Putting Into Context

I created some mock ups of my design into the context of where energy drink logotypes would be seen. I wanted to do this as part of my development, to see which out of my heartbeat variations would work best as a logotype for the Overstride energy drink.

Standard energy drink can rendition. Two designs that use overlaying in different ways

I added colour to this design, to see how it would accentuate the design. Primary colours and yellow have a strong association with the industry, and I thought its vibrance would work well as a development. 

I really like the way this works on the can. The colouring glows in a relevant way, and the symbolism underneath rather than in the logotype could work as a good representation. However, with this briefing it is important that the logotype itself has the main basis or the brand, and can carry itself alone. 

The vibrant purple and green design that if funky and youthful, and could thus work well towards a target audience. 

Experimenting with lightning bolts with a a glowing design that fits in well in this context. The lightning bold may seem tacky to some extent, however is applicable in the industry and represents a huge bolt of energy. 

Developing on from the first can design, by adding the heartbeat to the 'v' and presenting a strong monitor styled representation of the logotype. Being up against the brick wall also enables an urban feel to the drink, which is a strong commercial gain. 

Placing into context of an underground tube advertisement.

The two experiments below experiment with a t-shirt design for a gym or sports company sponsoring the brand. They are relatively overpacked which could be simplified for final production, however grasp that style which sponsored sportswear have with overfilled compositions.  

This first experiment of a poster overlaid the whole image in the same design technique as the logotype, however I felt it was a bit too much, so looked to make it less complex. 

Thus, the final rendition of the poster design focuses on overstriding the legs of the athletes alone, placing emphasis on their movement and not taking away from the vibrancy of the logotype itself. 

Finalising Idea and Digital Development

note: http://www.designhappy.co.uk/projects/willpower/

The inspiration gathered from researching into aspiring, undeveloped brands, allowed me to find new outlooks into how others would approach competing in the 'testosterone-fuelled market'. 

I really liked the idea of incorporating a symbolic aspect that would resonate through the design, and could stand alone, representing the company as a whole, solely through association.  I thought the depiction of a heartbeat in a monitor conveniently resembles the 'v' letter that is prevalent in my word, as well as being an acknowledged symbol of activation of heart rate, and therefore sports and energising. 

Walking around leeds I came across the signage for a sportswear shop, that based itself on speed and activeness. I found that they also used the heartbeat symbol and concluded, through primary research, that this was relevant and applicable visual language to incorporate. 

This solution represents movement successfully both through the connotations of its depiction, and it being in oblique form. 

Digital interpretation, using all capitals and Futura. This is the design I went with (over below), as I found it more block and clear, in line with the marketing of most energy drinks, as well as being more gender neutral, expanding the target audience. 

Cutting off the edges of the 'e' and 't' to add direction and movement
by slight manipulation to the type.

I first looked to a more literal design in relation to the heart beat monitor by designing the font in LED light style. The outcome is bold and bright, with very curves edges making it a lot less aggressive.

I then experimented with another style of LED signage template, which I could then manipulate to suit the heart beat design. 

I wanted to look into layering, and how incorporating the visual representations of 'over' could be applied to the design. As a result, I experimented with 'glitching' the word, to resemble the meaning of what a glitch is - a big leap over time - which parallels well with 'overstride'. Despite the concept being there, the overall design does not fit in with the aesthetic of an energy drink. 

This design attempts to, again, draw parallels with the definition of the word, which notes taking a big leap or covering a lot of distance. The resultant design extents and elongates the type, just as the stride is elongated. When colour is added, and applied onto a can, this could work effectively.

A further experiment into 3D font, which explores both the stand out qualities of energy drinks should have, and the layering of the word 'over' one another. 

These two designs further explore the layering technique, however in a more exciting way. The glow it emits is successful in dragging the word out, reflective of its meaning, and providing a simplistic and almost glowing design, which could stand out on the shop shelves more than a simple 3d font. 

After these designs, I wanted to look more into the use of bright and bold colours, that would fit into the energy drink branding scene through their vibrant, quirky and colloquial colouring. The design decision to overlay the word on itself I found to have all the qualities necessary for this branding. This includes a relation to the meaning of the word, that could communicate more to the buyer what exactly the word means (as the word is not so popular), as well as bold and striking qualities that contribute to its brand culture.  

The first three experiments (below) use purple and green to excite and intrigue the consumer. From my initial critique feedback, purple was suggested as a colour to explore, thus this is what these designs set out to do. 

The first design has little spacing between layers, in order to provide greater clarity. Despite this, the heart beat of the 'v' remains quite block as the colours combine here, enabling this symbol to remain recognisable and distinct. 

This design went to the opposite extreme of the former, dragging the letters further out and getting rid of any lighter coloured outline of the wording. The colours are bright and combine well together, however may be too retro in style for a contemporary brand. 

The last attempt of this section of designs utilises a successful balance between the distance of layering, providing a lighter outline to reveal the word with greater clarity, whilst maintaining the concept and resembling a heart monitor. I do feel the colouring and aesthetic is effective, yet I am concerned the 90s digital feel of it is not relevant to the energy drink. Nonetheless if the branding is taken in a relatable direction, the vibrancy and uniqueness could work successfully. 

The final designs are the strongest when considering clarity, relevant colouring and brand identity. In-keeping with the strong bold identity of uppercase Futura, the clean logo design incorporates many ideas that the research conducted touches on, including primary colouring, overlaying and connotations of speed and vast movement.

First attempt has less spacing between layers, resembling a sort of 3d glasses technique, which shows movement and glows. The black background provide the perfect amount of contrast, allowing the word to seem clean and simple despite using 3 layers and various colours. 

The final design is more spread out however clarity remains. The three colours are bright, bold and attractive, and fully highlight the qualities primary colours have, through small and vague bursts of colour which are only really noticed at a second glance. The design also acknowledges the 'glitch' idea that was first touched on, and the conceptual relevance this has on the brand. 

Idea Development

After the critique, I went back and looked over the research that had been conducted into existing brands. I realised that capitals seemed a lot more effective and that, on recollection, I should explore the use of uppercase lettering more. Additionally, movement seemed to be an important aspect to capture within the brand, and so I looked into how this could be presented through the text. When trialling colour throughout the experiments, I wanted to start with red as it is the most commonly associated colour with the industry.

By researching into use of lower and upper case I found uppercase to be a lot more suitable for my brand:

'Led by Dr Manuel Perea from the University of Valencia, a team of researchers at The British Journal of Psychology have established that customers are more likely to remember a brand name if its logo is written in upper case.'

Jon Feagain explains how; 

'Some companies that need to assert a strong, hefty, or massive presence in the market often go with bolded brand names and/or brand names in fully uppercase logos. Take for instance IKEA, BAND-AID, or BEST BUY; understandably, these brands chose brand logos in all caps. '

From this, it is evident that something as competitive as an energy drink brand is not only informal in nature but needs to stand out as much as possible, if it wishes to be picked and noticed, in order to fuel curiosity from the consumer. 

The first three set of drawings (below), are unsuccessful designs exploring the elongation of lettering. Despite adhering to the sense of movement I wished to create, the overall effect does not present itself as an energy drink, thus latter designs should attempt to be more unique, searching for a single manipulation that is applicable and purposeful. 

Helvetic seems to appear too neutral and formal 

Including the 'r' is overdone - very much resembles 'Vans' which is a shoe company and thus not relevant

Initial hand rendered experiments, implying the relevant verbs of stretching, dragging, pulling and surpassing.  

Using illustrator to trial how individual letters within the word can be manipulated to portray movement.

Attempting to digitally producing a variation of my hand design, and seeing how colour can be incorporated. I wanted to see how a capital 'O' would look alone, however feel the branding is going in a more sports company direction rather than energy drink. As such I decided after this experiment to stick with Futura, as it is a more striking type, and focus on uppercase lettering. 

Uppercase versions:

This design experiments with separating the word, moving 'over' conveniently over the latter of its part. It still includes the movement through the 's' which is dragged, successfully contributing to the middle part of the 'e'. The design is clear, clean and has a strong essence of movement. 

Another designing testing the moving on the lettering,
acknowledging negative space in appropriate ways,
creating geometric shaping that enables direction at
the same time. 

My  next idea was to incorporate speed within the word, and look into how I could manipulate Futura in this way. I also wanted to experiment with movement in the sense of it coming out at you, thus exploring 3d variations.  

Idea development sketches

Using photoshop to use my drawings to investigate colour and tone.

Digital, more refined, attempt of motion design

3d lowercase font experiment

Cleaner Photoshop version

Overall the 3d effect looks very dated, almost with a retro style, which is not suitable for the target audience of energy drinks. 

Rationale and Idea Crit

Rationale

Chosen adjective: Sublime

Synonyms: majestic, respected, grand, authoritative, highbrow, aesthetic, intellectual

Use: broadsheet newspaper title, patriotic culture, high-end brands – leaflets/ websites 

Thought process: The philosophical ideas of sublime touch on an immense greatness, that even at first we may not be able to comprehend, we gradually accept and adjust to its overwhelming characteristics so we can begin to comprehend it. Take for example a person looking at a waterfall and acknowledging its immensity as being overpowering; however, as they look at it for longer, the person slowly appreciates the awe it emits and begins to accept its beauty.

“In aesthetics, the sublime (from the Latin sublīmis) is the quality of greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual, metaphysical, aesthetic, spiritual, or artistic. The term especially refers to a greatness beyond all possibility of calculation, measurement, or imitation.”

Section C - Kant’s findings on the Sublime

http://www.iep.utm.edu/kantaest/#SH2c

Character: A font that is a modernised version of old-style fancy writing, resembling fairy tail book writing styles. Quite royal in nature, maybe described as patriotic in its sense of traditional British monarchy associations (in order to resemble a higher aesthetic). It should be exaggerated and, if possible, connote immensity.

Purpose: It’s target use would be quite high-end, could be used for branding, such as through websites, (maybe naming, pricing and ‘about’ sections), brochures of designer clothing, or expensive jewellery companies, movie/ tv posters for relevant shows, and so on. If it wishes to be relatively extravagant, then it would mainly serve for smaller bodies of text and logos.  

Two ideas:

A condensed font with curved strokes and extravagant finishes, maybe spiral serifs, thin and thick combined edges 

Vs

More straight and block finishes in a sublime (in the sense of spirituality/ religious styled) finish, 

1) Bodoni –

Was revived in early 1900s into the digital age.

Bold look with contrasting strokes

Upper case more condensed than its influence of Baskerville

Unbracketed serifs with an even geometric style

Particularly well suited for title fonts and logos however is a popular font seen in almost every kind of typesetting situation

2) Caslon –

Used extensively throughout the British Empire in the early 18^th century

Was the font used for the U.S. Declaration of Independence

Revived various times since, particularly during the ‘British Arts and Crafts’ movement

Been through technological changes, however is still a standard type used today

Idea critique feedback:

Person 

1

-       Curved/ spiral like serifs represent the spirituality this word connotes well

-       Caslon’s bracketed serifs could represent the overwhelming waterfall, this font is also good for advertisement

-       Keep the font bold but allow the serifs to give it character

2

-       On the other hand another suggests that Bodoni is delicate and ornamental – thus could give me more to work with, really nice contrast between thick and thin strokes

-       Lengthening the ascenders and descenders may give a nice delicate effects

-       Spirals are too complex for body text – more appropriate for display font

-       Too much frill may be distracting

3

-       The varying stroke widths that Bodoni uses could represent the realisation of something being sublime

-       Keep the bolder strokes relatively thin, too bold may look aggressive

-       It needs to be almost entrancing, maybe ominous – again mentions bracketed serifs flowing together

-       Lengthening the ascenders and descenders adds elegance

-       Using calligraphy influences could make it more grand and bold and therefore authoritative

4

-       I think of a pleasant, flowing font, not too soft so maybe a few hard edges but emphasis on rounded and flowing

-       Discovering its beauty over time perhaps could leads to the font being subtle / neutral... it takes time to find the more elegant touches (a different approach from the other feedback)

-       Paintbrush/ calligraphy styles

Then, in order to gain an understanding of relationship between word and style, we were asked to interpret someone else's word based on the synonyms they had written down. First, it as to draw a geometric based image image in a small grid, that followed direction of line. Then another person had to interpret these into the letter 'a'. These were the results I was given back for 'sublime'. 

I really like the idea of the star and the way it has been presented, to represent a sort of nature that is beyond us.