Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Against the Odds: Standard Layout

Here is what I'll calling the "standard" layout for the Against the Odds logo I'm currently working on.  The client really wanted to have a version that had some sort of dirty or grungy texture applied to it.  The bottom version is that. 

I played around with a bunch of custom made textures.  The first texture really eroded the logo to the point that I thought it was too distracting.  I eventually went back to the pencil shading texture I did for the sketches and turned it into a vector texture.  Then I just made a clipping mask with each letter and a copy of the texture.  I normally like a lot of texture but in this case, I think less is more.

 The logo is basically complete, I just need to finalize some color options for the client to look at.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Against the Odds: Process Work


I took my original sketch into illustrator and created letter forms based off my initial thought process.  I normally start with an existing font and alter it fit my design but in this case, I just started from scratch.  The lighter shade of grey in the upper left under my sketch is the first version.  The versions progress along in order from light to dark.  If that makes sense. 

In about the 4th version, I switched gears a bit with the details of the logo type.  I originally intended for the type to have tiny serifs on the "backside" of each letter form to lead the eye from one letter to the next but after spending some time really studying the overall design, I decided to lose them.  I decided that a sans serif look was better suited to this design.  I did add rounded corners on certain points of each letter form in the place of the serifs for more detailing.

The last design is not the final version but is much more in line with what I had envisioned for this design.  So far so good I guess.  I'll post the next steps soon.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Against the Odds: Round 2

This round of sketches were much more successful. The client really wanted to focus on two key ideas/thought:

•Truth, coming out of darkness.
•The messy work of emotions

I personally, really wanted to spend some time reflecting on what being "against the odds" means and how to represent that graphically.  One of the critiques I received from the client on the first round of sketches was that it was too clean to represent what she dealt with in the counseling of people with serious problems.  She also wanted the logo to not necessarily scream "hey you, I'm a logo for a mentoring/counseling service!!"

So first I considered what worked in the first couple of sketches, which wasn't much, lol.  The client really liked the "rough" texture that was made made be my diagonal pencil shading.  So I brought that over in the top concept.  In the top concept, I tried to elude to the fact that a lot of people might look well put together on the outside but on the inside, they are a mess.  Sometimes, the messy things they are trying to keep bundled up in there becomes to much to contain and breaks through to the surface.  I wanted this concept to almost purely be based on text design.  To symbolize what I was trying to do, I chose a serif font that I slightly altered.  I connected the serif on the "g" and the "a" to signify the partnership the client forms with her patients.  I used the same pencil shading texture in this design as I used in the first round of sketches.  The overall design relates the idea of internal emotional conflict and how it can affect our outward dealings.

The next concept with the arrows is where I kicked it up a bit.  For this concept, I really wanted to explore want being against the odds would look like.  I tried to break it down to the simple idea of being out numbered.  Out numbered by what? Something physical? Something emotional? Maybe a combination?  It doesn't really matter what it is, it's only matters that you feel like you can't overcome your current circumstance.  I started playing around with different variations of arrows and how they could interact with each other and BOOM!! It hit me.  A symbol that not only utilizes positive and negative space nicely but also works as a metaphor for "Truth, coming out of darkness." 

I continued to mess around with the direction of the arrows along with positive and negative space which can be seen in the bottom design that has the "A" in the arrows going up and down.  I wasn't as crazy about this design as the design with the arrows going horizontally but I included it anyway.  

Up next, Round 3. 

Against the Odds Unused Sketches



 
Sometimes you think you have a solid idea that totally rocks and you just know everyone involved will go gaga over it.  This is not one of those times.  I took on a logo design project at the beginning of August for a mentoring/counseling service called "Against the Odds."  After talking to the client, a couple of initial ideas popped into my brain really quick (see the images above).  I showed them to the client and although she liked them, she didn't believe that they fit the over all feel of her organization.  I was a little disappointed because I thought I had hit the nail on the head.  But after more creative discussion with her on what she wanted out of a logo, I went back to the drawing board, or desk in my case.  My next round of sketches were much more in line with her own vision of what she wanted.

Two important life/design lessons learned from this so far:

(1.) Your first solution to a design project is probably based too much off of your past visual history.  Take that initial design, push it aside and push in deeper until you are drained creatively.  Don't completely forget about it though.  It might have some value in helping you determine where to go next.

(2.)  At some point, you have to get past your own references.  I'm all for using references and doing research for my creative work. Seeking out knowledge is never a bad thing.  But eventually, you have to put them away because they will start to hold you back.  They can cause to have self doubt in your abilities.  Eventually, you have just let them go and design from your gut.


Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Horizontal Church

I've been pretty busy as of late working on a new logo project so I haven't had much time to post anything new.  So in an effort to tide you over, here is a piece of eye candy for you to enjoy.  It's a graphic I quickly put together for a sermon series my pastor was working on.  Unfortunately, it didn't get used but I thought I'd show it anyway. 

I don't really mess with photography in my work that much so this was a fun exercise in doing so.  Not my photo mind you but a free stock photo from www.morguefile.com.  I altered it from the original to suit the message I was trying to convey.

Let me know what you think in the usual place.