Logos and Business Cards: Research and Designs

At the start of this unit, I was required to create my own logo for brand identity. To do this I had to conduct research into existing logos: so that I understood the codes and conventions and how these brand logos appealed to different audiences. I did this so that I could input some of these ideas into my own logo.

 After conducting research into various different existing logos, I began to experiment with different designs for my own logo.

After I had experimented with different designs, I chose the logo I liked best, and then started to experiment with different colors for the best logo. I first did this on paper and received verbal feedback from friends and family on which colors fit the best. I was told that orange and blue looked the best and that I should experiment with using two colors for the logo rather than just one block color.

I then copied the logo onto a digital drawing software on my phone, using blue for the letter and orange for the border.

I then sought to receive more verbal feedback. I was told to make the empty space around the K smaller so that the K looked like it fit into the hexagon perfectly.

I also made the border of the hexagon smaller, so that the lines were not as chunky. Though I have finalized the design on my phone, I will start to experiment with it in software such as photoshop.

 Before I began to receive feedback on my first logo, I decided to experiment with logo designers and apps to have different logos to eventually choose from. For these logos, I used the Canva app.

After creating the google form to receive feedback on these logos, I sent it out to a group of people so that I could take on this feedback and change things if needed.

I numbered the logos on the form so that it was easier to say which logo they liked best, rather than trying to explain the logo.

I asked the group which logo appealed to them more. The majority of the group made a three-way split between the first three logos (The fourth being my own design rather than using logo designers). I then asked what appealed to them in the logo they had chosen. Many people stated how they liked the simplicity of the first 3 logos.

I also asked if there was anything that could be changed in the logo they chose. Many people decided to not change a thing, but one person stated that instead of just the word 'productions' I should include 'media productions' as it would be clearer that it was a media logo. Finally, I asked if the logo they had chosen actually looked like a media brand/company logo/ 80% of people stated that the logos did look to represent a media company.

I also received verbal feedback from someone else. They stated that they liked the simplicity of all of the logos, but that they liked logo number two the most. 

Overall, the most liked logo was logo number two. I reviewed the feedback I was given both on the form and verbally to fine-tune the final logo. I made the logo more centered so that it was not off-center. 

I also created a version that I could put on any photos as a watermark.

After creating this logo I experimented with how I could use it as a watermark on any photos. First I made it opaque so that a section of the image could not be seen as it was underneath the watermark. I then tried making the K part of my logo transparent so that you could see a small part underneath the logo, but upon receiving feedback on this I realized it may contrast with a darker background.

I then made the watermark slightly faded using software on my phone, so that you could still see the watermark but also the space behind it so it would look professional.

I also made a white version of the logo for use on darker photos- as the black circle was not easy to see.

After the creation of the circle logo, I decided to create a simpler logo for minimalism. I used the Canva app to create these logos, using pre-existing templates.

I created a google form to receive feedback on these logo designs.

I asked which logo appealed to them the most, and then also asked what appealed to them in the logo. I used these responses to decide which logo I would use.

When I asked if there was anything they would change in the logo, everyone said no, apart from one person stating that the logo they chose could use some color. They also all said that the logo they chose was simple and that it looked as though it was a media/production brand.

Using these responses I decided which logo to use as the simplified, minimalistic logo for my brand:

This is the minimalistic simple logo that I will also be using for my brand, however, I am going to try and make it transparent rather than having the cream background but this proved difficult so I decided to just keep it with the cream or white background.

Whilst I did receive a lot of written feedback (in Google forms), sometimes I was also given verbal feedback from friends and family, even just small things like moving the design slightly to the left to make it more centered, or to change to color scheme to make the logos look more professional and put together, whilst still being simple. This was also done with my business card designs, with a lot of the verbal feedback being to move the images around slightly to make it look more professional.

Business Cards

After creating my two logos, I started to research existing business cards. Many business cards have a simplistic design, including the company name and contact details. Some business cards include the address of the company building too.

A business card is important for a company, as it allows the business to showcase what they do. It also gives them a way to give out their contact details to potential customers so that they can be easily contacted and also so that their products can be viewed (via a website or Instagram page)

Most business cards have a simplistic front with the company name on, whilst the back includes all of the contact details and addresses:

However, some business cards have the company name, contact details and address all on the front, leaving the back blank:

These business cards are all unique, down to the colors of the card and the font. A lot of business cards also include their logo to showcase their brand more. Business cards can look similar depending on the business.

For media, or film, the business cards are very related to film or movies:

I personally like the film-related business cards, as they incorporate film-related pieces, such as a film ticket, or a clapperboard for a movie set.

For my business card, I aim to recreate the clapperboard business card, as it appeals to me the most. Of course, I will try out other designs and get feedback on the best.

First I tried to recreate the clapperboard-style business card:

I also tried out some of the card templates on Vistaprint, where I created the clapperboard card. These designs were automated templates, which I replaced the text with.

I did not like this design as much as I liked the clapperboard design, but I will create a couple more designs and create a google form to determine which design people like more.

Feedback

After creating the business cards, I created a google form to receive feedback on the designs. I sent this out to people in my class and some other friends so that I would have an adequate amount of responses. I asked them which card they liked the most, what appealed to them, and if they would change anything about the design

I found out that the majority of people like the clapperboard design the best. This is also the design that I enjoy. The people who chose the clapperboard design said that they enjoy the creativity of the design, as well as the fact that it is unique and intriguing.

When I asked if they would change anything about the chosen logo, the people who chose the clapperboard design stated that they would move the text around a little so that it fits with the rest of the text. I will update the design according to this feedback. Upon receiving this feedback I have decided to use the clapperboard business card design. I also moved the text in line with the rest to not make it look out of place.