Brand Corporate Identity: Project #2
30.08.2021 - 08.10.2021 (Week #2 - Week #7)
Seerat Tayyab Mukhtar Qureshi - 0345576 (BDCM)
Brand Corporate Identity
Project #2
Lectures:
BCI_3_Types of Marks
A combination mark can also be known as a signature and a logotype can also be known as a wordmark.
Logo:
The term logo is short for logotype, design speak for a trademark made if custom lettered word.
Different types of "logos"
Monogram:
A motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters
After this, I began sketching out some ideas for my logo
Heraldry:
Heraldry is a broad term encompassing the design, display and study of armorial bearings, together with the study of ceremony rank and pedigree. From this comes related terms like; crest, coat of arms, insignia.
Mark:
By itself, it just means an impression made on something. However, when combined with another word, i.e trademark, watermark, hallmark etc. these marks signify ownership or identification. They represent the quality, ability and skill levels.
While the ambiguous term 'logo' has usurped the correct term 'trademark', trademark reign supreme and carries legal weight.
A trademark is a symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product. A trademark or servicemark are both 'unregistered' and are temporary until the recognisable sign, design it expression becomes a registered trademark.
BCI_4_Brand Ideals
A brand ideal is a higher purpose of a brand or organisation that goes beyond the product or service they sell. The ideal is the brand's inspirational reason for being. Brand values deliver real engagement and direct you towards more powerful binds with your target audience. Ideals are essential to a responsible creative process, regardless of the size of a company or the nature of a business. They are as follows; vision, meaning, authenticity, differentiation, sustainability, coherence, flexibility, commitment and value.
Vision: A compelling vision by an effective, articulate and passionate leader is the foundation for the best brands.
Meaning: The best brands stand for something— a big idea, a strategic position or a defined set of values.
Authenticity: This is not possible without the organisation having clarity about its market, positioning, value proposition and competitive difference.
Differentiation: Brands are always competing with others in their categories. At some level, it is with all brands that want our attention, focus and loyalty.
Sustainability: This is the ability to have longevity in an environment in constant flux and characterised by future permutations no one can predict
Coherence: Whenever a customer experiences a brand it must feel familiar and have the desired effect.
Flexibility: An effective brand identity positions a company for change and growth in the future. It supports an evolving strategy.
Commitment: All people engaged with the brand have complete motivation and dedication in order for it to succeed.
Value: Measurable results need to be created that promote and sustain the brand.
Brand ideals help equip the employees to tap into their intuitions and imagination. They also help create deep relationships with customers.
BCI_5_Positioning
Brand positioning is the process of positioning your brand in the mind of your customers. Once a brand has been positioned, it is notoriously difficult to reposition. The goal is to create a unique impression in the customers' minds so that they associate something specific and desirable with your brand that is distinct from the rest of the marketplace.
There are different positioning strategies;
Arm wrestling: Trying to take on the market leader and beat them at their own game. It takes a lot of money and time
Big fish, smaller pond: The focus is on a niche market within a larger market that is being underserved, where the larger player is not meeting a specific need.
Reframe the market: Reframes an existing market in new terms. Works if the product/service features innovation or if there is a change in the market need/expectation
Change the game: For when there is no market category for what you do. You are the first of your kind so you invent your own market.
In order to create a positioning strategy, you must first identify your brand's uniqueness and determine what differentiates you from the competition. Effective positioning for a product/service is based on the differentiating characteristics. These questions can help, who are you, what do you do and why does it matter?
To create a brand positioning statement, we need to consider 4 essential elements. Target customers, market definition, brand promise and reason to believe. A tagline or slogan can also be created to help.
Instructions:
Module Information Booklet
Project #2A
For this project, we had to collect 28 logos and analyse them to determine whether we think they are good or bad in terms of design.
Fig 1.0: Logo Analysis
Project #2B
For this project, we have to come up with a logo for a brand. Ms Li Lian told us to start off by thinking that if we weren't graphic designers what would we be? We came up with a few ideas and Ms Li Lian reviewed them with us.
Fig 1.0: My ideas
Ms Li Lian liked the idea of the fashion brand Monday and said that I seemed more passionate about it which was true and said I should go with that and start my mindmap.
Fig 1.1: Mind map
This was just a basic mind map of my ideas and themes, I did another more detailed one.
Fig 1.2: Mind Map 02
Fig 1.3: Sketches
After receiving feedback, I redid my mind map and sketches.
Fig 1.4: Extended Mind Map
Fig 1.5: Sketches 02
After Ms Li Lian's feedback, I started working on some new sketches and digitalising some parts of my logo.
Fig 1.6: Sketches
Fig 1.7: Digital attempts
Ms Li Lian said not to use any colour at first and continue with the progression.
Fig 1.8: Digital attempts
I liked the wings and Ms Li Lian agreed they looked good too. For next week I can experiment with different fonts and layouts.
Fig 1.9: Trying different fonts
Fig 2.0: Trying different layout styles
Ms Li Lian said layout 1 worked the best and I should work on the overlapping details and space rationalisation. She also said I could use the original font that I liked.
Fig 2.1: Project 2
Fig 2.2: Logo GIF
After some feedback from Ms Li Lian, I made changes for my final submission
Fig 2.3: Project #2 Final Submission PDF
Fig 2.4: Logo Final GIF
Feedback:
Week #2: Ms Li Lian gave me feedback on my 3 ideas and said Monday actually sounded quite interesting. She said I can go onto my mindmap for the brand and also work on project 2A on the side and collect logos.
Week #3: After Ms Li Lian looked over my sketches she said they were good but my ideas were very conflicting. This was because my min map was not focused on the logo but rather the brand. I should redo my mind and expand more on what the logo will be like and what it will represent. Then next week I should show her more focused sketches.
Week #4: Although this week was a public holiday, Ms Li Lian still helped us go through our work and give us feedback. She said my logo analysis was good and my sketches were good too. She pointed out that some specific elements of the logo worked well such as pixelated hearts and computer monitors. I can focus on these and experiment with mixing them to see what I can come with.
Week #5: Throughout the week I bothered Ms Li Lian through whatsapp for feedback and she helped me refine my logo. She mentioned I should be careful about the small details of the pixel wings and how they overlap with the heart. My logo name was blending in too much with the rest of the logo in the outline version, so she suggested using it solid.
Week #6: This week Ms Li Lian looked over my current progress and said it was looking good I can continue to work on the colour schemes and rationalisation for the final submission.
Week #7: Ms Li Lian pointed out some small changes I needed to make in my final submission such as the space rationalisation and patterns.
Reflection:
Experience: This project was honestly a really cool experience. The logo collection was an interesting experience since normally when we won't look at everyday logos in such detail. For Project #2B all the sketching and ideas really pushed me to think further than just the surface level of things. Tweaking little things and brainstorming can get frustrating sometimes but when I look back on what I had at the start of the project I realise how much all that experience has refined and polished my logo.
Observation: I noticed that most of my classmates were in the same boat with all the sketching and idea generation, but just like me I saw their ideas and logos get even stronger. Ms Li Lian is really good at giving constructive feedback and I noticed how big of a difference the tiniest of changes make.
Findings: I found that logo making is a super complex process, and all the 28 logos I collected and analysed probably went through an even more intense process than mine. I did find myself enjoying it sometimes because I really liked the aesthetic I had come up with and I did want it to truly reflect what I wanted the brand to be. I think project #3 will be quite interesting too since we are focusing more on the brand
Further Reading:
This is not a T-Shirt— Bobby Hundreds
For this project, I picked up this book because it is quite relevant to my idea and my project. This book is a memoir of the co-founder of one of the most successful streetwear brands ever, The Hundreds. In this book, Bobby Kim AKA Bobby Hundreds tells his story of how they built their brand from scratch and shaped its identity.
Just like most brands, The Hundreds struggled to form a unique identity in early 2000s Los Angeles. Other brands had more funding, connections and customers and The Hundreds did not have any of that. However, Bobby ran a blog about streetwear in which he connected with people with like minds. Here was where The Hundreds' identity was shaped.
The identity of the brand was based on their community and fostering street culture. This dedication to the people and community was what made The Hundreds stand out among other brands.
I found this book quite inspiring and interesting to read. The brand started from scratch with no proper funding or experience but with the help of a unique and well-developed identity, they became one of the biggest streetwear brands. They also talk about their failures and how sometimes they would divert from the brand principles to grow and realised that it wasn't right. Overall, this book helped emphasise the importance of this module and why we must work hard because the identity of the brand really does determine everything.
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