Following a slight change in direction for the year, I've swapped on of my briefs – POG, and replaced it with No. 7 Antiques. A brief I originally attempted in the responsive module during second year, however due to the lack of time, and ability, almost. I really wasn't happy with the finished product.
In relation to my design process, I decided to try a different approach to how I would design the logo. I'm always looking for different design process, I think they're really interesting. Seeing how overs work, seeing how their process differs to my own, comparing the two - add seeing how I can implement elements of other's workflow into my own. In a way, this brief is almost experimental in that sense.
I found Aaron Draplin's video on how he designs a logo.
I've attempted to implement elements of this into my design process, mainly the initial development, writing out the logo over and over again, making alterations to each variant, as you can see below.
I first began to write out the name of the business, No. 7 Antiques. Changing the weight, the case, the spacing the alignment the font style, to see if anything sparked, if anything stood out. The raised zero, which was then aligned to the cap height using a stroke raising it from below, looked quite vintage, which fits with the brand.
Further developing the look of the logotype, working with how it will sit, justify and align. The use of typography decoration has been applied to see if it might add anything to the logotype. Particularly liking how the logotype third down on the left looks, using a stroke to almost underline the logo – which may look better aligned with the No. 7, but I'll tweak that when I move to the machine.
Finally playing with tag lines and subtitles in the logo, trying to find some way they can work together. Also exploring framing, content boxes which the logo might sit within – not that these really work, but it's better to get them out the way sooner than later.
I then took the logos into illustrator, taking the few which I think worked or had potential, initially. I created the first logo, and then duplicated it, made a slight change, developing a small aspect of the logo and I then duplicated it again, making another change – and so on. At this stage, a lot of the design decisions are based on 'what if's, like what if we made this bold, or increased the spacing.
Then creating another set of logos in a different typeface, you can see how I've moved from one variant to the other. I added a hanging serif to the 7, which gave the typeface a fuller look, whilst also adding a vintage feel to the logo, as opposed to a modern clean typeface.
