1. Name of your company, a short paragraph describing what your company manufactures/sells and the target audience for the product.
Resonate is a music technology company that is currently manufacturing a new product designed to act like a radio, ipod, and daily planner all in one. The product, dubbed “kick start”, rivals the ipod touch with a 320x480 pixel screen and small key board that slides out from the main body. Users can access the radio any time, any where, and use the internet in wireless zones. One can upload their own music onto the kick start and insert their schedules into the planner program. Created in mind for ages ranging from music addicted teens to busy-body young adults, the kick start is a must have for any technophile.
2. Review the processes that Jacob Cass went through in designing his logo and Logo Design Secrets (and any other links that you found especially helpful). What parts of these processes did you use in your work. Please explain and be specific.
Many of the Logo design artists and websites suggested doing multiple sketches before using the computer. I did this in my own design process, filling a whole page with doodle before tracing some of them with the pen tool on photoshop. This sketching was a key part to my logo because I definitely cannot draw as well on photoshop as I can on paper. I kept in mind that the design had to be simple and scalable but still represent the company. This is why I decided to make a stick figure-like person and use sound waves in my design. Another tip was to go back and try different versions of one logo you liked. I had the image of a man in a karate pose stuck in my mind-- and it went great with the name “kick start”-- so I began to make different versions of him. This included different fonts, different arrangements of the text, and changing the position of the sound waves. I also tried sketching varying stick guys until I had determined that the karate man fit my logo best. Jacob Cass did something like this with his logo. He knew that he wanted his initials and incorporate a pencil into his design, so he just went crazy with various concepts of that main idea. One last main idea I kept in mind was that a logo doesn’t have convey what a company does. My company sold ipod like devices, but the most I alluded to music was with the sound waves.
3. Overall, what three important concepts have you learned about logo design? Explain why they are important to your future work?
As aforementioned, I learned that not all logos have to directly convey what the company sells. Nike isn’t a picture of a shoe, McDonald’s isn’t a hamburger, and my Resonate logo wasn’t a music note. Instead, I used the logo to emphasis the name “kick start” and alluded to a musical idea with the sound waves. Another important concept I learned was to make different copies and try different ideas before deciding on a final product. The process of sketching, using photoshop, and heading back to the drawing board really helped me organize my ideas. It was cool to be able to use photoshop to copy a core image and then tweak it to make different variations. After changing and editing several versions, I could decided on my final logo and feel confident that was one my best efforts. One more concept I learned was simplicity. In order to have a good logo, it needs to be scalable and still look good as a tiny image. This sets some much needed boundaries that keep a design from becoming too elaborate. It really makes you focus in on the core things that your logo needs to be effective.
4. Review the criteria and the process of designing a logo, please rate your final logo design, 1-4 (4 is the highest). Please explain why your work deserves the rating.
I really think my logo deserves 4 (Woohoo! Another non-three point five grade!!!) I’ve followed all of the tips for a good logo from Jacob Cass’s blog and from other websites about logo designs. I went through a brainstorming process and sketched out many different logo ideas. I’ve described my company and product well in my descriptor paragraph. I listened to my peer’s comments and incorporated their feedback into my logo. This feedback really helped guide me in the final parts of this design process and the final product. It was nice getting a different perspective on my logo and what needed to be tweaked. My logo looks great in black and white, color, large, and scaled down. You can easy tell what the logo is when it’s small, and the colors I used helped unify the text and karate man into one design. All in all, I think it looks like a very professional logo.
