OUGD504 - Brief 2 - Initial Development

OUGD504: Brief 2: Logo Starter

Initial Development

From my initial sketches I stated to create some digital developments to obtain a better understanding of what a final resolution would look like I asked for feedback from a number of students for opinions on my initial ideas as well as identifying which initial concepts I felt had the potential to be developed into the strongest resolutions. My first concept created an uber contemporary aesthetic influenced by the research on Portland's social and cultural scene. The bold minimal logo used basic detailing and a creative composition of the letters to make a stand out icon for the brand using text in a very visual way to create a strong concept. This logo design is very contemporary and fits in with current design trends, I found that that through my research there is a large art scene in Portland so ensure this design will appeal to my target audience. 
1

To emphasise the USP of the product, that the herb is grown locally and organically in Portland for the local community I developed one of my simple logotype concepts. This is bold and effective yet simplistic in utilising different weights to stress the USP. I think this will appeal to the target audience adding a sense of regional identity. From my research found that people from Portland like to buy home grown local an organic products, this concept emphasises further demonstrating how it will appeal to its audience. 

2

This concept is strong and original, the spherical design creates a single focal point drawing the eye into the logo. I like the creative placement of text formatted around the circle and think this is effective with the small circles separating the text especially as 'ashwagandha' is a difficult speciality word. I planned for this logo to be a combination mark but struggled to create a a representative icon for the centre in this early stage of development, if developed further I will seek feedback from a range of students as to how I can develop this further and what type of icon should be used. 

3

This concept was a chance for me to experiment with combination marks, I incorporated a more natural aesthetic to this design in comparison to my other concepts, expressing more of the generic conventions of herbal medicine. I think the placement of text needs serious development as in retrospect I feel this doesn't work with the design and an unsure about the centre aligned text. This logo would need further development to create a successful concept but I like the imagery in this initial concept and feel it would work well across a range of media. 

4

From these initial developments I then asked a number of designers on my course for feedback as to which concepts they feel are the most successful and which should be developed into more sophisticated concepts and ultimately a final outcome. I found that they like the contemporary nature of design 1 and felt this would work well with the target audience based on the research conducted into the culture of Portland influencing the target audience. They liked the concept of design 2 however felt it was long in its physical shape and that if I was using logotype it needed to be unique and custom in order to create a strong brand identity. I received positive feedback for my 3rd concept,   students liked the the circular text and singular social point, they suggested incorporating a natural icon to reinforce the product however felt this would work with the contepmrpary nature of the design. Students felt concept 4 looked very similar to the body shop logo which in retrospect I can see the resemblance, they agreed the type doesn't work centre aligned and needed further development to be successful. 

I then asked which concepts they felt were had the most potential for development and to achieve a successful resolution, I found that the most popular concepts were designs 1 and 3, comments included 'I really like the contemporary aesthetic and fell it will appeal to the target audience' (1) and 'I love how the circle draws your eyes into the centre, will be really effective with a good image in the middle' (3) I will develop these two concepts further before seeking further feedback as to which concept I should use for my fan resolution.