Well, this is a bit of a departure from warm bitter and Hot Pots for Newton and Ridley, however, it’s a great exercise to have a bit of creative fun with as well as play with ideas, themes and words. The first task was to create a Pinterest board (link below) for ideas and then create a mind map to dissect the brief, before moving onto some concept ideas.
The first design features a wine glass stain with details of a chickens head superimposed and the Wallington font was placed on a curved text path. Whilst not so sure about the overall concept as it looks a bit too much fast food restaurant, the use of the wine glass stain works. I made the wine glass stain from pouring out some of my coffee into a saucer, dipping the bottom of a mug into it and them blotting it on cartridge paper before scanning. Top tip if you want to do this; don’t use coffee with sugar in like I did. It took an age to dry and left the page sticky.
The next stage was to download a silhouette of a chicken. The plan had been to nip to a local farm and grab a shot or two of their chickens. However on top of everything else that 2020 has given us we now have Avian Flu restrictions in place so I found a PNG version via an internet search.
One approach I did want to try was a text only logo using Bohemian Typewriter font, which looked a little empty. I then added the chicken silhouette behind the writing at a greatly reduced opacity (25%)
The next version featured the whole silhouette with a decorative font overlay, in this instance AR Decode, followed by a rearrange wording layout in Script MT Bold.
The next version is a stylised outline of a sitting hen using the stock silhouette as a basic form. Underneath I added the name of the café in Rage Italic.
The next idea retained the sitting hen, but moved the logo above the body and the cup stains coloured a red wine shade and made to appear as eggs.
The final French Hen design was a quick lay to see if the image concept would work. On reflection, possibly, in 1950’s London, a little too clichéd.
So of the lots which three to consider, and of this which one to develop into the final idea?
To consider which design is best I have to consider three key points, can the design be;
- Used for printed beermat’s, menus and napkins?
- Ease of application for colour for signage and decal cut for windows?
- Use on T-Shirts (embroidered for longevity)?
Straight the way 3 is simply too complex, well the wine stain eggs definitely are, which leaves 1 and 2 and me with an issue, which would be the best? A quick T-shirt mock-up will hopefully help me make up my mind.
The next stage is to think on regarding the use of the Newton and Ridley logo and finding one on Instagram I prepared it to be used on the menu and pub sign, as breweries tend to add their brand name to signage and menus, normally at the bottom.
The Newton and Ridley colour palette was identified with the Photoshop colour picker tool to give me the colours below:
At this point the logo develops once more and to maintain the corporate colours then a suitable background is added, in this case elliptical. This would be used on any media that requires the use of colour. I applied the colours to the design as well, adding an outer shadow to the script to help it stand out.
The next step is to render the mock ups ready for client inspection.
The colour coaster back design features details for the units pertaining to the drinking of bottle wine and are presented on a circular mat, which is softer than a traditional square beer mat. This always lends itself to the softer aesthetic associated with a wine bar. Note the inclusion of the Newton and Ridley logo underneath the health advice.
The menu front incorporated the logo I had designed as well as the Newton and Ridley logo. The menu cover used the Wallington Font and stuck to the simpler black and white logo, which was coloured 80% grey instead of an overbearing black. Whilst the white space was picking up a lot of slack I felt a decorative border could also work well.
The final image features a napkin and take-out bag with the simple black and white line drawing, which looks rather snazzy in a minimalistic way.
So on reflection I think the plain black and white (or 80% grey) logo matches the design brief both aesthetically and ergonomically. Whilst the colour logo looks good on the beer mats, I’d push to keep it there as it doesn’t really match with the overall aesthetic on a larger scale.
Overall a great exercise, and my confidence has really grown over the past few exercise, especially with be able to create mock-ups too.
Resources Used
Newton and Ridley Logo https://www.instagram.com/p/8LgHotghaC/ (Accessed 27122020)
French Hen Board https://www.pinterest.co.uk/Benjskipper/french-hen/ (Accessed 28122020)
Chicken Silhouette https://www.clipartmax.com/download/m2i8d3H7K9K9H7m2_chicken-meat-silhouette-clip-art-chicken-silhouette-png/ (Accessed 28122020)
Drink aware Label https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2012/07/young-drinkers-more-likely-to-check-units/ (Accessed 29122020)
Decorative Border https://pngtree.com/freepng/pastoral-border_1794047.html (Accessed 29122020)
