Existing logos

Just looking at a few existing logos for various florist companies to give me inspiration for my designs.

I like how these incorporate an images alongside the type. I think the image needs to be extremely appropriate to be used within the logo. I'm not overly keen on the Ferns and Flowers logo. It seems as though a bunch of flowers have been plopped next to the company name.

I find how colour has been used in this. It looks very modern and clean. It's something that I can take into account when designing the identity for a new florists.

I don't like how the gift experts has been included in this identity. To me, it doesn't look right. The Interflora has been so nicely designed, it seems a shame to whack a bit of handwriting below it.

Logo developed

I like where this identity is headed.

There's still plenty of room for improvement, though I don't want to get too bogged down with it as I've got others to get on with. This may be as far as I go as it stands. I will have a break from developing this identity, and come back to it in a few days time with a fresher look on it.

Logo development

I've started off designing an identity for a hairdressers called Tina Jones. It's a very professional and modern hairdressers, so I've kept this in mind when designing.

I started off using the initials. I liked to create shapes with letters. I find it interesting to see what can be achieved with only a few letters. I've been trying to relate the shapes I make to a hairdressers. It needs to be simple and professional.

I like how these are looking. I think I will take these onto the computer for further development.

I've still used the t and j to form these, though it's incredibly subtle.

There's a little flick, which gives the impression of hair.

Identities brief

Lasercutting

Having booked another lasercutting session, I was just desperate to get everything cut out by the end of the session. Alas, it didn't get done. I managed to get the furthest I've been though. What I wanted to cut out was real tricky, so I decided to get a technician involved. He was such a great help and done a lot for me.

These are what I cut out during the one hour slot I booked. We played around with the settings to try and stop the laser from burning the edges. These are in order they were cut, and you can see the burn marks around a few. It shows a lot on the white. It's still slightly visible on the colour, but I wanted to get it looking as good as I possibly could.

I ended up going back at the end of the day (I didn't know I could do that!) to cut out my final labels.

It turned out that I had to cut each one individually because they weren't all aligned properly on the A3 sheet I had! Grr. It wasn't too bad though, and they turned out lovely! :D

Existing logos

I've been looking at existing logos for various hairdressers, to give me more of a feel as to what sort of things people like and use within their identities.

Most of the ones I saw were very modern and clean.. just what I like. They are very bold and easily read.

I love how the letters in this link and make a lovely shape! I'm not entirely sure if it's meant to look like something in particular, but it still looks lush. I looks quite sharp, so I'm wondering whether that's what it's meant to look like. Personally, I think I would've changed the type's layout and typeface. I'm not overly keen on it. It looks very bunched together and a little out of place.

Again, I absolutely love

the shape made for this logo. It's so swishy but firm and clean. I think the type works with the vector image. It suits it.

The colours are also nice. I particularly like the colour used. It's very modern and also works well with the logo.

This is fairly similar to

'Hairytrends'. The vector shape above the type is really really nice. Very clean, simple and memorable.

I think the type works better than 'Hairtrends', more so because of the kind of shape that has been used, but also in general. It's sturdy and very bold.

I like the how the 'A' has been manipulated and changed into a simple triangle. It's very effective.

The tonal ranges rather than colours are minimalistic which is nice, though I do think it would be nice to include a little bit of colour. I feel this ''makes'' the logo.

Rough labels

I decided to cut a few of the labels out, to see how they look and work.

I ordered some nice natural looking string and cellophane which arrived pretty quick! I wanted to have a play around to see if it looked as good as I was hoping.

I improvised a product... I went with an orange (bottom)

I think it works well. I'm really happy with how good everything looks together. The real test, however, will be when the biscuits are introduced! I think it'll be a little tricky trying to tie the string as tight as possible without crushing the biscuits. It was challenging enough with an orange!

I can't wait until the fresh new labels I'm printing today are lasercut to perfection! I wanna put everything together now. I'm so excited!

Oops

I can't say I'm very skilled when it comes to using the lasercutter. I didn't set up my art work properly, so the laser kinda done what it fancied.

It almost worked, though it left burn marks around the area it cut, so I'm going to have to do it again. I had some help from A.Townend.. and to be honest, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have even got that far! I've re-booked the lasercutter for next Wednesday (it's highly sought after!) and I think I'll get the technician down there to give me a hand.

To do

I've already got a mini to do list.. oh how I love them...

• Print my business cards (A3) - Thursday 20th
• Print 'nom' business cards (A3) - Thursday 20th
• Design the rest of the stationary and print on A3 - Thursday 20th
• Photograph other A2 design sheets and put on blog
• Lasercut 'nom' labels and business cards - Thursday 20th
• Print out chapters for Thursday 20th
• Write my briefs and print or Thursday 20th

Biscuit?

As mentioned before, I was struggling to decide on the colour(s) to use on the business cards.

I tried using the same colours as the labels, but they looked a little odd. I had the idea of using biscuity colours instead, and a range of them too.

I think they look pretty cool, and they work.

I think I'm just going to go ahead with the bottom 4. I think the colours are a lot nicer and more pleasing to the eye. I think they work better with the layout too.

I've jigged the colours about again, after getting a few people opinions, and I've made them a little more orangey.

Since I've altered the colours, they look a lot more biscuity which is great!

Nom stationary

So here I am, in the initial stages of designing stationary for 'nom'.

It started off a bit boring, with parts of the design in places you'd usually see them.

After seeing the 'I came, I ate, I blogged' business card, it inspired me to do something along the same lines.

I wanted to try and keep a similar concept as the biscuit labels, so I have decided somewhere the shape within the 'o' will appear, and will be cut out. This is the only similarity though. There won't be a pattern on the other side. One small

problem I've found with this idea is that the shape will be reversed on the back of the card. Though it would be better having it the right way round, it's not much of a problem. I kind of see it as something a little different. Another idea of quirkiness!

I've been thinking about colours. I'm unsure as to what colour(s) would be appropriate. I thought perhaps using the colours I've used on the labels would be a good idea, but yeah, I'm not 100% yet. I also thought about just using a biscuity kind of colour, but a brown looks a little unappealing.

Business Cards

I've been looking at other existing stationary to help influence my design direction for the brand, 'nom'.

These are just so simple. It's definitely something to think about when designing the stationary for 'nom'. Just cutting a small piece out can change the whole look which in most cases are really effective.

I like how the type is used on this card. It looks really clean and professional. I'm not so keen on how the website isn't aligned right, with the rest of the information. To me, it just looks out of place.

The colour type on the left is a nice touch. It gives it a touch of personality, whereas if it were black, it would look a little bland.

Stationary

I'm going to design stationary for the brand, 'nom'.

Whilst looking through Elmwood's website, I came across a compliment slip that was made for the brand, 'filthy'.

The logo is lovely. I like the hand-written feel. It feels and looks a lot more personal.

The big splash of chocolate on the reverse side of the compliment slip is really interesting, and has given me ideas which I will experiment with. I've never thought about doing something like this! It works really well!

Triangulation statements

-A photographic investigation of type with a focus on composition.

Photographic:

1. Black and white photography
2. Colour photography
3. Composition
4. Existing photographers
5. Experimentation with settings
6. Legibility / illegibility
7. Hierarchy of information
8. The history of type
9. Default typefaces vs hand made type
10. Layout and grids

-A typographic investigation of food with a focus on health.

1. The history of type
2. Hierarchy of information
3. Legibility / illegibility
4. Default typefaces vs hand made type
5. Nutritional information
6. Food groups
7. 
   

-A photographic investigation of identities with a focus on layout

1. Black and white photography
2. Colour photography
3. Composition
4. Existing photographers
5. Experimentation with settings
6. Logo designs
7. Designing an identity
8. Layouts and grids
9. 
   

Scrumptious Strawberry

Marvelous mint

The finished label for the minty biscuits..

They look so nifty! :)

Label revisited

What do we think of the logo's colours reversed?

I like. But I'm not sure if it works better than the logo being in white? The white was quite difficult to read on the yellow background, so I think it definitely works better. I'll have to do something with the yellow anyway, as I want to keep the small piece of writing on the front white.

Printed label

I went ahead and started designing a label for my biscuits!

So far, I really really like it! After printing and sticking it together, I've found a few things that need to be tweaked, but yeah, I'm loving how it's come out!

I need to darken the cherry pattern which should appear on the second and third part of the label. I changed the opacity down because on screen it looked way too dark. It's just a case of trying and printing until it's perfect!

I also need to raise the text on the third part. The hole on the front should only display the cherries that appear on the third part (does that make sense?)

Apart from those, I need to just make sure each label is printed out perfectly. I scalped this one and it's come out looking a little awful since it's such an awkward shape! This includes the window on the front. I'll have to take is to lasercutting!

Complete Label

So here's the on-screen label including its contents and such.

I'm happy with how it looks as it stands. I don't want to put too much inside. I want to keep it all as simple as possible. I think the background would definitely be too much if there was any more information included. I think I've got kind of the right balance.

Details

A few details that should be included...

I've been looking at existing biscuit packaging, to see what information they include. I know labels similar to what I'm designing display only the important information; a barcode, ingredients, information as to what each biscuit contains for those picky people...

Label?

I'm not completely finished with the idea of designing box packaging, I've kind of thought on a more simpler scale. I wanted to apply the designs I've created onto a label.

I think they already look a lot better than the box I was planning to create. Like I said, I haven't completely given up on it yet, and I still want to print bits and pieces out to put together maquettes, but I think as it stands, I'm leaning towards going with the label idea. It looks a a lot nicer and generally less busy. I know I haven't put the hand drawn backgrounds on yet, but it's still a bigger improvement.

I'm still sticking with the idea of having a window. I really like this idea, though it won't provide the same purpose as it would on a box.

I've placed the shape taken from the logo at the bottom. To me, the information I've displayed already, looks like a face! I think this is appropriate to the product. It wasn't done intentionally, but I think it works. It's subtle which is good too.

nom

I've been putting together my ideas for the packaging. I've had a picture in my head as to how I want it to look. I'm slowly getting there, but it doesn't quite look how I imagined.

I still really like the concept of having a hand-drawn

background with a nicely designed vector logo overtop. I also like the idea of using a piece of the logo to create a window. I think it works well. It's just not looking as nice as I hoped. It's still earlyish days yet anyway, so I've enough time to have a bit of a play around. I still want this brief to have a quick turn around, so I'm not going to spend an awful lot more time on it though I want to make it look as good as possible!

I think the window could do with being a little larger. At the moment it doesn't feel in proportion. I'm not sure if this will make the logo look too small. It's just a case of experimenting.

I kind of feel as though the red (strawberry) is too strong compared to the other colours. It's the boldest colour I've been working with. I will try to calm it down a little, but I want the strawberry and cherry to still be distinguishable. Again, I'll have a play.

As for the mint flavour..... it's starting to feel like it's packaging for mouthwash or something! I'm going to have to change the 'mouthwatering' to something that doesn't include the word 'mouth'. I'll alter the colour also, as it also hints towards something along the lines of oral hygiene. Perhaps it's just the fact that's it's mint? I'll give it some more thought and change a few bits to see if it works better. If not, I'll have to re-think the flavour!

nom Packaging

Here are one of a few designs I've been playing with which would appear on the front of the packaging for a new brand of biscuits, 'nom'.

So far, they look just ok. I think they're very simple, clean and work well as a set.

Mallard

I've come across some really inspiring packaging for tea.

It's absolutely gorgeous. I like the idea of a patterned background with a simple image in front. Being able to see through something to see the background is a really nice idea.

I also like how a variety of patterns have been used. It makes each cup a little more special and exciting.

Dorset Cereal

I spotted a really nice piece of packaging lounging around in my flat.

Dorset cereal packaging has hugely inspired my train of thoughts for this project.

I particularly love how shapes have been cut out to enable the customer to see inside. It's nice how this has been taken from their logo. It's a great idea.

Biscuiteers

I was sent a box of specially made biscuits, created by the Biscuiteers. I thought I'd document it on here because it's a nice idea as to what could be designed/created for my project.

It's a lovely little package.

I love the stock used for the box. It has texture which is a nice touch.

The identity of the company is also very attractive. It has been foil blocked which is aesthetically pleasing.

Rich tea

Since I nom'ed all the rich teas, I found it interesting looking at the packaging. I thought it may have been a good idea to see what information is used, and to see what the most important bits are.

I made a few notes to point out the important parts.