Visual Communication Lesson 5

In this lesson, we learnt many essentials about mascots and logo.

We've learnt that logo is not just a brand, but a design that represent one's company or organisation. To design an effective logo, it must under stand and follow 5 simple principles. They are namely Simplicity, Memorability , Timeless, Versatility, Appropriateness.

Simplicity is important as companies want their consumers to remember their brand and logo, and if there is too much going on, it would be difficult for the customers to do that. Having a simple design also ensures their message are sent straight to the point.

Memorability. For a company to be well-known, it needs to be established, and to do that, a logo is the easiest way to go. For it to be successful,  it requires people to know such brand exist. And with a creative logo, it can be easily achieved. For example, a consumer may want to buy certain product from a certain shop, but don't know the name. If they remember the design of their logo, it is easy for them to find it.

If a product or company wants to be remembered, they need to have a timeless logo design. There is a few simple reasons as to why. The first being if they do not do that, with fashion, time and style changing, their logo may look too old and groggy and out of style. And as a result, what happens is that they have to redesign a logo. And this begins a butterfly effect where people have to forget the old logo and try to adapt to the new one. When a logo changes, it's difficult for people to just change their mind of how the logo looks like. Over time, with increased number of times where logos are redesigned, consumers may feel irritated and eventually stop buying products from that particular store.

Versatility. Versatility is another pivotal principle of an effective logo design as a logo needs to be versatile to attract different types of consumers.

Lastly, appropriateness is important as well as a logo has to be design so that it can attract it's target audience; for instance, if a company is selling children products, its design should be children orientated with cartoons and cute fonts so that they would be attracted to buy the products. However such concept is not relevant if the company sells toothpaste. Hence, a need of appropriateness is essential in logo designing.

We learnt that there are mainly 3 types of logo. They are namely Iconic/Symbolic, Logotype/Wordmark & Combination logo.

In an Iconic/Symbolic logo, they should be recognisable and is extremely memorable. We also understood that there shouldn't be too many colours in a logo, and it will be costly when printing, as there are more colour ink to print. Hence, a logo should not have more than 3 colours.

Example of Iconic Logos:

Apple Inc

Nike

Starbucks

In a Logotype/Wordmark logo, there should be a unique font type and not a conventional one. In this type of logo, there will be no picture at all, but instead, the written word form of the brand. However, it has to be legible and ease of recognition. It's advantage is that people might remember it as it is just the brand name as well as the logo.

 Also we understood that if a font is thick, it gives off the message of strength & power. Eg: Dell, Forever21

Script font give a message of formality e.g: FedEx, Topshop

Slanted fonts gives a sense of motion/movement eg. Ray-ban, H&M

Last but not least, combination logos. In combination logos, it is essentially the mixture of Iconic and Logotype logos, whereby the logo has a icon or symbol, however, also bears the company name. Concise text can complement an icon or symbol, providing a form of supplementary clarity. These logos and be either integrated of a stand-alone. It means that the logo can be incorporated in the brand name or have it side by side.

Examples of Combination Logos are : McDonalds, Domino's Pizza, AT&T, Pringles

After learning about logos, we learnt a little bit about mascots. By definition, a mascot is a representative figure, a symbol and a communication tool for a products. It personifies their values, communicate effectively and help them form a brand.

Some famous mascots:

Singapore Courtesy Campaign Mascot

London Olympics 2012 Mascot

China Olympics 2008 Mascots

In a good mascot, there should be 5 important qualities.

1. Connection to the message the company wants to portray

2. Background Story

3. Appeal

4. Style for target audience

5. Props and Accessories

After that, we got to practice using the software illustrator. This time we're given more templates to practice on. The below are what i've done.

Visual Communication Lesson 4

In today's lesson, we've learnt about many things, ranging from arts history to different form of arts and it's origin to moodboarding and lastly using Adobe Illustrator.

For our first activity, we've learnt about arts history on how people used to write. This is also known as the olden dat iPad/Tablet.

In the past, people used a 'stylus' made of iron to carve words onto the wax made 'paper'. This was great, as it saves paper, and is reusable. On top of that, it is portable and can be carried everywhere and used anytime.

We learnt about posters, and how overtime, they've changed, but however some essence remains the same. For example, as technology got more advanced, posters became more graphical. And American posters today share certain similarities with european posters in the past.

We also learnt that binding books was something that was possible many centuries back. It is first discovered to be done in Asia, binded with strings, this method is still practiced, however not often. 

Subsequently, we were separated into 4 groups where each group has to discuss and present about a type of art. The 4 types of art are namely Cubism, Dada, Nouveau Art, and Pop Art.

After discussion, each group has to present what they have found out. After the presentation, this is what i've learnt from each art form.

Art Nouveau: This form of art is originated from France and was most popular during the 1890s - 1910s. This form of art was extremely detailed and decorative. Also, the designs were very intricate and is carefully crafted. Also, we learnt that one of it's founding fathers was a man named William Morris, who also is one who supported the arts & craft movement. 

Dada Art: This form of art was interesting as it was also seen and described as 'anti arts' where it's content leaned towards gore and abstract items. I've also learnt that the birth of Dada art was a result from the horrors after World War 1, and was actually created out of negative reaction.

Cubism Art: Cubism art from my point of view is a from of art where distortion of usual graphical shapes. Also giving different view point to each individual viewing it. Also a great tool for literature where each individual may give an interesting opinion of the same subject.

Pop Art: Pop art originated in the 1950s and the man who started this movement of pop art visuals is called Andy Warhol a.k.a the 'Pope of Pop'. We also discussed the definition of Pop art and seen some examples of them, namely Andy Warhol self shot photo and a Pop art version of Marilyn Monroe. Similarly, we explored how Pop art is still prevalent in the world today and is taken into real life where people wear make up to look like pop art character. We also learnt about Roy Litchenstein, another pioneer that contributed in Pop Art, he mostly showed his art pieces in forms of Cartoon & Comics.

Another thing we've learnt is what a moodboard is. In layman terms, it is a type of 'scrapbook' that consist of image and fashion fabrics. Subsequently, we got to see a few examples of moonboards, and had to do one ourselves based on the theme of 'Fashion in Singapore 2013'. Below is my completed work. 

My moonboard consists of the current fashion scene that i think 

is of Singapore, for both male and female.

We also briefly knew what storyboarding is for, to allow one to better understand the movie, or to see the synopsis of the movie.Also, we learnt when we need a storyboard, some are Movies, Telvision, Animation & Consumer Concepts. Lastly, we got to learn how to use the software Illustrate to create shapes and figures, as well as to colour them and give shapes an outline.