Brand Corporate Identity / Task 2A & 2B

on

 23/09/24 - 30/10/24 / Week 1 - Week 7

Sheren Princessa Davon / 0362134

Brand Corporate Identity / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University

Task 2A & 2B




LECTURES


BCI_5_Positioning

Positioning

  • the process of positioning your brand in the customers' minds
  • aka positioning strategy, brand strategy, brand positioning statement
  • to break through in the noise of the market to be unique & create a lasting impression in the consumer's mind
Effects of positioning: ex, Volvo positioned itself as a touch & safe car that became no 1 choice for families, but an unintended consequence is that it had less "sex-appeal"

Fig. 1.1 Volvo 

Types of positioning stategies
  • arm wrestling: trying to take on the market leader & beat them at their own game. takes lots of time & money (ex. coke vs pepsi)
  • big fish, smaller pond: focus on a niche market within a larger market that is underserved where there is a larger player who's not meeting a specific need (maccentric vs mac)
  • reframe the market: reframes an existing market in new terms, works best if the product/service has innovation/change in the market need/expectation (apple/tesla/pandemic)
  • change the game: for when there is no market category, first of your kind & invent your own market. you're successful when people can associate your brand to a verb "im uber-ing". (uber, grab)
Positioning VS. Differentiation
  • Positioning: strategic process marketers use to determine the place or niche this service/product/etc should occupy in a given market, identifying distinctive places they want the product to be in the consumers' minds
  • Differentiation: the process companies use to make a product/service stand out from its competitors
7 key steps to identifying positioning in the marketplace:
  • determine how your brand is currently positioning itself
  • identify direct competitors
  • understand how each competitor is positioning their brand
  • compare your understanding to competitors to identify your uniqueness
  • develop a distinct & value-based positioning idea
  • craft a brand positioning statement
  • test the efficacy of your brand positioning statement
How to create a brand positioning statement:
  • target consumer
  • market definition: what category is your brand competing in & your brand relevance
  • brand promise: most compelling (emotional/rational) benefit compared to competitors
  • reason to believe: compelling evidence your brand delivers on brand promise

INSTRUCTIONS

Task 2A: Logo Analysis

For this task, we were tasked to collect 28 logos and analyze them according to logo type, abstract/descriptive, graphical/base elements, color scheme, and type choice. Below is my submission:

Fig 2.1 Task 2A Submission - PDF. Week 6 (30/10/24)

Task 2B: Logo Design

Week 1
For the second and major part of this task, we are required to create a brand of our choice, then design a logo for it. To start, Ms. Lilian told us to think of 3 alternative career choices and answer some questions regarding it.

Fig. 2.2 Alternative Career Choices - Week 1 

After discussing my 3 alternative career options with Ms. Lilian, we decided on my third idea, a handmade pressed flower jewelry brand that hosts workshops alongside selling jewelry. 

Week 2
I named my jewelry business "Floragems". I created 2 mind maps, one regarding the business aspect of my brand, and another about the brand name itself.

Fig. 2.3 Mindmap Business - Week 2

Fig. 2.4 Mindmap Brand Name - Week 2

After group tutorial, I noted down some feedback I got from my peers and Ms. Lilian, then began sketching some logo ideas.

Week 3
We were required to create 2 A4 size sheets of sketches to produce a wider range. I started sketching with the idea of combining a gem and a leaf/flower, reflecting the two aspects of my brand name. 

Fig. 2.5 Sheet1 Sketches - Week 3


Fig. 2.6 Sheet2 Sketches - Week 3

Week 4
Based on last week's feedback, I took the chosen sketches and tried to expand them, I tried out more icons which I then incorporated into the typography in the 2nd sheet. A lot of people liked the more typographic, free flow style so I created more versions of it in my 2nd round of sketches.

Fig. 2.7 Sheet1 Sketch #2 - Week 4

Fig. 2.8 Sheet2 Sketch #2 - Week 4

Week 5
Upon last week's feedback I started digitizing the chosen sketches to get a feel of how it would look like with a proper form. I started with the sketch that got the most votes, the flowy handlettering type (#12 and #14).

Fig. 2.9 Logo Digitization #1 on Illustrator

However after the digitization, I didn't find myself connecting with it so I started to explore more versions from the chosen sketches in the previous week. I tried out different versions, typefaces, played around with the icons and illustrations, mostly focused on creating a wordmark.

Fig. 2.10 Logo Digitization #2 Overview on Illustrator

Fig. 2.11 Logo Digitization #2 Overview on Illustrator

I wanted to create a simple yet effective wordmark + brandmark which will allow me to use the logo in several ways, thus I stuck with the circular flower. I was quite happy with the ones in Fig. 2.11 so I decided to stop there and wait until next week's feedback to proceed. 

Week 6
After the tutorial feedback session with Ms. Lilian, we decided on my final logo choice:

Fig. 2.12 Chosen Logo Draft

I did some refinements, playing around with the different stroke widths for the brandmark to see which one fits the best. I also tried splitting my wordmark into two, playing around with the letter positioning, etc. 

Fig. 2.13 Chosen Logo Exploration

But after all the exploration, I still felt that the original position version was the best, all I had to do was to ensure which stroke width to use. Nonetheless, I started exploring some patterns and started formatting all the necessary elements in the final submission document to show Ms. Lilian next week.

Fig. 2.14 Document Setup Draft

Week 7
After the feedback session, I refined my brandmark. I ended up matching the stroke width of my brandmark with the horizontal stroke in the letter 'e' of the wordmark.
Fig. 2.15 Brandmark space rationalization 

After finalizing my brandmark, I also refined the different patterns derived from my brandmark.

Fig. 2.16 Patterns Derived on Illustrator

Fig. 2.17 Logo Digitization Illustrator Overview

I did all the refinements, logo clearspace, logo space rationalization, etc etc. and formatted the final document setup ready to be submitted.

Fig. 2.18 Document Setup Overview on Illustrator

Finally, I opened up After Effects to create my logo animation. I used the trace path and added keyframes where necessary, changing the graphs to adjust the speed, used a simple fade in text transition and I ended up with a simple GIF animation of my logo.

Fig. 2.19 Logo Animation on AE

Fig. 2.20 Logo Animation Draft

I didn't like the color changes at the end as I felt like it was too abrupt and choppy but due to time constraints I didn't have time to change it so I just decided to remove it.

Task 2B: Final Submission


Fig. 2.21 Final Task 2B: Logo Design - PDF. Week 7 (30/10/24)


Fig. 2.22 Final Logo Animation - GIF. Week 7 (30/10/24)

FEEDBACK

WEEK 1

Showed Ms. Lilian 3 alternative career choices, advised to go for the third option; handmade pressed-flower jewelry.


WEEK 2

We had a group tutorial this week and we showed each other our mind maps for the brand and business.

From peers:

  • suggestion: people can bring their own flowers to the workshop

  • elaborate on the material

From Ms Lilian:

  • Expand on the concept, colors, logo ideas

  • Expand gems 


WEEK 3

We had another group tutorial this week and I showed the group my 2A4 size initial sketches.

Sketches

  • 10 sheet2 works better as a pattern than a logo

  • 5 sheet2 can explore the form better


Sketches with most room of exploration:

  • 13 (sheet2), 8 (sheet1) but explore more on the gem aspect

  • 8 (sheet1) has potential

  • 1, 2 sheet1, explore more of the organic forms 


WEEK 4

We had a group tutorial again this week. I came up with more sketches, most people liked #12 and #17. #18 is interesting but it seems like there might be something missing. Try to digitize them first, then further explore.


WEEK 5

Showed Ms. Lilian the digitized logos from last week’s chosen sketches. We chose the simple but effective one, but make sure to not scale the strokes and try to experiment with the stroke widths of the gem thing to see if it’s possible to use it as a mark.


WEEK 6

I showed Ms. Lilian my initial document setup, we refined the stroke width for my brand mark and she reminded me to also create the space rationalization and clearspace for both brand mark and wordmark. For the patterns, the first one may not be the best choice since my logomark can’t really be seen anymore, so I was advised to go for the other two. 


WEEK 7 (after submission)

2A Able to identify the types of logo analysed. Analysis is accurate and concise fulfilling the requirements of the brief. Room for more critical analysis (opinion, success, etc.) of chosen logos. Do credit your sources. 2B Do document process of digitisation of logo shown during tutorial in submission to better support the final outcome. Most framework covered accurately demonstrating attention to detail as well as high level of critical thinking ability to assimilate document setup information and lectures with feedback given during tutorial. The result is a logo presented in an accurate manner encompassing the framework with accuracy and precision (especially commendable on logo space rationalisation as well as clearspace). Do consider the placement of logo with strapline to adhere to suggested logo clearspace (might look too low, hence maybe logo clearspace for full logo might need to be reconsidered). Opportunity for brandmark to be even smaller at minimum size as demonstrated by full logo where the brandmark component is still visible at minimum size. Choice of typography reflects a good eye and sensitivity to type. Overall, a simple logo design with good clarity on representation.

REFLECTION

I'd say this task was quite challenging. This was my first time doing logo design and branding, which I struggled at first as I had a hard time coming up with concepts or sketches that could reflect my brand. But with the weekly feedback sessions and Ms. Lilian's guidance, it certainly made the experience smoother. I was able to reflect on my peers' comments which allowed me to improve my work step by step. Group tutorials allowed objective feedback to be given, which was really helpful as they noticed things that I might not have. I'm grateful for the help of my peers in this task.

The concurrent analysis of logos (Task 2A) also helped in increasing my knowledge regarding logos and allowed me to decide which type of logo is suitable for my brand, what encompasses a good logo and it helped guide me in designing my own. I realized that logos are literally everywhere and the analysis and it definitely led me to be more aware of the design and logos around me.



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