Archive for June, 2010
June 19, 2010 at 4:39 pm · Filed under Article, Design Industry, India, Logo & Corporate Identity, Personal, Redhu
I’ve never been comfortable sharing what my work-desk looks like – because there really is nothing to show – even when I do it up, it’s really plain. But an article on 100 Women in Design [ I might've got the title wrong ] asked me for a picture of my desk as well and here’s what I sent. Thank you to @kri5hsolanki for getting me to do this.
The Nikon D90′s also usually on the table, but since I had to take the picture, even with the camera remote, the camera couldn’t be in the picture.
The books on my table are usually the ones I’m currently reading [ like the ones from Bhutan, which I have yet to read ], or a couple of others that I really love – there’ll always be one from the Malazan Book Of The Fallen series by Steven Erikson. The skull, called Haans – is borrowed from Bharat’s table.
Sometimes, when both Bharat and I are in the same room and I need to be working or watching a movie that he’s not interested in, then it’s the Bluetooth headset to the rescue. Moleskines are ever-present too and so is at least one book on logos – in this case, Victionary’s Logology.
The rest of the small collection of books that I have, rests in the so-called library. We need to pick up another one for Bharat. Soon.
I hate filth but I don’t mind clutter.
Popularity: 2% [?]
June 5, 2010 at 1:47 am · Filed under Article, Design Industry, India, Logo & Corporate Identity, Projects, Redhu, Theory
We all want our logos to represent who we are [ if it is an individual consulting firm for example ], what our company does and what we want our clients to perceive. The logo should be a good representation of all the above and more – maybe a literal representation of the culture of the country that you’re from and some more literal representations of what products and services you sell and also, maybe, a literal representation of your favorite flower. The ‘more’ can also include color preferences of the fiancé, type preferences of the partner with a larger stake in the company, style preferences of the self and so on and so forth.
Notice the ‘AND’?
If your purpose is not defined well, the possibilities to cover that ‘AND’ are never-ending and they will confound you and lead the logo designer to despair and the project to scope-creep.
If it is your first time wanting / needing a logo designed [ and usually it will be your first time - because most people start just one venture - the chances of you being a repeat client for a logo design engagement, are low ] find out what the process entails and what a logo really is.
Going to a professional logo designer without knowing what it is that you’re signing up for is going to cause grief. Not only is it going to be unwise in terms of the money you will invest, it will also create stress and the logo designer might just give in and give you a crappy logo. [ If you push us too far, the only thing suffering will be your company's logo because you leave us no choice. ]
The idea is to find the most important ‘ANDs’. Sit down with a logo designer and discuss with them what it is that keeps you and your company going. Don’t talk only about your literal, physical, tangible products and offerings. Talk about emotion, attitude and feeling. Things you believe in. Even if your company does not currently live up to what you believe in, create a vision of where you want your company to go in the future.
Till the time you haven’t discarded everything that is redundant, important only in the short-run, colored by biases from people who have nothing to do with the business, till that time keep at it. Chip away all that is unnecessary and pick out one nugget of gold that truly speaks to you. It could be a keyword, a visual, a photograph, a person – someone well-known – a celebrity, a particular star product of the company, etc.
Take the nugget and give it to the logo designer. Explain to them all the ANDs that were discarded in the process. Partner with your logo designer to create a logo that speaks of your brand. Share your preferences in color and typography but do not push them down the logo designer’s throat. It is not wise and does not make economic sense to ask the logo designer to go through all 20,000 typefaces on their computer. [ This is easily solved by doing some preliminary research on the internet and finding out what the various kinds of typefaces / fonts are. ]
When a logo designer shares their recommendations with you, with detailed descriptions of their thought process and why they prefer certain logo concepts over the other, don’t construe it as a preaching session. The designer is only doing her job. The one that you hired her for.
[ I have developed a dislike for analogies - at the risk of oversimplification - if you call a plumber to fix a leak and the plumber proceeds to describes to you four different methods in which the leak could be plugged, you listen to them patiently and evaluate your options. Each option will have pros and cons and the plumber is making sure you are made aware of them before a solution is picked. Even if you were a plumber in the past, technology might have changed, material to be used might have become better and target audience perceptions might have changed - the market could have changed - this guy might be a better plumber than you were. ]
What you see in a logo designer’s portfolio is the client’s vision transformed into a visual that represents the brand. It usually starts out as a jumble of data and is eventually condensed into a nugget of gold.
It is important to know that as a logo designer, I can help you pick a direction and I can help pave the way for creating a visual identity for your brand – I can’t lay the foundation to create the company or the brand and I can’t create your vision for you.
You know best how to run your business and I know best how to design a logo.
Popularity: 1% [?]
June 4, 2010 at 6:01 pm · Filed under Case Study, India, Logo & Corporate Identity, Photography, Print, Projects, Redhu
This is what I’m working on currently – what you see below has been sent out to the client for approval – waiting on it.
Holiday Express is a travel company based in Orissa and their differentiating point is that there really aren’t any other professional travel agencies in the state. Ardhendu Sarkar is the entrepreneur behind this venture and he is quickly proving to be one of the best clients I have worked with. He is happy to leave the designing to me and his feedback and inputs are always concise. If I give my reasoning behind a design & he likes it, [ which is almost always does ], the design is ‘go-ahead’ on all fronts. This is excellent for me and I haven’t had this kind of creative freedom in quite a while.
This is the result of the logo design engagement for Holiday Express [ case study is due ].
Enough talk, here’s what’s up right now : the outside of the card – it’s a two-fold left and right. the idea was to create a piece of collateral that would create some interest and also give a reference point for a list of services provided by Holiday Express.
The inside of the card :
I know they’re small but following is the full outside and full inside
The Map Marker element was created in Illustrator.
I’ve used my photograph of the Indian Ocean from the Andaman Islands, which can be seen in panoramic high resolution here. the cover photograph is of a vector file on iStockphoto, which will be purchased once the design is approved by the client.
Popularity: 1% [?]
June 3, 2010 at 7:30 pm · Filed under Case Study, India, Logo & Corporate Identity, Projects, Redhu
Advice Marketing is a digital marketing consultancy run by Shiva Narayan. asidebrands was approached for a logo design for the new venture [ Shiva spotted me on Twitter ] and once the brief was received, well-filled in by the client, the following visual steps were how the logo design engagement progressed.
This engagements did not go through the process of sketching as the client was sure they wanted to play with the letter ‘A’ so I thought getting straight down to Illustrator would work better because I could then experiment with various types.
The first three are the options shown to the client in the first round – they range from literal to more semi-abstract versions of the letter ‘A’. The logo also needed to represent fragmented elements coming together / flowing together.
The client reverted with their choice and the following were iterations in color and some typography and placement.
After a bit of a break during the engagement, I sent another option to the client because I was getting the feeling that they weren’t really ‘feeling’ it. [ It is wonderful to work with a client who lets you know they're not feeling and it and then they back it up with the specifics of why and what could be changed to make it better. ] Following is the option that led to the final logo.
The last image is the final logo in use for Advice Marketing. I would like to thank Shiva for a wonderful logo design engagement and very good luck with his consulting venture.
Popularity: 1% [?]
