Embrace the Finch

COMING SOON

Home Sweet Home

Well, it's official and it's been a long time coming.

http://www.bryanfinch.com/ is no longer the boring and drab website that it was.  That domain will now (and for the foreseeable future) bring you to this boring and drab blog you are currently viewing. : )



I've wanted to update, redo, throw-out, throw-up, regurgitate, start over my website for a long time and this is the first step in the process of doing such.

Expect some changes to the layout and design to the blog/my new home as I experiment with what I want to make it look like.  Think of it as me trying out paint samples on a wall in your house.  Not such much your house but the interwebs.  And not really so much paint samples as much as pixels and CMYK values.

You get the idea.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Final Elevate Student Ministry Logo Layouts

Here are the final logo layouts for Elevate Student Ministry.  Not much changed from the last post.  About the only thing different is that I eliminated the version that had the mountain in the "A" over just the text.  I thought it was redundant and too similar to the layout that has the fading and transparent mountain.  Let me know what you think...

Agents of Change...

Quick logo design for another ministry apart of Harvest Christian Centre.  This ministry focuses on people entering into college and stepping out into the career field.  Catalyst basically means, if you break it down into a simple definition, something that causes change. It's often used in dealing with scientific jargen. The question is what is the change we are talking about here? The change is the cross.  When the cross is applied to your life, everything changes.  Then the cross becomes central to your life, you in turn become an agent of change. The idea behind the logo is all based on this.

The overall design is rather simple.  I wanted to design something that had an almost "scientific" look to it because of the scientific use of the word. I started thinking about protons and neutrons and stuff like that and how they where normally represented visually.  I thought about the complete atomic change that happens when you introduce a new element into the mix.  Just like the cross. 

I also wanted this logo to have a similar look to the "element youth ministry" logo because of them both being under the same Church ministry umbrella.

Batman Redesign

Final line work and color for my take on Batman.  I used a muted color palette on the Dark Knight to contrast the bright, vibrant colors of my Superman design.  If I was going to do this over, I think I would reexamine my solution for the belt.  The more I look at it, I think it might be a little clunky.  We'll see what happens.  Stay tuned, maybe next I'll work on a certain heroine who has been seen flying an invisible jet.  I know, that didn't really make any sense.  Neither does an invisible jet. : )

Holy Batman Redesign!!

So I did a Superman redesign a while back and almost immediately started doing a Batman design right after I finished.  Then life happened, lol.  I became so busy with other things & other projects that this was buried under piles of stuff on my desk. 

In recent light of and in total disgust of DC Comics "relaunch," (which is really a reboot, but don't argue with dc fan boys, you can't win) I decided to finally finish this.

Above are scans of all my preliminary work up to the finished line work. In the first image of the line up, I stole the legs from my Superman design so they would be similar in design and because I was feeling lazy.  Hey, I'm honest.  Don't judge me. 

Obviously the legs changed as I changed the over all look of my Batman, which by the way, happened about a billion times in my head and translated into about 3 times on paper.  I couldn't make up my mind what kind of Batman I wanted my Batman to be.  Technical with a lot of armor and gadgets or sleek and streamed lined? Ultimately I think I was able to merge the two ideas to some degree.  Overall, the costume is fairly simple.  All the classic Batman elements are there, minus the underwear. That was an easy choice.  It's sleek with out the look of armor. It reminds me that under the cowl is just a man, not a "superman." My design allows for focus to be on his skills as a detective and as a martial artist, two of Batman's core elements.  The utility belt is deigned to show the technical side of Batman.  I wanted to make sure that the belt was able to contrast the simplicity of the suit & at the same time reiterate the fact that he is just a man.  He needs the bat-a-rangs, gas pellets & shark repellent to help him get the job done more effectively. Oh, and the grappling gun to scale all those buildings in Gotham. Not sure where he keeps that though. : )

The finished line work on the far right was all hand done with a few elements, like the batman symbol and parts of the utility belt, being drawn in  to photoshop after it was scanned.

Final color version coming soon...stay tuned, same Bat-time, same Bat...uh...Blog!!

Harvest Christian Centre Billboard in Action

Here are a couple of pictures of the actual billboard I posted the design for a couple of weeks back. The billboard company had it printed and hung up early this week. Pretty cool feeling to see your work in actual use. It never gets old. : )

Elevate Student Ministry Layout Options

Okay, here's what we have come up with for the "Elevate Student Ministry" logo. Notice I said student, meaning the client liked using "student"over "youth" for the logo. The client also likes the blue and blue/grey color scheme as opposed to the others I had shown them.

I also came up with a few other layouts for the logo utilizing the different elements of the original design. Not intending to use them all but I wanted to explore the possibilities. I personally like the one with the faded mountain in the back and the bottom layout with just the text. One more go at it and I should have everything finalized.

Elevate Student Ministry Progress Work

After settling down on a design, here is what the logo has advanced into. Working now to decide which is a better fit for the design; either "student ministry" or "youth ministry." Also trying to come up with a color scheme. Next step, after the before mentioned is finalized, is to make alternate layouts/versions of this design to use in different instances.

Elevate Student Ministry Preliminary Work

Here are some quick sketches for a logo I'm currently working on for another local youth group. The group's name is "Elevate." I'm trying to work out concepts now but I keep coming back to mountain imagery. The group's leaders focus on teaching youth to "rise above the enticements of this world." I guess that's where the mountain theme I keep coming back to comes from. A verse from the Bible, which also fits in line with the mountain imagery I keep coming back to is Mathew 7: 13-14: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." That verse reminds me of a mountain and how it is wide at the bottom and narrow at the top which fits perfectly in line with the youth group's teaching. Another thought I had is about how difficult the climb up a mountain can be but the verse from Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," shows us that we don't have to be alone on the climb. Trying to work all this into the logo. Wish me luck.