Report – Finished Logo

In this assignment I have tried capturing the feeling of being a teenager with the way I think a chocolate brand logo should look like. I researched other chocolate brands only to find out that some of these look very serious and I decided that I wanted something that could be more fun, yet not too childish.

I have tried telling myself that simplicity is key, and not added more elements than I felt necessary. The logo needs to give the brand Crave some identity, distinct it from its market competitors, and communicate a positive message about the brand.

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RGB

CMYK

Black & White

RGB – CMYK – Black & White

Although quite different from what I first imagined it would look like, I am rather happy about the design I have created. As I said in the introduction, I wanted to make a logo that gave the brand Crave an identity; a logo that could distinct it from the market competitors; and a logo that would communicate something positive about the brand. I think my logo does this, and I don’t think it’s hard to understand it’s a chocolate brand logo.

Because of the few elements used, it should work well both in smaller and larger scales, but could lose some information if it’s too small. On a lighter note, it looks good both in black and white as well as in colour, which is very important.

This has been an incredibly interesting process because I have tried out so many ideas, and really got to see the process of refining ones ideas. My finished product is very different from what I had in mind when I first began, but I believe it is for the best: It communicates my message, and it has all the elements that I wanted without them becoming too dominant in the overall design.

For later projects I have proved to myself that having a schedule is a good idea, and that I should stick to making that. Illustrator and I have become better friends as well, which I’m sure will help me produce designs faster and easier in the future. Finally, this has been a fun assignment that has taught me a lot about logos and logo designs.

– This is an extract from the report I submitted, and the whole report can be read here: REPORT –

Until next time, stay creative,
Monika

Colour Suggestions

Due Week 5, Friday 15.04.16 at 4pm

Once I had my logo idea ready it was time to work with some colours! I also inverted the black to white to see what that would look like.

Looking back at my original idea of including red, orange and yellow (to reflect sunsets), I tried doing that, but I think that changed the message of the logo too much. It was no longer about chocolate, but could be something like yoghurt or other types of lollies; not chocolate though. So I felt more satisfied with the brown colour choices, and think I have settled down on the one to the left on the second row. I like having one grade of the brown for the letters, and a slightly different grade for the wings and semi circles. Am still debating with myself whether or not to have the wings’ colour different from the rest of the word though; will it separate it too much so as people won’t read it as a V? Would it be better to have the V in the same colour as the rest of the letters, and only the semi circles different?

By going for this suggestion, I also make sure I don’t have too many colours, as the assignment told us to have no more than 2 or 3. Now I have one, but in two different grades, which I think makes it a little more interesting to look at.

On to the report writing!

Until next time, stay creative,
Monika

Refining ideas

Due Week 5, Friday 15.04.16 at 4pm

Since I eventually realised I wasn’t quite happy with the way my idea turned out once I first started working on it in Illustrator – it’s not really easy enough to read, and the wings just don’t look the way I want them to – I tried opening my mind. I’m becoming better friends with Illustrator minute by minute, drawing by drawing as well, which for sure helped in creating a few different sketches, and trying out fonts.

Fonts, from top right to bottom left; Sistah Ysse, Raw Delta Hand Street, Mathilde, Zentaiges, Capsuula, and Quantum Leap.

These are all quite different from one another, and the reason I tried out all of them is that I just wanted to try out completely different things. See what could work, and what wouldn’t. The other fonts used below, are called Quantum Leap (upper case letters) and Chocolate Bar Demo. I played around with shapes, and with the Pathfinder tool I created some exciting elements that I liked. Made a selection of my six favourite ideas and slept on that over night before deciding what to continue working with, and while waiting for some feedback from tutors.
I ended up being pretty satisfied with the font (Chocolate Bar Demo) and the way I did the V on the bottom left sketch, so I changed the design quite drastically and worked more with this. Since the V from the sketch was done quickly, I had to neaten this up before doing anything else. It didn’t work when you decreased its size, as the white lines inside disappeared (as seen on the example above), and I did not like that. I also reflected one half to make the second half on this, to make sure that both sides were in the same size etc.

Looking back at what I was working with on my original idea and the infinity sign, I decided to try and include this. Having the whole sign integrated with the logo did not work because it “competed” too much with the font and writing, so I converted this to outlines as well and began deleting parts of it. Kind of liked the two curved lines that created and the way they encompass the word; the name of the brand.

One of my tutors seemed to like this as well, so the next step should be to come up with colour suggestions!

Until next time, stay creative,
Monika

Work Progress

Due Week 5, Friday 15.04.16 at 4pm

Having decided which sketch to work with, I did a few more sketches in that theme by hand the other day. I tried thinking of better ways of doing this, and came up with a few.

I liked the idea of the curved line being coming out from the wings, because I think this gave it the feeling of a feather as well. And since feathers and wings go together I think that fits. So I opened my biggest enemy Adobe Illustrator and started working on this. I used the font Sistah Ysse on the letters, and used Times New Roman to create the infinity sign (the number 8 on a 90 degree angle).

To make the E work with the infinity symbol I had to convert the letters to outlines, and then erased some parts from the E. I think the design as a whole looked quite neat, but the question is whether or not it is readable enough. Something about it just doesn’t feel right, and I’m not sure if it has the feel I want.

So; time to work some more in Illustrator and maybe even try out a few completely different things! It’s so easy to lock yourself to one idea and then get so focused on that particular idea, which doesn’t always work out as well as it could have had you had a more open mind.

Until next time, stay creative,
Monika

The Sketching Process

Due Week 5, Friday 15.04.16 at 4pm

With my mind map and moodboard in mind, I sat down with pencils and sharpies this weekend, and started sketching a few ideas.

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I then had a look at which ideas I liked the best, and asked for some feedback on our forum at Moodle. That’s one of the things I like about how this study works; you can always ask questions and you get feedback quite quickly. So when you sit there with so many sketches and you have no idea if any of them could work out or not, and you’re in need of a fresh eye, you simply ask your fellow students and tutors.

As I explained on the forum; on number 1, 3, 6 and 7 I tried combining wings with the letter V, so as to describe being young, wild and free. Number 2 is a font I think is pretty, but don’t know if I think it’s obvious enough what exactly it says, and maybe it’s a font that would work better for older women. The font on number 4 is one I like as well, but I think this font is more exciting, and maybe better fitting for teenagers. On number 5 I tried having chocolate bites in the background, but in combination with the letter A. Not sure how it worked out.

One of my tutors recommended me to work more on number 1 or 3, and since I personally was thinking of choosing number 3 or 5, I went with number 3. The font I used on this sketch is called “Sistah Ysse” and is one I think is pretty cool. I like working with the wings – there are probably thousands of tattoos of wings out there now, young people reminding themselves that they are free and can go wherever they want to. I also included the infinity sign on this sketch, and we’ll see while working on the actual logo in Illustrator, if I will use it in the final product or not.

Until next time, stay creative,
Monika

Defining Target Group and Design

Due Week 5, Friday 15.04.16 at 4pm

Chocolate is supposed to melt on your tongue, it makes you feel good about yourself, and it releases stress. I chose teenagers as my target group, since I think many of us (being 20 I think I still see myself as a teenager) need to relax every now and then – and I also get the feeling that “everyone” thinks only females eat chocolate, which is not the case. But as mentioned in an earlier post, there are so many expectations teenagers need to meet all the time, and I really don’t think it is strange that we turn to chocolate every so often. That’s not to say that chococlate calming us down is the only reason we eat it; it may as well also be because it tastes good!

I made a mind map while thinking about this whole assignment.

What defines teenagers, then? Every one of us clearly is different, but when people think of teenagers, I believe many of us think about the freedom of not yet having settled down with one’s own family etc.

Young, wild and free
Exciting
Emotions
Late nights, sunset, sun
Birds (free) -> wings
Tattoos
Friends/Alone
Love
Kisses/Sex
Valentine’s, gifts

Based on this target group, I want to create a logo that is inspired by freedom, of the sense of just enjoying life. I wish to capture the feeling of being young, and made a moodboard trying to describe some of the mood I want.

Photo sources can be found here.

The characteristics a logo like this should show are; exciting, fun, passionate, playful and “hip”. I think a lot of us remember staying outside watching the sunset at least once during their teenage years, and the colours associated with this (red, orange, yellow) are something I might wish to work with, or at least try out. Red also goes with the subject “love”, which is often explored from the teenage years and up.

I want a font that is playful and organic; like Scripts often are. If looking back at the chocolate logos I researched earlier this week, something similar to Freia’s font is the one I think could work best for this logo. Anthon Berg and Lindt’s logos are too serious looking, while Cadbury is almost at the line of being too childish. I think Freia is closer to what I want. The same goes for logos such as Coca-Cola and Disney; the curled looking handwriting suggests causality and friendliness, and are quite inviting. Like explained in Ucreative, these fonts have a personal touch, and I think that is important.

The font needs to influence the target group’s feelings toward the brand. It needs to catch their attention, and make them want to buy the chocolate of this particular brand, because it somehow relates to them. This means it needs to be appealing to teenagers, being exciting and fresh, and somehow a little different.

I want the logo as a whole to be unique and express the feeling of youth.

Until next time, stay creative,
Monika

Research: The History of Chocolate

Due Week 5, Friday 15.04.16 at 4pm

“The treat that now lies quietly in its wrapper carries a story of exotic places, long journeys and small families that raise delicate tropical fruit trees. As you peel back the wrapper, you’re uncovering the cacao tree’s seed – and joining people the world over who have turned to this mysterious food for ritual, medicine and sheer pleasure for the past 4,000 years.” – CandyUSA

Let us have a quick look at the history of chocolate. Seen as it is probably one of the most eaten, and most popular treats today, it is hard to comprehend the fact that it once used to be “consumed as a bitter beverage”. Cacao beans in Central America used to be mixed with water, vanilla, honey, chilli peppers and other spices by the ancient Mesoamericans, which resulted in a chocolate drink I’m assuming was quite different from what we are used to now.

Chocolate has also been believed to have possessed mystical and spiritual qualities, as it was seen as an invigorating drink, mood enhancer and with aphrodisiac properties; and in the 14^th century the Aztects traded with the Mayans for cocoa beans, which were used as currency because they were so coveted. 100 beans could pay for a turkey hen in the 1500s.

Chocolate stayed a symbol of luxury, wealth and power for a long time. When brought to Spain, the drink was sweetened with cane sugar and cinnamon, and was probably a little more like what we are used to today. The love for chocolate was brought to France in the 1600s, after which it was quickly spread to other European courts.

The cocoa press was invented in 1828, and revolutionised chocolate making by squeezing “the fatty cocoa butter from roasted cacao beans, leaving behind a dry cake that could be pulverized into a fine powder that could be mixed with liquids and other ingredients, poured into molds and solidified into edible, easily digestible chocolate.” Because this enabled chocolate to be used as a confectionary ingredient, the cost of chocolate production was lowered and chocolate became more affordable to people.

It is strange to know that chocolate used to be such a big symbol of wealth, when today, we spend more than $75 billion (ca. 625 000 000 000 NOK) worldwide on chocolate annually. The average Norwegian today eats 9,7 kg of chocolate a year, which to me proves that there is not a lack of chocolate in the shops, nor is it too expensive for us to feel that we can spend money on it.

Once upon a time chocolate was used as medicine, and even as currency; and today? The simple answer is that we eat it because it tastes good, and it makes us feel good. Professor Stavnezer confirms this; chocolate tastes good, it smells good, and it feels good when it melts on our tongue. In an Interview with Psychology Today, Stavnezer explains that the expereience of eating chocolate results in feel good neurotransmitters such as dopamine being released in certain brain regions. Doing things one enjoys is what releases dopamine, and chocolate is very often a good experience.

It pushes our stress levels down, stimulates our brainwaves, and works as a mild mood elevator. Really, when you think about it, it’s not surprising that many of us tend to eat chocolate when we’re in a bad mood, whether we’re angry, upset or just stressed out. Chocolate calms us down, which in fact benefits our health.

The target group I chose for this assignment is teenagers, and I believe we tend to be quite stressed out sometimes, whether it’s because of studies, a relationship, family dramas or finding ourselves; there are expectations that need to be fulfilled, and we ask a lot of ourselves. No wonder we end up eating chocolate to feel good from time to time!

Until next time, stay creative,
Monika

Research: Market Competitors

Due Week 5, Friday 15.04.16 at 4pm

As well as making a logo for the new chocolate brand Crave, we need to do some research for our mandatory assignment 2. Since I think the research should come before I start working on the actual logo, that’s what I have been focusing on this week. I think seeing the logos of the main market competitors (Freia, Anthon Berg, Cadbury and Lindt are mentioned in our assignment) could help inspire me creating my own logo.

Freia

In addition to a bird, Freia’s logo really isn’t that fancy. However, the font is one most of us do associate with the brand, and we don’t even need to read it to know what it says. It is enough to simply see the curved letters, especially when in white on a red circle, and we know straight away what brand it is. We know we buy good chocolate when buying their products. The logo is simple and therefore easily recognisable.

As described on Freia’s website, each chocolate has its own unique design on the packaging; this is to get the customers’ attention in the shops, and to help them remember the chocolate in the future. The design needs to be different from the other options in the shop, and colours, symbols, images, and typography are well thought through. However, the logo always needs to be easy to see, as its purpose is to show us what company the product comes from and what brand it is. Having a logo that is simple, easy to recognise and well known, clearly helps them in doing this.

Anthon Berg

This is a brand I personally don’t know very well, however as with Freia’s logo, the font is curved, and easy to read. By using a crown, we get the feeling of a good brand; a brand on which we can rely on to give us quality. The same goes for the writing “Since 1884”, knowing that this is a brand that has been on the market for a long, long time, we assume that it’s worth buying.

Anthon Berg’s vision is to produce high quality chocolate in terms of good taste, consistency and aesthetics, and this obviously shows in their logo. Anthon Berg, who began producing the chocolate, was a perfectionist when it came to the production, and his products quickly became popular in Denmark. The company’s concept is still evident in the logo; it is a promise of quality.

Cadbury

Looking at all these chocolate logos together, I realise that the fonts used are often curved, organic and playful. This goes for Cadbury as well, which I think is one of the more childish logos out of this selection. But as with Freia, you know straight away what brand this is when you see it. I don’t know Cadbury by their name, but I do know their logo. If I hear the name I don’t think much of it, but as soon as I see the logo I go “ahaaaa, I love their chocolate!”

Cadbury is an even older brand than Anthon Berg, starting its history back in 1824. The first logo was commissioned in 1905, and was an image of a stylised cocoa tree with the Cadbury name interwoven. However, most of us will not recognise this logo today, as we are familiar with the logo from 1921; a script logo based on William Cadbury’s signature. This has since been simplified, from a somewhat fussy start, to what we know today.

Lindt

Lindt’s logo, also written in the same type of font, is one of the more serious looking logos in the chocolate market. Like I said, the font is curved here as well, but it’s easier to read and more along the lines of handwriting. As Anthon Berg, their logo has an ornament that makes you take it more seriously, and you expect quality by the look of it.

The Swiss chocolate has been a secret family recipe for almost 150 years, and the chocolate that melts on your tongue is an ever standing symbol of the world famous Swiss chocolate. That their chocolate has been a success, respected even, is something I think the logo proves. Looking at it you immediately get a feeling of success, at least that’s how I feel.

Equal for all logos is the simple use of colour, and the choice of organic lines. Neither logo has more than 2 or 3 colours, and this makes for an easier design for all logos.

I’m now off to research the history of chocolate itself, and looking at some of the product characteristics of it.

Until next time, stay creative,
Monika