Almost done with logo mania. Not sure how much better I’ve gotten at logo design, but I am starting to enjoy the process a little more. This week I worked on my last logo sprint, a logo for Tom Thorpe Architecture. TTA is a small, fictional architecture firm in Seattle. The employees are younger, very modern architects that value simplicity. They want a “cool” logo that also says “trustworthy” and “solid”. I played with some simple shapes and architectural typefaces. Here are some of my sketches:

And my digital sketches:

And that’s Thorpe!

Well this week was a little busy! I got sick in the middle of it, which threw a little wrench into my schedule, but I managed to not fall too far behind. This week I finished a logo for Integra Real Estate & Mortgage, which is actually a real company in Kirkland. So I guess it was a redesign. Anyways, they are a one-stop shop for finding your house and financing it. They are family-friendly and want to be seen as part of the local community. I started by sketching, and tried to stick with more abstract shapes. Like dental logos, real estate logos often feature houses and keys. Of course I had a few house shapes, but I tried to solve it with other shapes and marks as well.

Here are my sketches:

And here are the digital versions:

I think my final favorite was the three solid bars with the uppercase “Integra” that’s third from the top on the left. But there are a couple others I liked as well.

Also this week was the Scuttlebutt Beer Label challenge. I knew I wanted to do something with text and not illustration. Not only because I am not the most talented illustrator, but also because their current labels feature illustration and I wanted to go a different route. They said they wanted something to attract the young, urban people in Seattle, so I looked around at other craft beers for some guidance. There were a lot of type driven labels, so I decided to go that direction. I also finally figured out how to use images to paint in texture in photoshop (thank you Chey!) and made a wood background for the type.

Here it is:

This week I worked on a logo for a restaurant and bar called “Beardslee Alehouse”. This was extra exciting for me to work on because it’s by my parent’s house in Bothell! It’s exciting that they’re expanding the entertainment choices in Bothell. This place was apparently supposed to be open September 2014, but I think it’s actually been delayed till January. It’s a John Howie restaurant. Here’s a little blurb about the place:

The ale house will feature the finest of local craft brews in guest taps. Beardslee Alehouse’s restaurant will operate under a “farm to table” philosophy, with everything made in-house. The restaurant will grind its own meat, bake fresh bread, and feature a “locker” for aging housemade charcuterie. Burgers, brats, and flatbreads will be highlighted, and housemade charcuterie, cheese and pickled vegetables will compliment the menu. There will be a full-service bar, with popular local wineries on tap.

The environment of Beardslee Alehouse will reflect the local concept of the menu. Every table in the restaurant/brewery will be made from a giant red sequoia that was harvested from the property. The base of the tree will make for a large exterior fireplace, sitting on the west facing patio. The bar will include an indoor fireplace, with casual seating. Additionally, two large community tables will enhance the neighborhood atmosphere of the restaurant.

When I was working on the logo, I wanted to convey a place that was a little rough around the edges, hard-working, hand-crafted and welcoming. I spent time trying to learn how to put texture into text with photoshop and illustrator. I took more time than I wanted to watching videos and reading tutorials, but I learned something, so that’s good, right? Here are the rough sketches I started with:

And the digital sketches I ended up with:

More logos! It turns out, creating logos is MUCH, much harder than I realized. I knew it was going to be tough. I just didn’t know I was going to be so bad at it. But that’s okay. That’s why I’m working on it. To get better. And hopefully someday have some nice logos for my portfolio.

I’ve been reading a lot of articles on logo creation and spending a lot of time looking at logos. Logo Design Love, Logo Lounge, random books from awesome classmates, you name it. I’ve also starting pinning logos I like to a board, and creating boards for each logo I work on. I pin local competitor’s logos and successful logos from other similar businesses. I’ve found that there isn’t one specific way to logo creation and there’s no magic formula. Which is a little disappointing for someone who likes instructions. But, that also means I can try whatever I want and hopefully I’ll find a method that works for me.

Three Leaf Pharmacy is a (made-up) local Seattle Pharmacy. They are a sustainable small business that focuses on fulfilling traditional pharmacy needs while also serving more holistic needs. Alongside prescriptions, they also sell homeopathic and naturopathic medicines and supplements. There customers are middle to upper class, interested in self-care. They frequent yoga and meditation classes and believe in eating organic and local. Basically they are typical Seattleites. Some adjectives that describe their brand: homey, warm, calming, soothing, safe, friendly, gentle. They want to get away from the more clinical look of most pharmacies. They don’t want pills or a medical sign in their logo. They would like to look authoritative, but welcoming.

Here are some initial sketches:

And then the digital sketches:

Alright….week 3. I’ve started my logo sprint and have “finished” my first logo. I’m not actually finished, but as far as this challenge goes, it’s time to move on. I’m hoping I can come back to it in a few weeks and have some fresh eyes and new inspiration. The first company was “South Sound Orthodontics”. I’ve discovered anything “dental” related is tough. I went on Logo Lounge and checked out a bunch of their logo samples and most were pretty terrible.

For South Sound Orthodontics, I wanted to give them a clean, safe, and friendly but authoritative voice. Most people have dental related fear and I wanted a logo that would cause ease and trust. I did a brainstorm session and tried to list all the words associated with dentists and go from there. I then started sketching like a mad woman. Here are some of the sketches:

After I couldn’t draw any more, and had drawn mostly the same thing over and over, I moved on to the computer and did a lot of sketching there.

And then the finalists: