fa27 dl digital design · assignment four designing a logo in illustrator, applied as “wearable...
TRANSCRIPT
FA27_DL Digital Design
Professor Tom Klinkowstein
January 2018
Course Blog:
https://fa27january2018.wordpress.com/
Assignment Four
Designing a logo in Illustrator, applied as “wearable promotion”.
Software
Illustrator
Deliverables
Exercises files and logo-related files placed in your slide presentation and embedded in
your blog via slideshare.
Goals
Become aquatinted with introductory Illustrator skills and elemental design approaches
appropriate needed to create a logo.
Prototype how the created logo would appear on a promotional t-shirt.
Complete related exercises.
Start and Due Dates
Starts January 10, 9:00 am
Due January 15, 9:00 am
(Send me an email when this assignment is finished and posted; use “FA27” as a
header; include your own blog address in the body of the message.)
Deliverables
PowerPoint presentation with the following added to your presentation and embedded in
your blog via slideshare:
-Illustrator exercises
-Naming process
-Logo design
-T-Shirt with logo and image
Part 1) Illustrator Exercises
Do the following exercises and post to the slide file, one exercise per slide.
There is a simple open-source tutorial url associated with most exercises. Note that
some of the tutorials may show an older version of Illustrator than you are using. While
the appearance of the software interface may vary a bit, the action will be essentially the
same.
Do the exercises in the order below (they progress in difficulty).
You may also search YouTube and Vimeo for other tutorials regarding tools or tasks.
Work on all exercises at 4 x 4 inches (File>New>Width 4 inches, Height 4 inches and will
indicate Custom>OK). Save all exercise files as Adobe pdf.
After you complete each exercise, place that file in the PowerPoint file with the
appropriate sub-header in the upper left-hand corner as in the example below. One
exercise image per slide with appropriate sub-header.
Place the completed exercise as large as possible without crowding the sub-header (the
sub-header is the name of the exercise).
Example slide:
--
Exercises:
*Rectangle Tool
Create a square box (hold down the shift key).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOVNW1kbcNk
*Fill Color and Stroke Color
Change fill and stroke color in the square.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX-I8PvxCTc
*Selection Tool (black arrow)
Show proportional change in the square (hold down the shift key).
(No tutorial provided.)
*Direct Selection Tool (outlined arrow)
Grab a point (anchor) in an object (the box for instance) and manipulate
that point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6LvIhJD4OU
*Eraser Tool
Cut up an object with the Eraser Tool and assign a different color to each element.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfHC3uXfVmA&list=PL58B3B602755904F8
*Line Tool
Draw a straight line
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNkDkc8Mlf0
*Scissors Tool
Cut segments from a line that was drawn with the Line Tool. Use the Direct Selection
Tool to move segments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nG-W-LJVXM
*Knife Tool
Slice a piece of an object off (a rectangle, etc.)., then, double click that piece to move it
away from the other parts of the object using the Selection Tool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5BuDiyZPYA&playnext=1&list=PL73A4672D88E88E
44&feature=results_video
*Text Tool and Text on a Path
Type your name on a straight line and on a curved path in 72pt. type from one of the
recommended fonts (see course blog).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdqB-iTFTsk
*Blob Brush Tool
Place a simple silhouetted photo on the art board and brush around the primary form.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijRNVTUs4f4
*Image Trace Tool
Make a simple sketch with a thin Sharpie or similar thin felt tip pen on paper. Or bring in
a photo to Illustrator to trace.
For tracing a Sharpie sketch: scan the sketch using the scanner (or make a photo of it
with your smartphone). Use Image Trace to trace the scanned felt pen sketch and
convert to a path.
If tracing a photo: file>place to bring the image into an Illustrator artboard (work area in
Illustrator).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIaNSI_J36Q
*Gradient Tool
Add a gradient to a box.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugRXwvyalHY
*Pen Tool
Use Add Anchor Point tool to add an anchor point in the middle of one of the vertical
paths in a box or other object. Use the Direct Selection tool to pull this anchor point
inward, creating a triangular shaped element.
(No tutorial provided.)
*Use the Covert Anchor Point tool to make a triangular shaped path and make it a
concave curve.
(No tutorial provided.)
*Using the Delete Anchor Point tool to remove an angle or other feature from the object
just created, restoring the path to its original configuration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42IfGtYvoJA
*Shear Tool
Create a Trapezoid from a box using Shear.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIcw7itBgT0
*Effects
Round the corners of an object.
Effects>Stylize>Round the Corner
*Pathfinder
*Combine two paths (two objects)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onID4bCH-oU
Part 2) Logo
Naming
-Create a name for an organization (profit or non-profit) that relates to the personal,
social or civic issue you identified in assignment two.
To do this, combine words from existing products or services with words from any of
your research sites.
Place three names of existing products and three words from your research sites on one
slide.
Label this slide, “Words to Create Organizational Name”.
Example:
On a second slide, show how you combined two or more of these and altered it in any
other way to create a suitable name.
Write one phrase of sentence that justifies the appropriateness of the new name.
Label this slide, “Created Organizational Name”.
Example:
Reference Images and Shapes
-Find three images relating to your theme where there is a common shape (diagonal,
circle, grid, rectangle, arc, etc.).
Choose reference images more based on shape rather than what they mean in and of
themselves. That is, you should be more interested in finding shapes that are
“connotative” (suggestive) rather than “denotative” (literal, specific and factual).
Connotative shapes tend to lead to richer results.
Don’t choose cartoons or existing logos.
Label this slide, ‘’Reference Images”.
In my example, I choose rectangle shapes that are monitors and one piece of African art
that is more or less in the shape of a monitor.
Example:
Logo Sketching
-Make six hand drawn sketches for a simple logo (logo) based on your reference
images. Think about the tone and purpose of the organization you are making the logo
for. Try to suggest the character of the brand without being literal.
Combine elements of your reference images and alter as needed;
don’t just replicate the reference images.
Use a thin felt tipped pen or pencil, not a ballpoint pen.
Make photos of the sketches with your phone, crop them in Photoshop and put all six on
one slide.
Label this slide, “Logo Sketches”
(I’m not proving an example for this slide, but you should create it using the layout
example of the previous slide and place that slide right after the Reference Images
slide.)
Examples of Logos
Logos can have many personalities. There is no one aesthetic solution for all logos, but
in general, they have little or no detail and will work small or large.
You will know a logo is right when you can’t take away anything else.
Designers always create a logo first in black and white (and sometimes gray)
and add color later.
Example logos
Referential (the tree refers to the what this organization does; in this case, a paper
company).
Metaphorical (the eye is a metaphor for visual media; TV, Web, etc. of the CBS
company)
Abstract (the interleaving look of these shapes refer indirectly, or abstractly to how
textiles are made).
Free Form (this is for an advertising agency; the scribbles are free form but relate to
what the agency does).
Whimsical (Twitter’s funny bird logo)
Logo Creation
Use your sketch(es) as a basis for a new logo. Use the same 4x4 inches artboard (the
working space in Illustrator) as your file setup). Make the logo 75-90% of the width of the
artboard.
You may start by placing (File>Place) one or more of your reference images into
Illustrator and tracing over it, or simply looking at the reference images and sketches and
creating something inspired by them.
Make three iterations (versions), and pick one.
When you have chosen a final design, do File>Save for Web. This saves it with a
transparent background, making it possible to overlay it on the t-shirt image (see below).
In the first version, I used the monitor/screen reference images as a starting point, then
made the four monitor-like shapes with the rectangle tool and rounded the corners. I
added a rhino silhouette inside one of the quadrants.
I rejected this version as too literal.
Label this slide, “Logo, Version 1”
--
I then worked with Effect?Modify>Scribble to make one of the monitor shapes irregular,
referencing the irregular shaped edges of the African art in one of my reference images.
I judged this to be successful, but too “busy” (complicated).
Label this slide, “Logo, Version 2”
--
I finally decided to eliminate three of the four shapes, leaving only the irregular shaped
form.
Label this slide, “Final Logo”.
Adding a Color
Most logos use only one color.
Choose your color based on the appropriateness to your organizational purpose.
I picked a red based on a color I saw in some of the images I saw in my Diigo urls from
Assignment Two.
Label this slide, “Logo with Color” and in 7 words or less, justify your choice of color.
Adding a Logotype
A logotype includes letters, logo does not. They both perform a similar function: to be
part (often the most important part) of the visual branding program of a company or
organization. They are, “the face” or a corporation / organization.
A logotype can stand alone or be paired with a logo. In this case, you will be adding
appropriate typography to the logo already created.
Choose an appropriate font for the organizational name. Place the name near the logo.
In general, it is best to start with the, “classic” fonts. These are the 20 or so fonts (out of
tens of thousands) that are most commonly used by professionals. See posted
examples of preferred serif and sans-serif type fonts.
The reason these fonts are so successful is that they are elegant, highly readable, work
in a large variety of sizes and media (TV, Video, Web, Print, etc.), and do not compete
visually with the logo.
You may try other fonts as well.
In my example, I used Rockford Bold, because it is strong and contemporary, attributes
that would conceivably be right for an organization about technology in developing
countries.
Label this slide, “Logo with Typography” and in seven words or less; justify your choice
of type.
3) Applying the Logo to a T-shirt simulation
Make photo of yourself from just above the waist up wearing a white t-shirt, one facing
the camera and one from the back.
Natural light on an overcast day is preferable. Set the camera (smartphone camera or
digital camera) to highest quality / largest file size. Do not use a flash.
You may have someone help you in making the photo.
--
Take the background off the image using the techniques you learned in Assignment 3
and replace it with a light gray one you make with the Paint Bucket tool . If you
don’t see the Paint Bucket, click and hold on the Gradient Tool , where it
sometimes sits behind.
In Illustrator or Photoshop, place the logo/logotype on the front facing photo.
Place the logo/logotype where the pocket would be (upper left on the t-shirt).
Example:
Label this slide, “Front of T-shirt with Logo”.
Place the final image from Assignment 3 on the back of the t-shirt (the photo of you with
your back to the camera). Size the photo, so it takes up approximately 50-65% of the
width of the rear-facing t-shirt area.
It is often useful to blur the edges of the placed image in Photoshop to give the photo a
more natural appearance, simulating it was printed on the t-shirt.
It is often also useful to use the blur filter (Filter>Blur>Blur), once or twice, so that the
image from Assignment 3 appears to have a similar quality to the t-shirt image you are
combining it with. (Just do this for the image on the back, not the logo on the front of the
t-shirt).
Example:
Label this slide, “Back of T-shirt with Manipulated Image”.
Related Links to Read
http://www.logodesignlove.com/all-about-paul-rand
http://www.paul-rand.com/
http://www.designboom.com/design/michael-bierut-interview/