I left my position at TAOW to pursue my freelance career full-time. I had a logo, but it I don’t feel it holds up to my current direction and skill level as a designer. I needed a new mark, and fast.
The prospect of branding yourself is always equal parts exciting and daunting. It can be much easier to brand an outside entity, where you can analyze the details objectively. As we all know, self-analysis is much harder, and we’re always our own worst critics. I’ll try not to be too wordy on this one, I’ve created a great deal of images. The process should be relatively apparent in the way I laid things out chronologically, but I will certainly offer my commentary. Behold, my friends, the evolution of my new personal logo, from rough sketch to the final design.
I always start the process in the sketchbook, it’s the most direct way to get ideas out.
Starting to solidify the direction of the logo; geometric and somewhat architectural.
Taking things into the computer; rough vector shapes and early color studies.
The logo needs something more, something to personalize it. I try to give everything I do that human touch, so integrating my hand feels very natural.
At this point I’m starting to feel somewhat uninspired. When this happens it’s always OK to go back to the drawing board and play around with some other ideas. Don’t want to miss any good ideas, yeah?
After drawing a bit more, I realize that I can have a fully hand drawn logo. When I try to vectorize the sketches I have made, an essential energy seems to get lost in translation. I set the sketches on the light table and go to work.
While I like what the hand-drawn element is doing for the logo, something still isn’t right. The hand gesture is too static and the type much too angular. So I set out to liven things up.
At this point things are really starting to come together, I can see the end of the tunnel. Still some work to be done, as the hand doesn’t quite compliment the geometry of the type, and the gesture is still a bit placid.
Drawing and redrawing to make sure that everything is perfect. The curve at the bottom of the J is extremely troublesome.
After many more attempts I land on a drawing that is exactly what I want. Now I needed to balance the type with the line weight of the logo. I had used Gotham in my previous logo, and while it remains a favorite, I want something just as geometric, but with a little more flair. Herbert Lubalin’s namesake typeface, with its elegant, light serifs, translates very well when drawn by hand. I’m in love! Now to redraw it several more times until it’s absolutely perfect.
I want the logo to live within a circle, so I can use it as a seal – a stamp of authenticity. A vector based circle won’t reflect the handmade quality of the logo, so I pull out the ink and compass to create a few precise yet rustic dots. With a chip off the edge, the bottom right specimen is exactly what I’m looking for
My last logo used pure Cyan. I want something similar but with a little more energy and life to it, so I shift it closer to green. Perfect! Now to add some highlights to bring the logo forward a bit. All that remains is to make sure the type is kerned perfectly. My logo is final!
