Week 1 is suddenly over, and I guess I have to say finally. For the last five days I’ve been sitting with this assignment for 8 hours a day, and that’s been pretty full on. But I’ve been able to follow my schedule and have done all the things I was meant to this week.
Monday – Reserach: Websearch on logo, brochures, salsa etc
Logo – I found my notes from Designing A Logo by Nigel French (which I saw a while ago), to refresh my memory. In this tutorial he explores topics such as the purpose of a logo, and what its qualites etc. should be. After this I searched for other salsa logos to get some inspiration, and made a moodboard.
Brochure – Continuing onto brochures, I then watched Designing A Brochure, which is also by Nigel French. French recommends to e.g. generate ideas by making mock-ups and create folding dummies, experiment with folding, and make sketch thumbnails. When choosing text and typography for the brochure, one needs to be concise (communicate clearly), use digestible chunks that communicate the message, consider pacing, stick to two fonts, create a hierarchy, and pay attention to even the smallest details (e.g. Letter and word spacing, correct dash etc). Throughout the video I also tried making the folds he did, to see how that actually works. I then did a Google search on this as well for another moodboard.
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Salsa – Since this is a salsa club, I did a search on the dance as well. It is a lively dance music with many different styles, originated in Cuba and has both African and Spanish influences. The lyrics are usually about love and everyday life. The (usually) partnered dance is characterised by rapid movement of arms, shoulders, feet, hips, and turns and lifts.
Tuesday – Research: Websearch on posters/flyers and business cards. Talk to client
Posters/Flyers – This day I watched Nigel French’ Design A Poster, and tried creating my own versions of the posters he made. In doing this not only did I learn new techniques, but also got some inspiration to try and come up with something a little different from what you usually see, or expect to see. I also set up a poster document template in InDesign, which will help me create posters quicker in the future. French emphasised that the purpose of a poster is to grab the viewer’s attention. Wherever possible, simplify shape and detail, maximise contrast, use bold typography, and choose solid, strong colours, etc. Of course this depends on the style of the poster, but it is a nice rule to have in mind.
Business Cards – Following this I watched Designing A Business Card by French (what would I do without this guy?), in which he gave quite a few good guidelines. One advice he gave was to start with the person with the longest name if designing business cards for several people in a business (which I will do). In terms of the layout, his advices are to use a grid, establish hierarchy, and don’t fear the white space.
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I also tried finding good definitions of posters, flyers and brochures – since these in some way can be a little similar: A flyer (or handbills) is usually a single, unfolded printed sheet intended to be held and read in the hand. Posters are bigger in size, although the size may vary here as well. They are generally posted (hence the name) at places where there is maximum visibility expected. Brochures (or pamphlets) can have certain similarities to flyers, but will almost always have printing on both sides, as well as containing folds that create multiple panels or pages denoted to information.
Target Group – All UOW students and staff, and non-students from the University, aged 18+, and all genders are welcome. The design then needs to apply to both males and females, and different age groups raging from 18.
Colours – To best reflect the club, they wish to use primary colours, to make it seem as vibrant and happy as it possibly can be. The colours used in the logo will be the basis for the rest of the designs for the club, to ensure consistency and a well thought through design that will bind all the different products together. In short, it needs to be fun and exciting, hip and passionate.
Wednesday – Idea Development: Find inspiration, sketches
Typography – I’m thinking a script would work well for the logo, since the club wishes to be seen as fun and exciting. It can’t be too strict, but I also need to consider the readability and keep scaling in mind. I have found the two fonts Black Jack and DK Jambo – which are fonts I think might fit. For the brochure, posters, flyers and business cards I’m thinking a sans serif font (Gill Sans for headings) might work well in combination with a serif font (Minion pro for body text). Many people argue that serifs make it easier to navigate visually through longer passages on print, as the serifs help moving the eyes along the lines of text.
Salsa Websites/Videos – After looking through websites for lots of salsa clubs, one thing is clear: they are all quite different from one another. Some use scripts for their logos and headings, while some go for sans serifs, serifs, or a combination of the latter two or even all three. The videos taught me that salsa is about the style. There is a lot of movement all the time. It’s sensual, and it’s passionate.
Sketches – I eventually made a mind map, before I began doing some sketches based on my client’s wishes. There was a wish of having a Z Fold brochure, so I made a quick mock up of this to better see what it would look like. I mainly focused on the sketches for the logo though, as a lot of the design for the rest of the products will be based a little on this. I sent my client some of these, to find out which direction they wanted me to go with the logo.
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Thursday – Idea Development: Sketches
I continued with my sketches, still focusing on the logo, and having received some feedback from my client. They told me which idea they preferred and thought would suit the blub the most, and I kept working on this. One of their wishes was to somehow integrate flames into the logo, which I found out was quite the challenge to connect well with the rest of the design. As Nigel French says in one of his videos, a logo should be simple – and it should work in smaller and larger sizes, so if there is too much going on it won’t work too well at a smaller size.
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My client also sent me the pictures they siwh to have in the brochure, as well as the member’s biographies which be part of that. This helped me get a better idea of what it really should look like, since I think the images are important to think of when considering the actual design for the brochure.
Friday – Logo
Today I kept working on the logo. After coming up with a few ideas for different flames yesterday, and sleeping on those ideas, I could continue this work with a fresh eye. I did these sketches digitally and quickly saw which worked the best.
My top three out of these were; bottom left corner, bottom right corner, and middle row to the right. However, my client’s wish was the one to the left on the middle row.
Until next time, stay creative,
Monika
Monika RH Design 