Just Creative Design

Recently Completed Work

Things have been quieter than usual on the JCD blogging scene so I thought I should let you know what I have been up to - here is a small showcase of my most recent work along with a brief summary on each.

One a similar note, I’ve just recently reached another milestone - I’ve now had a client from every continent of the globe, except Antarctica. This is something I never would have dreamed of 2 years ago when I started this blog and I find it amazing how small the Internet makes the world. Thank you for all your support and if you know a penguin, please do let me know. Read more »

Car Vehicle Wrap Design Process & Tutorial

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of rebranding Luke Arms‘ photography business One Fine Day Photography and as part of the rebrand, came the job of designing his car.

In this article I will guide you through how I designed a “custom car vehicle wrap” along with tips I learned along the way… but before I launch into that, I would like you to meet Caroline, Luke’s new company car.

Read more »

The Past, Present & The Future

This post is a general overview of what I have been up to, where I am at and where I am going in the short future.

agIdeas 2009

This past week I have been down in Melbourne for the 3 day design conference agIdeas and it was simply awesome… I learned so much and was awe inspired by the quality and passion behind all of the speakers who had so much knowledge & insight to share.

Unfortunately I didn’t take many notes over the three days so I can not give much of a review of what was said however I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience… from hearing the masters talk about their craft right through to the free beer, pizza and parties. My favourite talkers were Sean Cummings, Stefan Sagmeister, Tobias Frere-Jones, John Marsden, Étienne Minuer, Michale Persson and Stanley Wong.

For those interested in attending a similar design conference (I highly recommend it) here is a great article that lists many US and international design conferences.

Calling For Guest Posts

Would you be interested in writing an article for Just Creative Design? If so, please send me an email with what you have in mind. I need to have the completed article before 24th May. All topics are welcome.

Travel Plans

The reason I am calling for guest posts is because I am going to go travelling for 2 months and won’t have the time to write enough posts for my time away.

For those interested, I am heading to Japan for 10 days, Cambodia for 6, Vietnam for 16 and then I will have 1 week back in Australia and then will head over to New Zealand for 10 days for a snow boarding trip.

If you have read my about page, you may know that I love traveling and have shared my experiences many times here on JCD. This trip will be no different and I will share some of the photos when I return.

These are the other places I have been for those interested: Belgium, Canada (British Columbia, Whistler, Blackcomb, Big White), USA (California, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, Las Vagas, Florida), Denmark (Copenhagen), United Kingdom (London), Fiji (Nadi, Suva), Finland (Suomi), France (Paris, Bordeaux, Nice), New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway (Oslo), Philippines, Solomon Islands, Sweden (Goteborg, Stockholm), Vanuatu, Spain (Pamplona, Barcelona), Monaco, Italy (Rome, Capri, Vienna, Venice, Florence, Sorrento), Vatican City, Greece (Corfu), Austria, Germany (Munich, Heidelberg), Liechtenstein, Switzerland (Jungfrau Mountain / Lauterbrunnen), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Norfolk Island, Hong Kong, Thailand (Phuket, Bangkok, Samui), Vietnam, Cambodia (Siem Riep & Phnom Penh), Japan.

NYC Creative Studio Job Offer

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be offered a job in New York City by a creative director at a new media marketing agency. I have put forward my interest in the job and am currently in talks with a few contacts over in NYC to see if we can make the move a reality, considering such things as payment, accommodation, visas, etc.

If everything works out I should be over there at the end of this year.

Update:  July 24th 2009 - It has been confirmed, I am leaving for NYC, January 2010.

As for the future of JCD and my other blogs Logo of the Day and Logo Designer Blog… who knows? Things eventually have to come to an end but I don’t have plans for doing anything like that just yet… I think I will just have to post less frequently.

Other News

Bottle being manufactured in China

Above is a 3D mock-up for a sustainable, refillable glass water bottle that I designed for a Miami based water company a few months ago. The bottle is currently being manufactured in China and I am eagerly awaiting to see the final product in a few weeks. I am quite excited about this project and can’t wait to see the results which is why I am sharing the mock-up with you now.

I will write up about the design process (similar to my Vodka bottle design process) once I get the product in my hands and the professional photographs come through from the client in the US.

I will then proceed to complete their identity (website + promotional material) which I am also looking forward too.

Jobs I am currently working on

Below are some of the projects I am currently working on:

• Liquor Bottle Design (for a Jamaican rum based liquor)
• 4 Identity Designs + Stationery
• Logo Design eBook
• Newcastle Fashion Week Identity + Promotional Material (Pro bono work)
• Comic Strip (in collaboration with 3 others at University)
• Vector Toy Character Illustration (University work)
• Creativity Speech (University work)
• Vero Website / Promotional Material (soon)

I am currently taking work for August.

Layers magazine 3 page spread

If you have a look in the latest issue of Layers Magazine (May/June) you will find a three page spread of me and my work (page 26). I give a shout out to you (my readers) so keep an eye out for that too.

I have a PDF copy of the spread here but I have not received the tangible copy just yet… once I do I will take some pics and post them up in a new blog post.

Sky diving

I should also mention that I am going Sky Diving this weekend… just incase I don’t come back. Eek. Update: Survived and the photos are on my Facebook page.

Identity Design Process for Butterfield Photography

I’ve recently finished designing the identity for ‘Butterfield Photography’, a photography duo based in Southern Arizona, USA. In this article I share with you a bit about the process & decisions made while working around the constraints of this particular project.

Butterfield Photography is run by Maria and Robert Butterfeild, who both focus on two different areas of photography - wedding / family photography and commerical / sport photography.

Below you can see the old and new Butterfield Photography logos.

Design Constraints

Without going into too much detail, these were the constraints I had to work within.

• The logo design had to be elegant & sophisticated yet not too feminine (ie. had to be usable for both weddings, commercial & sport photography)
• The logo had to portray a natural, warm, friendly yet sophisticated style.
• The logo had to be be usable across a broad range of businesses (ie. the logo still could be usable for a construction business) and could have no association with photography.
• The logo had to work in one colour only as the logo had to be able to be used across a variety of applications such as clothing, vehicles, cameras, etc.

Brainstorming

Below you can see the very first stage of my very messy creative process - that of mindmapping and brainstorming. There were many more pages of these sketches however I thought it best to save your eyes.

Design Decisions

Minimalism: To work around these constraints mentioned above I decided to go for a very minimalist approach to reflect both elegance and sophistication. This would allow for the identity to be versatile and reflect those values stated above. I used the typeface ‘Gill Sans Light‘ to support these values.

Colour: The particular orange colour used in the Butterfield identity is fresh & vibrant and evokes Maria and Robert’s style of photography… natural. The colour is not too bright, nor too dull which allows it to give off an aura of warmth and friendliness. Do you know your colour theory?

Concept: After many sketches, concepts and experimentations I came down to the concept of using a burst of lines radiating out from the initials BP. Although this is entirely up to the perspective of the viewer, one could see the mark as a sun, a flower, a camera flash, a face, a camera lens, a light, etc. but what ever way one sees it, in the end, the mark still communicates a feeling of warmth, radiance and friendliness.

Delivery

Pitching a minimalist design to a client is quite a hard task, so it is best to show the logo in context. This may mean you will have to mockup some examples of letterhead, websites, etc.

You can view the PDF file I sent to Maria & Robert when pitching this concept.

After sending through the first PDF, Robert replied:

“I really liked the logo from the first time I saw it, simple (which is exactly what I was looking for), easily reproduced for embossing, stamping, embroidering etc. You nailed it right out of the gate…. GREAT JOB!!!”

The hard work paid off and no more revisions were made. It is important to note that you should only pitch your best logo design concepts.

Below you can see the identity system in use.

Business Card

Letterhead

Website Mockup (used when presenting the logo)

Mockup of fictional business (shows adaptability of logo)

The logo was also applied to a racecar of which you can see some of the pictures below.

1st Attempt

2nd Attempt

To be honest I was a bit disappointed to see the logo at such a small size and also to see the grey colour of ‘Butterfield’ changed to a dark orange (see second picture above) as the text loses contrast against the blue, however thankfully the owner of the racecar also agreed about this and they removed the stickers and reapplied them at a much larger size (see the last picture above) which I think looks much better. Maria also told me that the car came first place too which was great news!

The logo will also be appearing on a variety of other products of which I will upload when I get the pictures.

Testimonial

Below you can find the official testimonial from Maria Butterfield. You can read more of my client’s testimonials here.

We hired Jacob to design our new business logo and were beyond pleased with his professionalism and creativity. He took our ideas and needs and transformed them into a logo that reflected all of our desires. We were particularly impressed with the thoroughness in the questions he asked us concerning our wants and needs. Jacob exceeded all of our expectations! We have no hesitation in recommending him to anyone looking for branding that will truly reflect who they are.

- Maria Butterfield

There has also been great feedback from the followers of Maria’s blog:

I’m loving your new look Maria! So clean and fresh. Looking good.

- Angela

I’m loving the new look! Very modern.

- Rachel

Very very nice - I love the new design!

- Cheryl

Comments from my readers are always appreciated too - thanks for reading!

My work exhibited at Melbourne Museum

Back in early April I announced that I would be attending two Australian design conferences, one called Semi Permanent (that I reviewed here) and another called agIdeas which is in May.

Well the agIdeas conference (sold out) also had a side design competition called agIdeas NewStar that allowed you to enter some of your previously designed work for judging to see if it would be worthy for exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. Well I entered, and have just got word that my work got short-listed and will be appearing at Melbourne Museum! (For those not familiar with Melbourne, it is Australia’s second largest city.)

The NewStar exhibition will be on at Melbourne University from 24 April to 24 May (10am to 5pm). I will also be in Melbourne from May 4th till May 7th so if you’re in the area and want to say hello, please do let me know!

More info about agIdeas 2009 NewStar

agIdeas NewStar is an awards program for design students and new graduates. The Collie Print Trust Award’s the winner with a 2 week international scholarship including flights, accommodation and 2 weeks work experience at one of the following studios: (Ahn Sang So Korea, Browns UK, Guerilla Games The Netherlands, OJ South Africa, Pentagram USA, Prologue USA, SeymourPowell UK).

agIdeas NewStar Exhibition is part of the Designed to Inspire program at Melbourne Museum. The program offers public recognition of the work of talented emerging and practicing designers. The role of the museum is to increase design literacy in the general public, to broaden national and international awareness of the quality and diversity of contemporary Australian design, and to enhance Victoria as a centre of design excellence.

Entered Pieces

You were allowed to submit as many entries as you wanted however each entry had to have 3 pieces in it. I only submitted one entry (with 3 pieces inside) and you can see them below. I assume all three pieces will be on display at the museum as I haven’t been told otherwise.

FITTUCI Custom Windows & Doors Logo Design

Description: FITTUCI Custom Windows & Doors is a comprehensive source for superior custom doors & windows. They specialise in luxury state of the art doors & windows. The logo depicts an illusion of either windows or doors.

I wrote about the design process of this logo in full here.

Wedgetail Premium Citrus Vodka Bottle & Packaging

Description: Brand and identity development, 3D rendering, packaging and photography for Wedgetail Distillery’s Premium Citrus Vodka Premix alco-pop marketed towards 18-25 year olds.

I wrote about the design process of this project in full here.

Photoshop For Right Brainers

Description: Book cover design for a book targeted towards creatives who wish to use Photoshop for photo manipulation. The illustration depicts a man’s right side of the brain and the vertical text forces the viewer to tilt their head to the right to read the name of the book (hence right side of the brain). The word Photoshop also depicts an exclamation mark.

I was approached by John Wiley & Sons (one the world’s largest book publishers) to design this book cover back in September last year.

Wolda 2008 Annual Arrives

Back in October 2008 I announced winning two major logo design awards - the ‘Best of Continent’ and ‘Best of Nation’ for my Just Creative Design logo (the logo you see at the top of this blog)…

and then in December I announced receieving the actual awards in the mail of which you can see below…

And just today, the actual book arrived in the mail… it is a great little publication and a real keeper! Below you can find photos of the book and my logo being showcased (got onto 3 pages which was great!)

Wolda is now accepting entries for the 2009 Wolda Annual so get in before the first deadline of June 31st.

The Logo Design Process From Start To Finish

In this article I will guide you through the process of creating the identity & logo design for one of my recent clients, UKE, offering insights into not only the thought process behind creating the logo but also the creation of the logo itself.

Also keep an eye out in the May edition of Layers magazine for a feature on the UKE web site design.

The Logo Design Process

When one creates a logo, they should follow a logo design process to ensure that the final design suits the needs of the clients (not their wants)… I have written about the logo design process of professional logo designers in full here however below is the usual logo design process in short:

1. Design Brief: Conduct a questionnaire or interview with the client to get the design brief.
2. Research: Conduct research focused on the industry itself, on its history, and on its competitors.
3. Reference: Conduct research into logo designs that have been successful and current styles and trends that may be related to the design brief.
4. Sketching & Conceptualising: Develop the logo design concept(s) around the brief and research.
5. Reflection: Take breaks throughout the design process. This lets your ideas mature and helps you get renewed enthusiasm. Receive feedback.
6. Positioning: Position yourself as a contractor or build a long lasting relationship. ie. Client tells you what to do OR you guide the client to the best solution. The latter is usually best however personally, I try to find a happy medium.
7. Presentation: Choose to present only a select few logos to the client or a whole collection. Presenting only the best is recommended.
8. Celebration: Drink beer, eat chocolate, sleep, start on next logo design. Or a combination.

Getting The Job

Eugene, the business owner of UKE, contacted me earlier this year (who found me through my blog) and she wanted to rebrand & make over their old business identity starting with their logo and then the website.

After a few initial emails clarifying Eugene’s needs, I sent Eugene a four page logo design questionnaire form (PDF) which was promptly filled out. I then sent a proposal & an agreement (never call it a contract) and then received a 50% deposit via PayPal.

I also sent her a web design questionnaire for the website design but that is for another article.

The Design Brief

After Eugene had filled out the questionnaire I had most of the information that I needed to start on the logo design. There were a few other emails clarifying things but basically all the information was there.

Here is a bit of background information on UKE Chocolate Gift Baskets:

UKE.COM or UKE for short sells unique arrangements of chocolate as an alternative to gift baskets. UKE targets a more upscale market due to the time to make and cost of the product.

After reading through Eugene’s completed logo questionnaire, I found in short that she wanted a logo that portrayed her whole business model and she needed it be: “strong, bold & luxurious” She also requested to have it black or gold however was open to colour choices. Eugene also wanted to have a lion in the logo. The logo also had to be suitable for the web, business cards & t-shirts.

This was the old logo that was to re branded.

Research

Upon receiving the initial 50% deposit for the logo and signed contract agreement, I then started researching what was needed for the project. This included looking up Eugene’s competitors (that she provided & my findings), researching the industry and searching for other logos in the industry, among other things.

Research is a critical stage in the logo design process as this ensures that your logo will differ from the competitors and it also sets a benchmark.

Sketching & Development

The next stage of the project was developing the logo. Developing the logo design concept is where creativity comes into play. Based on the design brief and research conducted, this is where I let my ideas run wild. I brainstormed and sketched down my ideas and then experimented with them on the computer. I also had breaks between these sessions so I could reflect on the designs and have a fresh perspective on the job at hand which is a crucial part of the process when when designing a logo.

The challenge that I had when creating the UKE logo was trying to incorporate a lion into the logo while still making it look luxurious… I got around this problem by brainstorming and word association. My thought process went something like this: Lion > King Of The Jungle > King > Crown > UKE with Crown

Below you will find one of the original pages of sketches that I did for the Ultimate Potential logo… I know I am no Picasso but it is the end result that matters. Find in the bottom right corner where I originally got the idea for the final logo. Remember that there is no such thing as a bad idea, just bad decisions.

Computer Generation

As you can see in the sketch above I had the idea of using a crown or lion placed on top of the word UKE. After I had this general idea in my head I experimented with the concept in Adobe Illustrator and researched different types of crowns, layouts, fonts, icons, etc.

Typeface

The first thing I did when experimenting with the logo design was to find the best typeface for the logo. Below you can see just some, of many, different typefaces I tried and circled in red, the typeface chosen (Friz Quadrata, Medium).

This typeface was chosen for its luxurious, traditional looking nature. A great alternative to the much overused Trajan.

Concept Development

After I had found the right typeface (though it is never set in stone) I then experimented with different concepts and layouts of which you can see some below.

Please take note that no colour has been added to any of the designs. This is to ensure the design works in one colour only. This helps on printing costs and makes the logo more adaptable for use over a variety of media.

One should also remember that simplicity in logo design is the key. The simpler a logo is, the more memorable and adaptable it is. In nearly all cases, less is more.

You may interested to know some more ‘rules’ of how to design a logo.

Colour

I then experimented with colour. The final dark purple colour was chosen for its royal & luxurious nature… purple is the colour of royalty after all. Do you know your colour theory?

In the image below you can see the logos from the above image with the same purple background.

Delivery

Obviously, I ended up choosing the second bottom left logo (circled) for the final concept… After some more experiments & fine tuning I was finally ready to present the logo to Eugene.

Below you can read the email that I wrote to Eugene when ’selling’ the logo to her.

Hello Eugene,

I have been finishing off your logo today and have come down to the strongest concept, of which you will find attached in a PDF.

After all the research I carried out and concepts that I experimented with I kept coming back to this simple & effective logo… one without any animal figure. Not only this but I also found that animal figures were way overused, especially the lion due to it’s heraldic nature.

Your new UKE logo relates back to being king (much alike a lion) which is achieved by the use of a simple geometric crown. The crown has many symbolic references… the crown is a symbol of power, legitimacy, strength, righteousness, victory, triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of which can relate back to your luxurious packages, that of the highest quality. The typeface used for UKE is also one of power… strong bold serifed characters form a strong brand name that leaves a lasting impression on anyone that comes across it.

The purple, black and white colour scheme was also chosen for its luxurious nature and this can be applied across all of your marketing material such as your website, business card and so fourth. The UKE logo not only works well on a dark background but also a light background of which the white logo can turn into a dark purple logo. The logo can also be reproduced at any size and maintain readability.

I am eagerly awaiting your feedback and I will hear from you soon.

Regards,
Jacob Cass
http://justcreativedesign.com

Approval

Eugene promptly replied:

The logo really works! I like how clean and modern it looks. I think you might be right about the overdoing of the lion stuff even though I had an obsession with it, none the less this one grows on me more each time I look at it!

Don’t you love it when the client loves the design first time around? No revisions! How about that?

After approval of the logo design and the remaining 50% payment I sent Eugene the final files in EPS, JPG, PNG and TIFF formats.

The Logo In Use

When Eugene first contacted me she also wanted her website to be redesigned. Below you can see the redesign of her old website with the new logo in use. The website is currently still in development however should be online soon.

You can see larger before & after shots of the website here: Before | After

Comments are welcome as always. If you are interested in more articles outlining my design process fly over to my featured articles page.

NB: This article was originally written for Creative Pool’s January 2009 newsletter however I have got permission to republish it here. Creative Pool.co.uk is UK’s largest creative recruitment & directory resource.