Pigeon Designs A Logo Project Rachel Scott 301114488 CMNS 325 David Murphy & Jan Marontate T.A. Erin Ashenhurst Concept & Motivation For my final visual design project I have researched, developed and designed a custom logo and taken steps toward developing an aesthetic and theoretical base for a paper-goods “business” called Pigeon Designs. The concept for my design was inspired by the hand-made greeting cards I create as a hobby and my desire to expand this hobby into an entrepreneurial venture. Through the design of a logo, I’ve aimed to incorporate a firmer understanding of design methods and theory into the base of this business. Additionally, I have taken some preliminary steps toward setting up an online business and customer network (I’ve set up an Etsy store, facebook group and twitter account for Pigeon Designs), which has given me the opportunity to test out my logo design in different contexts. The motivation for this design project came from the need for a signature logo for the handmade cards I produce. As Mike Weikert (2006) states in D.I.Y Design it Yourself, visual expressions help shape your identity, the way you present yourself to others and subsequently how others perceive you. A logo is a single graphic representation that distills multiple elements of identity and expresses your most distinctive characteristics (As cited in Lupton, 109). Charles Sanders Peirce (1932) discusses the multiple levels of meaning in signs, elaborating on the concept of deeper interpretation in the visual: “a sign, or representation, is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign” (As cited in Images, p. 107). Though they can be quite simple, successful logos signify something broader than just the name and purpose of a company: they encapsulate and express something deeper about the company’s identity that will resonate with potential customers. The paper goods that I produce are inspired by an aesthetic need to preserve the tactile and inherently imperfect nature of handmade products. Due to the nature of the greeting cards – made from recycled paper and goods, using hand crafted stencils and paint – there is an emphasis on the return to craftsmanship. In Slanted and Enchanted, Kaya Oakes (2009) states that “the D.I.Y. craft movement offers a new way to resolve an old tension between traditional domestic skills and participation in the (economic and creative) marketplace: by combining them” (185). Mandy Moore (2009) compliments this notion in Yarn Bombing, a book focused on the art of crochet and knit graffiti but one ultimately following similar ideals to the ones I attempt to embody, asserting: “Many people see the act of creating something… with their own hands as a stand against massproduced goods and corporate values. Crafting as an artistic act, rather than a feminine hobby, is seen in certain circles as subversive” (22) The objective and challenge for my design project has been to create a custom logo that embodies these aesthetics and social connotations, while at the same time serving a functional role through different media. In other words, the logo will be used in a number of different formats and is intended to function as a custom stamp, online and in print. This objective manifested itself through a combination of a hand-made, D.I.Y. ethos in conjunction with digital technology. Graphic designer Ellen Lupton (2006) asserts that “do it yourself” (DIY) “projects represent an attempt by people to resist the corporate culture saturating the Western world, oppressively narrowing design choices and restricting personal expression. Along these lines, DIY can be seen as a part of the ‘citizen designer’ movement (see p. 417), whose members espouse the idea that ‘everyone is a designer,’ although their goal is not to inspire creativity for its own sake but to motivate social activism” (Eskilson, 2007, 415). While agreeing with Lupton on the 2 basis that design has the capability to encourage social change, I also feel that this doesn’t necessarily have to be at the expense of creativity and aesthetic appeal. Bruce Mau, a high profile proponent of the “citizen designer” movement, which consists of professionals who attempt to address societal issues through or in addition to their work, “does not advocate a future led by designers-as-prophets, but instead suggests that people from all works of life can participate in cultural transformation” (as cited in Eskilson, 417). Eskilson states that the concept of the “responsible citizen designer” can be traced back to the British leader of the Arts and Crafts movement William Morris. Morris was credited with the assertion that the decorative arts not only had “the ability to ‘prettify’ the urban world but also to lead to an actual transformation of modern society that benefited people’s lives in all respects” (As cited in Eskilson, 33). Through my logo design, echoing the theory informing my card designs, I aimed to explore the early idea of “arts and crafts” in a digital design era in which the design process has been shifting further away from the production stage. As a direct result, I explored the fundamental issues around the oppositional aesthetics and modes of the hand-made and the digitally contrived. In “Electronic Tools,” William J. Mitchell asserts that “tools are made to accomplish our purposes, and in this sense they represent desires and intentions. We make our tools and our tools make us: by taking up particular tools we accede to desire and we manifest intentions” (as cited in Images, 227). It’s important for a logo to embody both the aesthetic sensibilities and the cultural outlook of a company. It is a distinctive mark that encompasses an image or identity and in this sense it is important that the logo is designed thoughtfully. In the case of the Pigeon Designs logo this was done by drawing my icon by hand, using paint and stamps to construct a custom logotype, and using coloured pencils to create an effect not achievable through Photoshop. 3 Target Audience: Demographic Considerations The target audience for my logo design is made up individuals who have an interest in, or are involved in the handmade, craft community. This would mostly include young adults, but age is not a limiting factor. The audience includes frequenters of etsy.com, and local design/handmade online communities such as Vancouver based poppytalk.blogspot.com, “an online ‘curated’ and monthly-themed marketplace exhibition site which showcases handmade and vintage goods from around the world” (poppytalk.blogspot.com). This can be a varied audience that could include anyone who has an appreciation for craft and handmade goods, prefers to support local arts and vendors by purchasing directly from them, is eco-conscious and supports the re-use of materials. This demographic has been defined by a number of names including “the crafting community” and “the handmade revolution.” Within this audience there is a fine line between the handmade aesthetic and mainstream logos and advertising. There is an appreciation for a return to craftsmanship on all levels and in this sense it is very important that my logo exemplify these ideals. In order to appeal to my audience I’ve emphasized a simple, yet elegant design that retains an endearingly childlike quality. On a metaphorical level, the pigeon represents the urban underdog and relates to individuals who dissociate themselves from corporate values. In The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win, Jeffrey Hollender (2010) states that “when so much of what we see and hear is mechanized, digitized, and designed for consumption, authenticity becomes an invaluable attribute. In a world that’s populated with spin zones and Disneyfied experiences, we long for the genuine article—even though we often can’t define it” (108). I aimed to attract my audience by embodying this elusive notion of ‘authenticity’ in my design. 4 The Design Process: Inspiration and Connotations The process of designing a logo for Pigeon Designs consisted of several aspects. My first design challenge was to choose a business name. I already had the idea to try and incorporate the word Pigeon into the business name, as it has personal significance that I felt represented the aesthetic style and particular mood I was aiming to create. I went through an iterative process of brainstorming names using mind maps and testing out different names in sketched designs. In order to encourage a successful final design, I followed the preliminary steps involved in research, ideation and design development. As recommended in many design books and similar websites and blogs I first produced a design brief that outlined what my business does, its goals, and target audience. I conducted research on my competitors in order to gain a sense of my market and the culture surrounding online craft stores. In some instances this meant observing the visual style of a particular venture or reading comments on a blog to get a sense of the type of people who are interested in this particular kind of product. Before beginning my final designs I produced several stages of preliminary sketches and visualization/mood boards (essentially a collection of images, textures, colours, logos, and arrangements that relates to my audience and products), which acted as a visual close-reading of the culture surrounding my audience and product. This type of visualization also helped me identify the design themes that would inform the aesthetic of my product such as colour, contrasts, shapes and arrangements. I made note of patterns I observed such as unusual symmetries, circular shapes, hand drawn text, muted colours, high contrasts and more abstract observations such as an indirectly theatrical nature. I was very aware of these patterns and tried to incorporate them into my logo design where applicable. 5 Something that I considered throughout the design process was how the logo would translate when applied to different media (i.e. on twitter versus as a rubber stamp) and if it could function as an individual icon as well as with accompanying text. This need for functionality inspired the simplicity of my final design. It was also inspired by an attraction to a retro aesthetic, whether this manifested itself through the need for simplicity in the design or by resemblance to children’s storybook drawings and their sense of innocence, naivety and a return to a simpler time. My aim was to try and compact as much meaning into the logo as possible while still having it remain much like a hand signature. Another inspiration for the logo in terms of colour, mood and artistic style was the music video for Neko Case’s “Maybe Sparrow.” The soft, hand drawn lines and the round nature of the image of the pigeon used in my logo design connote a humanist feel. The overall shape of the icon bears some resemblance to the well-known symbol of the treble clef, which aids in its recognition. Final Evaluation of Design: I have designed five versions of my logo: two in colour, black and white, and one creative version. I’ve successfully applied the design to a variety of materials and media (for example, photographs of how it would appear on the back of cards, on social media sites). I’ve also judged the logo’s success through its ability to convey a particular aesthetic message through these different media. I’ve aimed to draw on satirical notions of commercialism in my design, drawing attention to the questionable or problematic sides of capitalism and the idea of ‘property’ (Lupton, p. 24-27). The design process, while focusing on the use of digital technology, also involved attention to physical materials (such as different types of cardstock and inks) in order to produce the desired 6 effect. While my goal was to have a logo design ready in time to follow through on the production end of the project by the end of the term and have a custom stamp made, unfortunately I was unable to do this. It will eventually cost around $50 for a custom stamp and it would not have been ready in time for my presentation. I will eventually have the stamp made but would like to be able to incorporate feedback into my design first. 7 Works Consulted Eskilson, Stephen J. Graphic Design: A New History. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007. Hollender, Jeffrey. The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. Ligon, Scott. Digital Art Revolution: Creating Fine Art with Photoshop. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications, 2010. Lupton, E. ed. D.I.Y. Design It Yourself . London: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006. Manghani, Sunil, Arthur Piper and Jon Simons. Images: A Reader . London: Sage Publications Ltd., 2006. Moore, M., Prain, L. (Eds). Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti . Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2009. Oakes, Kaya. Slanted and Enchanted: The Evolution of Indie Culture . New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2009 Tufte, Edward. Beautiful Evidence. Cheshire: Graphics Press LLC, 2006. Tufte, Edward. Visual Explanations. Cheshire: Graphics Press LLC, 1997. 8