SELF PROMOTION - LOGO DESIGN

23rd January 2018 and 6th February 2018

In every creative professional’s career, there comes a point when they need some form of self-promotional mate-
rial. It’s no secret that self-design is difficult. It requires focus, honesty and inspiration. If your design is successful
and honest, your audience, namely potential clients, will create a mental image of you and subconsciously decide if
they like you or not — all by interacting with your self-design. We work in an industry of relationships. We maintain
relationships with clients. We design Web sites, brochures and logos that forge relationships between our clients and
their customers. If we can’t effectively portray ourselves, how can we instil confidence in customers that we can ef-
fectively portray their products or services? Intangible, gut-instinct impressions from clients — especially first impres-
sions — can make all the difference...

RESEARCH TASK
Find 15 logos and put into your portfolio of evidence, identify how the logos been created –
identifying specific software used and techniques and your personal opinion on them, how can
they inform your development

Hipster logo generator - using the website create a quick hipster logo.

CREATE
To get started you need to identify what it is you are trying to communicate with your logo, so
your audience has a clear understanding of what to expect. Write down some questions and
then write the answers. Examine your list and construct a theme from the responses. Draw on
this collective image you have created to answer design-specific questions. What colour palette
is best suited for my own design? Should I use this bold titling font or this elegant serif? Should I
have a picture of a subway or a tree? Do I want photography at all? etc.... Often, a single element
can snowball into huge inspiration. For instance, if you are particularly fond of autumn, maybe
the geometric pattern in a leaf inspires a new personal logo, and the gold and red tones set the
colour choices for your Web site. You may wish to list 20+ words that you like, things you like...
Using layout paper, create thumbnail sketches of your proposed idea/ideas and development.
You are free to use any of the digital studies work created in the first semester as a starting
point for further exploration. Then using a combination of techniques in Adobe Illustrator and
Photoshop create your own Logo design for yourself as a freelance designer. This could be in the
form of your name or a company name.

Take plenty of screen-shots of your development with the software, and extend your skills further
based on ideas from your research.

EXTEND
You may wish to create a Brand guidelines document, indicating specific fonts, colours, sizing,
placement. This could also include a range of logos dependent on usage, i.e. purely type, type
and pictogram, just pictogram.
PRESENT
Using Adobe Illustrator or InDesign you could create templates for business cards, letterheads,
invoices and other relevant formats and Photoshop for mock ups. Feel free to use the blank slate
and Graphic River templates to present mock ups in a sophisticated and appropriate way.

TECHNIQUES LEARNT
Refresh on Photoshop and Illustrator skills
Advanced Photoshop and Illustrator techniques based on previous learning and new
requirements.

OUTCOMES
Self promotion logo
Mock ups of identity
Brand Guidelines document

PORTFOLIO OF EVIDENCE
You will need to document your design process, including
• Research,
• Initial thumbnail sketches/ideas,
• Screen-shots of tools/software/techniques used,
• Notes on processes used, skills learnt, how to guides
• Review of outcomes

THINK ABOUT HOW THIS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED INTO YOUR PORTFOLIO ANIMATION, IF YOU
WANT ELEMENTS TO ANIMATE OR BECOME RESPONSIVE THEN USE LAYERS AND NAME ALL
YOUR ELEMENTS CORRECTLY.