OUGD603: Extended Practice - D.S.M Studio Brief 'Ministry of Wonderful'

Logo Development

From all the ideas I had for a visual solution to my Retirement Home brief I like the idea of the row of houses the most. I believe this effectively represents the primary ethos of the brand I have devised. The use of different types of houses acknowledges that each of the residents will be different in terms of where they have come from and what makes their house feel like home.

It also reinforces the personalised aspect to the brand and the idea that this will be their "new home".

One of the main things the brand stands for is the comfort of the residents as a priority, therefore I wanted to convey a warm friendly environment throughout the branding of the retirement home. One effective way of communicating would be through the colour scheme I will use throughout.

The colour scheme incorporated in this illustrations has quite a warm autumnal feel to it. To me this colour reminds me of a warm, cosy home. Which I believe is appropriate for the image I want to portray within my branding.

When producing the Home Comforts Identity I was particularly inspired by the work of illustrator Jan Kallwejt, particularly how she layers up a series of shapes and colours within an illustration in order to give the impression of negative space.

Kallwejt’s particular style of illustration is quite minimalist which is appropriate for an image which would be used for a series of branding applications as it would be easily scaled down.

Similarly to the technique used by Jan Kallwejt I produced my illustrations digitally by layering up shapes and colours to give an negative space effect. Prior to this brief digital illustration is not something I had experimented with a lot as I am quite weary of working straight onto the computer and prefer to work hand-rendered first.

I therefore began the process by scanning in the original hand drawn sketch I had produced when devising initial idea for the logo design. I used this drawing as a guide when using producing the individual detail for each house using the pen tool on illustrator. Which I repeated when producing the block colour for the detail to sit on top of.

Using white for the detail almost gives a negative space effect which is a unique way of producing an image.

Considering this was my first attempt at digital illustration I am really pleased with how the houses came out. Using the simple technique of layer white illustrations onto block colour creates a style of illustration unique to the brand which would work as striking identity for the brand. There is also the possibility that each of the houses would then work individually as a icon whilst sill be associated with the Home Comforts brand.

The idea behind the logo design is no matter what kind of home they have come from the retirement home acknowledges that they will all be different and each will have their own thoughts on the idea of what makes your house your home. Using this the retirement home strives to achieve comfort for all it's resident in their new home by enabling them to personalise their own space as a project with their family bringing all their belongings and memories from home.

I learnt from the briefing by D.S.M that he name is one of the most important decisions I will make in terms of reflecting what my brand stands for and the image I want to communicate for the re-branded retirement home. After some consideration on the name I chose 'Home Comforts'.

What makes my retirement home different is my 'big idea' which is that the space the resident moves into when they go to the retirement home will be fully done up to look like their own home thereby hopefully easing the process of moving. I think Home Comforts accurately communicates this 'big idea' as it ties in with the concept that all their belongings and the things they believe makes a house a home will be with them in the retirement home.

Using the four hues that I had chosen for the logo I experimented with possible variations for the name I had chosen. Taking into consideration the legibility of the logo when distributed I believe the two darker hues will be more effective.

Therefore I went on to try variations of the hue I would use for the sub-title.

From these four variations I have tested I believe the darker purple hue and the pale blue are most effective, the contrast in the colours of the other two designs is not as vast and as a result is not as aesthetically pleasing.

After then testing variations using the darker purple hue for the main title 'home comforts' I have come to the conclusion that this colour works better than the red hue. As I am pleased with how well each of the three colours works with the dark purple hue I have decided there will be three colour variations of the logo. This is something I will outline in the brand guidelines I will produce in response to the brief.

Another thing which will be stipulated in the branding guideline is the usage - where appropriate - of the icon. As the original logo is quite intricate I have decided that different variations of a icon - each using one of the house illustrations - to be used when the logo is required to be smaller than the minimum size stipulated in the branding guidelines on business cards etc.

Branding Guidelines

I designed and produced a set of branding guidelines which outlined the ethos of the brand, what it stands for and how the branding should be applied.

Collateral

When deciding on the collateral I would brand for the DSM brief I wanted to design something that would not only be appropriate but unique to my 'big idea' for the brief therefore I have to decided to brand a tool box which the residents would be given when they move into the home to help them personalise there own space with their families reiterating the "home from home" ethos of the brand. 

Other collateral I believe would be appropriate for the brand was prints they could perhaps hang up in their room, a plant to make it more homely and greetings card they could send back to their family.