This exercise is an interesting one which starts off with some interesting research opportunities, looking at both Estate Agency and Housing Association (I live in a Housing Association property and their branding is not exactly inspiring) logos and branding the key theme is; home. The shape is used throughout and even before I started with my mind map I couldn’t help but feel influenced. Interesting examples of the use of the company name as part of the logo were thin on the ground.
The first task was to generate a mind map pulling in all the pertinent elements that focused on the terms First Time Buyer. These ideas would normally be shown and developed in conjunction with the Marketing teams, ensuring the logos were on message, not ambiguous or contentious. Any visit would also introduce me to the actually company ethos; are they really different? Are they simply rebranding? Are they working with customers? How do they define modern? Where are they selling properties? Admittedly these are fill in the gaps type questions so I will endeavour to do my best.
The predominant theme for me was that stability and comfort were important to both CHA and their customers. Hopefully this translates in my designs and colour palette.
Regarding colour I’m going for two, three colour selections which reflects warmth and welcoming. No contemporary grey here.
I tried making a logo with over laid lettering of the acronym of CHA and had a quick play, but it really didn’t look right. So onto put the three designs I sketched out earlier through DTP using Affinity Designer.
The first design used the colours I had previously identified as Urban and Rural working with the lettering (Javanese Script) to form a stair way, with the letters forming the steps. I made a couple variants and tidied up the lettering arrangement to arrive at the options that would be offered. Though without the horizontal blocks the design looks flat.
The next design was straight forward in construction, using the letters to help shape the house.
The final of the three designs developed as a theme using the full name of the association to form the house, and then dropping the ‘A’ from association and introducing a welcoming open door. I then experimented with a range of effects including 3D, fade and contrasting colours as well as a black and white version.
These ideas would normally be shown and developed in conjunction with the Marketing teams, ensuring the logos were on message, not ambiguous or contentious. Any visit would also introduce me to the actually company ethos; are they really different? Are they simply rebranding? Are they working with customers? How do they define modern? Where are they selling properties? Admittedly these are fill- in-the-gaps type questions so I will endeavour to do my best.
The next step is to choose a design I wish to use, which is a little bit of a challenge as I like the first and third examples. The second one didn’t translate well to DTP which is a surprise. So biting the bullet on this one I think I’ll go for the Rural palette House with open door motif.
To test the proof of the design I thought I’d try the mock generator that I’ve seen used (www.mockups-design.com ) so as to get a real world feel for the design and to measure how the White Space complements or swamps the overall design. The great thing is using this mock up, a first for me; give life to a finished project. A link to this really needs to be in the course info (probably is and I’ve missed it). For the print on the paper I generated script with the Ipsum generator using Helvetica as I feel it reflects the modern feel CHA is aiming for. I added a small catch phrase to sit underneath the log in Dali script as this is something that many such organisations use on their stationary. For the Business Cards I went for one colour and one embossed to check that the pattern would be legible should the client require an embossed card.
The newspaper advert was designed to be as simple as possible using an inviting background still from a commercial job I did a few years ago and seemed to match the modern and homely vide I was after. General lettering was Helvetica and the motto Dali. The more I use the ‘rural’colour scheme the more it feels right for the brand.
The nice surprise was how clear the lines of the logo’s roof were, I was concerned they’d be somehow lost. The true test will be photocopying so hopefully post Christmas I’ll get the photocopying done, Tier 4 withstanding and see how the letter head in particular comes out.
I showed my handiwork to my family and its amazing how the Mock-Ups make my work pop out and give it life. The daughter was filled with the usual teenage enthusiasm whilst my wife was impressed with the presentation of the logo, especially the newspaper advert.
I showed my handiwork to my family and its amazing how the Mock-Ups make my work pop out and give it life. The daughter was filled with the usual teenage enthusiasm whilst my wife was impressed with the presentation of the logo, especially the newspaper advert. Hopefully I’ve hit the right note with this exercise.
Resources Used
Estate Agency and Housing Association logo examples: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/Benjskipper/estate-agents/ (Accessed 20122020)
Mock up Generator https://mockups-design.com/download-in-progress/?dlm-dp-dl=3703 (Accessed 21122020)
Letter Content https://www.lipsum.com/ (Accessed 21122020)
Newspaper mock up – https://www.behance.net/gallery/30810633/Free-PSD-Newspaper-advert-mock-up (Accessed 21122020)
