it gets too much, the audience may be thinking that it is a chance to go with this housing association or that the options they have can be a bit hit or miss so maybe this message needs to change and portray the trust concept more. This isn’t to say that the dice still can’t appear on the logo, but I think that trying to use chance as the main message isn’t the way to go with the advertising. Portraying trust in more subtle ways is far more respected and not only will it be viewed as trustworthy by the customers, it will be viewed as competitive by other estate agents.
What have I learnt about layout and visual communication with this exercise? - That yes it is important to portray one message with all advertising, but it needs to be the right single message otherwise it can change the whole perspective of a company. - Having a well structured grid makes the information easier to read and although some letters have varying grids that don’t seem to follow one clean-cut structure, it reflects on the way the letter is then interpreted. - Business cards need to look professional and be easy to find the information. Changing orientations does add interest but it isn’t done on other designs for a reason, it becomes harder to read and someone’s name is an important bit of information for the document. - Although the font may not be the first choice that you would have picked as a designer, but connotations of the font cannot be changed and these connotations are more powerful that anything with a designer. - Sketching is an incredibly important part of the design process - it is one that I only seem to do on certain exercises but when I do, it proves incredibly effective and I produce results that I wouldn’t have thought of digitally. Creating these designs digitally afterwards reminds me of what I was trying to achieve and focus on the smaller elements of each letter. - Something may look good or go with the house style (using a square around the page) but now that the proportions and the purpose have changed, the impression given has completely changed. I sometimes forget to evaluate it as an individual item as part of a series so although the rectangle border worked, it was incredibly uninviting and I didn’t realise this until I asked for someone else’s opinon.
Exercise: The French Hen
What kind of pub is this? - Local pub serving mainly pints and spirits. - Anyone and everyone drinks here. - Large branch of pubs so can be found anywhere. - Cheap alcohol
for any kind of drinker, does encourage the binge style of drinking in some ways. What does the logo indicate about this? - The two different styles of logo show how it is appealing to both ends of the spectrum in terms of age. - Although ornate, the second logo doesn’t suggest a high class establishment, what reduces this? - Blue suggests trustworthy, you can always rely on wetherspoons to be there when you can’t find anywhere else to eat or drink. - The first logo suggests it is quick and easy to be served here and this works well as this is the apps logo meaning it is easy to use and not much effort to get served (literally order to table without having to move). What does the logo suggest about this pub? - Typical british pub, good beer and family food. - All ages welcome but suggests it is more of a pub than bar. - Old style writing and advertising suggests it can be trusted like Wetherspoons. - Black is used which doesn’t always have good connotations, why use this so dominantly on advertising?
What does the logo suggests about this pub? - It is a twist on the traditional british pub signs but still features the traditional illustration (instead of just typography). - The circle seems to be used more having just noticed it - what does a circle suggest? Inviting? Well-rounded? - Again black is being used as a dominant colour. Why? Why use black when it suggests something about being anti-social? - Most of these signs also use capitals, no lower case lettering. This gives a sense of authority but the harsh lines on here, although create contrast to the round form of the logo, could work better with some extra softness to the lettering.
What does this logo suggest about this bar? - It is clever to notice the crossovers between the bar and pub logos. This still utilises the use of black, capital lettering and the circle form but what makes this seem more interesting and current that some of the other logos? The fonts? The spacing between the lettering? The simple reduction to just black and white? - The placement of this sign, in terms of the boarding it is placed upon, can change the perception of this logo a lot. I think although the logo can create a perception of a place, it is also based upon where this logo is viewed, it’s backdrop and the interior of the bar that can be seen from the window.
Differences between these logos and the last? - Most of them have black writing - suggests sophistication within this context. It is less about being trustworthy here and more about the experience. - Circle is still emphasised whether this be as a separate form or within the lettering itself. - The fonts vary between script/decorative fonts and Sans Serif fonts. The Sans Serif works but these often seem less inviting so how does this work? Is it the combination with the circular form? Is it the blank space that also features? Spacing between letters? - Some feature more ornate details (Victors and the Botanist especially). This has often been used to connect it with a more classy establishment but it is clear from the other logos that it doesn’t have to be ornate to be considered for the more acquired drinker. Are these logos appealing for the same target audience that I am designing for? Yes. Why? They seem a little more considered and go against the stereotype of designs for British pubs. Although there are some similarities, in fact quite a few in terms of structure, they manage to appeal to the more sophisticated drinnker. The simplicity of the designs helps with this and avoiding the illustrations that are often evident on pub logos. These illustrations are kept minimal if they appear at all, often just featuring varying geometric structures instead.
The brief specified to avoid using any cliches or stereotypes within this logo but what kind of cliches and stereotypes already exist that I need to avoid?
- Within generalised alcohol advertising, there is the assumption that women drink clearer alcohols whereas men drink the darker drinks like beer. This wine bar is targetting both men and women suggesting that they can both like the same drinks and it doesn’t have to follow such a stereotype, so why should the advertising follow this as well? - Wine is considered a more feminine drink so the logo needs to appeal to both genders to avoid anyone making this stereotypical judgement about the place. - The instinct is to use blue, red or white when France is mentioned but this needs to be avoided as the ‘French’ aspect of the name isn’t something to be focused on. Instead using a shade of magenta (red and blue mixed together) could be an effective alternative. - Avoid berets! Agains don’t want to focus on the French aspect too much and how many people have you actually seen a Beret in France that is French? - I want the logo to portray the sophistication that the brewery is going for, using cliches within the advertising will not help emphasise this idea of sophistication. - Maybe if the company are wanting to change the perception of drinking and this ‘binge drinking’ culture, using too many similar techniques to previous logos and signs will not help to differentiate itself. Geometric shapes work well so what if different shapes were used instead?
What have I learnt about visual communication here?
- I need to remember that visual hierarchy isn’t just about different elements and considering the text as a whole, individual words need to be considered, ‘the’ and ‘hen’ do not need to have the same authority so it was important to change the sizes of these. - Although shapes are good for containing elements, especially on signs and menu designs, sometimes it is important to expand outside of this because it becomes too contained and can suggest that the company is uninviting, when you want it suggest otherwise. - Perceptions can be played with in terms of what order information is given to the reader (changing it to read Hen the French from left to right) but when a logo is going to be glanced at in passing, it needs to be clear to read and easy to remember, having something in a mixed up order is going to be harder to remember. - Contrast is important but within this scenario, and a limited tonal palette, it is best to keep the contrast to a minimum as once again it creates a more pleasant reading.
Creating mock-ups takes digital designs into a different perspective, as a designer you can start to visualise them within the real world and how they will appear within the desired context. I have tried varying mockups on the following pages and some of the designs did need some colour changes for them to appear better, for example changing the black text to white. These changes are minimal and it is still clear that it is all part of the same branding. However, considerations would have to be made as you don’t want everything having black text and then only one having a different variation. Where it would work well is having different variations on the menus. So the food menu having black text but the cocktail menu having white texxt. Changes like these within a branding are acceptable but changing it around too much creates an alterate identity which hinders the original.
What have I learnt from creating the mockups? - Designs can appear very differently on print and creating mockups are an important part of the process. It doesn’t require physical printing out of practice tshirts but something as simple as this method will indicate quickly whether a design is going to work or not. - Although originally the more contained logos appeared better, having no border works better within the mockups, they seem more inviting and give the logo space to breath on the page. This leaves space for the visitors to hyperthetically fill the space with their own memories. - It is ok to change the logos slightly as long as the visual hierarchy and form stays the same. It is ok to do this for the sake of readability but to change it to much within production of different items means that the branding is inconsistent and this is something that the targeted audience will not appreciate. - Perspective makes a massive difference when creating these as the logo won’t always be viewed front on.
What have other people said about these designs? Bearing in mind the target audience in terms of the people I ask. - The designs work really well, the majority of people prefer the 2nd, 3rd or 5th designs. Some suit the target audience more but others appear more French. - There is nothing in the brief to say that this is a French restaurant, it is just the name so maybe the designs that are considered French should be discarded. - The window display needs a border, it suits the purpose better and it also looks more professional on the workers clothing for the bar. However, signs above the door, because they already have the border, don’t necessarily need it. Although changing the colours was an acceptable change I don’t think that erasing a vital form between different purposes would be inkeeping with the branding of the company. - A possible solution to this would be to make the border almost matching to the background it appears on for some designs (like the menu). The border would still exist and be inkeeping with the branding but it isn’t dominant and making the logo seem cramped. When printing this, it could almost be indented instead and this would also be in line with the branding designed.
Which designs are perhaps too French? What characterises French design in the first place? I found an article that outlined the 10 things that are evident in French design, which are: - Drawing skills and illustrations - Pictorial approaches - A clear visual story. - Cliches are not acknowledged. - Unconventional imagery. - Artistic typography. - Distorted imagery. - Artistic influences (painters and artistic styles or periods). - Emotion (both within the images but also an emotive response). - It creates a talking point. But how many of these can be evidenced in the examples I have found of French design? https://www.canva.com/learn/french-design/
These designs seem to line up with everything that the article said. There is definitely a pictorial approach for many of these (only some of the logos are exceptions) and the artistic style employs bold colours with sometimes some unconventional imagery. Considering all of this and the logos style as well, which logo designs seem would be focusing on the French element of the logo?
This one definitely does focus on the idea of French too much in my opinion. The others don’t so much, perhaps the top right on the opposite page but from the pointers outlined, this one is the most dominant. It plays on the cliches of a French Bistro too much and this is something that is avoided in all design.
The bottom right design actually creates an effective balance between each of the other logos and the expanse outside of the rectangle doesn’t make it seem closed off and uninviting like it has done on other designs.