October 24, 2006 at 9:54 am · Filed under Case Study, Document, Download, Logo & Corporate Identity, Redhu
This is the first “formal” case-study I am releasing. The primary aim is to help current and prospective clients understand one particular part of the mechanics of a design engagement at aside. One of my current clients needs to understand the process thoroughly and from a non-creative point of view, hence this case-study PDF. I’ve e-mailed his copy and released it in general on the blog.
It is not a general/overall case study. The specific goal of this logo design case study is to convince an existing client that when I ask for examples of logos or visuals that they like, I am not going to copy them. The “creative” details of this logo design / corporate identity engagement can be found in this blog post.
Download logo-design Case Study PDF
Popularity: 1% [?]
October 23, 2006 at 1:17 am · Filed under ASIA, Case Study, India, Logo & Corporate Identity, Print, Projects, Redhu
The client needed a logo and a visiting card as they are rapidly expanding into the international market and needed to revamp their existing identity. Part of the brief was that the logo needed to represent the precision parts manufacturing and engineering background and the feng-shui principle of gold on the card. I was also told that they wanted the logo to contain the acronym SPAC.
The creative brief was filled in by the client and another short telephone conversation set the ball rolling in terms of creative output and design engagement direction.
Following was the evolution of the design engagement:
Stage I
Here, the hexagon represents the various business values and the two golden dots signify the engineering and components business. A combination of black and golden would look premium as well as formal and business-like and modern.
The blocks on the letter “C” represent the components as they come out of an assembly line or on a conveyor belt. The “C” is also larger than the rest of the letter because the business is about components / metal parts and engineering. The yellow/ochre color is supposed to represent the gold.
The “C” is supposed to represent the various nuts and bolts in the client’s business – components, business values and the importance of clients. It is also larger than the other letters because it signifies the business of components / sheet metal etc.
The letters SPAC will be in gold – embossed if feasible and the spanner is rotating the “C”, which represents that SPAC makes the “component and sheet metal and engineering industry” go round or that SPAC is all you need for all your requirements in this industry.
“P” is measuring the “A”, which can mean that SPAC sets standards for the Auto Components industry – it also gives the idea that you are in the precision and engineering industry. The “P” can be embossed in gold.
The gear withing the “P” can be embossed in gold and outlined in black. The “P” also represents the shape of a measuring instrument or a drop of oil as used in all major engineering industries.
The lettering represents a motorcycle chain – the inner contents could either mean rivest or screws or “components” in general and to keep the logo simple, we could do away with the inner content altogether. In this shape too, readability might be an issue.
The symbol is like a fireball – it gives the impression of speed and dynamism. At the same time it also represents engineering components – you could fit a gear into it. Gold would give a nice look to the same and the letters with a black outline give a sporty/contemporary feel to the logo.
The shape on the letter “P” signifies “Speed” of delivery, various parts/components and is actually derived from a six-sided hexagon, thus representing the various values and facets of your business – quality, trust, delivery, etc. The shape can be embossed on the printed card in gold. The rounded letters signify that the client’s business values are very simple and clear and well-rounded – they understand their customers well.
The gear is held between the arms of the letter “C”, which strengthens the meaning of “components” and attaches the name of the company to the meaning of what the company does. The arms of the letter “C” can also be taken to mean as if they are measuring the gear – hence the connotation of precision measurement.
SPAC forms a connected symbol, where “S” and “P” are connected and “A” and “C” are connected, thus differentiating between Satguru Prem and Auto Components. The letters can be printed in gold and black – with a small gear-shape in the “C”, which strengthens the meaning of “components”. The problem with this style is that people might not be able to read it.
The letter shapes signify sharpness – precision instruments and engineering. The letter “A” is like a stamp tool, which can mean that products manufactures at the client’s plant have the stamp of quality, trust and value.
So, I did get quite stuck with the gears in the logo design as I really couldn’t figure out how else to represent engineering and auto-components! I also stuck to black and gold as the colors as the client clearly mentioned that they wanted that. Since this was a rush job – and I mean a real rush job – the logo was started and finished in four working days – I skipped the first step of sketching and went straight to Photoshop.
Stage II
The client reverted with their choices and there was one more iteration as follows:
This was one of the choices of the client – I worked on it a bit and tried to give it a smoother finish – although I was personally quite horrified with the logo.
This was choice number two, and the only one that truly had any merit – the only addition was the addition of the company name and a little golden patch under the metaphorical “stamp”. The font used is Myriad Pro.
Stage III
The finally selected logo is the following :
The business card design finalized was as follows [ there were three designs given and the following was chosen ]:
Popularity: 2% [?]
October 2, 2006 at 4:43 pm · Filed under Design Industry, Logo & Corporate Identity, Projects, Redhu, Theory
Logo design is a subset of Corporate Identity design.
A company’s corporate identity includes the following:
1. Logo design
2. Brand colors
3. Brand name
4. Stationery including the letterhead, business card, envelope, memo and other stationery items like writing pads etc.
5. Appearance of the company’s identification marks on various media – on mugs, diaries, video, print, web etc. – a usage guide for example.
6. Any other design deliverables related to the identity of the whole company for example powerpoint presentations.
An organization might already have a logo in place but not have a comprehensive corporate identity. A logo design usually contains two elements: the logo shape and the typeface/font used for the name of the company/brand, whereas corporate identity includes a whole gamut of identification marks / colors / themes and presentation for the company.
Popularity: 2% [?]
October 2, 2006 at 3:48 pm · Filed under ASIA, Download, Grunge, Projects, Redhu
UPDATE : October 2010
New Diwali wallpaper for 2010 here.
UPDATE : September 2009
New Diwali wallpaper for 2009 here.
UPDATE : September 2008
A new wallpaper has been designed and made available for download here.
Diwali 2009 Wallpaper
It’s Diwali season, 2006 and a lot of people are reaching the aside blog after searching for “Diwali” on Google. This has prompted me to release yet another Diwali Wallpaper [ in addition to the one released in 2005 ].
This is what it looks like:
Description
The desktop wallpaper has an illustration of Goddess Lakshmi [ or Laxmi ]. She represents wealth, well-being and prosperity and business owners welcome her on the festival of Diwali and pray to her so that she blesses them with wealth and prosperity. This Diwali Wallpaper has been created to give it an old, worn-out paper look to signify the tradition of celebrating Diwali that is being followed from the time of the Ramayana.
The colors used are the colors of turmeric and saffron, which are oft-used “puja” [ meaning "prayer" ]-related materials.
Download using the following links depending on what size you need [ right click the link and select save-as ]:
If your company needs custom wallpapers to send out to clients this Diwali, get in touch! Wishing all clients and readers a very happy and prosperous Diwali!
And here’s another one – a more colorful version.
And here are the download links:
And here’s another one [ a third Diwali wallpaper for Diwali 2006 ].
And here are the download links:
And here’s another one [ a fourth Diwali wallpaper for Diwali 2006 ].
And here are the download links:
Popularity: 2% [?]
