Logo Design Capstone Project: Creating an Identity Kit

Hello Students,

An identity package is a corporate communication standard. It helps a company or organization present a uniform appearance to the world in its correspondence and communication. Being able to design a logo and then enhance it for an ID package is a strong design skill and one that is readily marketable to your potential clients.

Identity Kit Assignment Details:

• When you have consulted with your instructor and your final logo design is complete, create an identity package that expands on your logo design style and color usage. Look for elements you can play with such as color, shapes, graphic elements, typography use them in the design of your identity package assets. Above all make the kit have consistency and adhere to the graphic "DNA" in your logo design.
• Create a business card, letterhead, envelope design and a Shirt design + 2 promotional items of your choice (cd/dvd label, usb drive, pen, pencil, notepad, keychain etc).
• Use the tutorial if you wish as a guide to creating your Business card, letterhead and envelope elements. You will have to do some research and use your imagination to complete the other assets in your ID kit. Look up the sizing and specifications of each asset before creating them, for instance the CD label, you can find a template to use through a quick google image search.

Link: How to create an identity package

Identity Kit Assignment Deliverables:

• Your final logo applied to and expanded upon in the creation of a cohesive identity kit
• A mockup of all designs applied to:
• Business card (front and back)
• Letterhead
• Envelope
• T-Shirt
• 2 Promotional items of your choice that are brand appropriate (DVDs, CDs, pens, pencils, usb-drives, water bottles, etc.)
• Design mockups assembled and presented in an appealing visual manner in 1 final image
• Designs and final work are expected to show quality and craftsmanship and to utilize the principles and elements of design in deliberate ways to produce compelling and effective work. Please read the class rubric for grading expectations.

Resources:

• Link: ID Package design samples

Examples of student work: High Performing
These designs all show quality logo design and good application to promotional and print elements. A quality mockup can sell the idea to your client so our expectations are high.

Examples of student work: Medium Performing

Missing promotional items. Logo design was copied from prior works.

Examples of student work: Low Performing

The final logo design in this assignment was not reviewed with the instructor. The  application lacks detail and does not adhere to design principles and elements or the class rubric. Missing additional promotional items.

Have fun!

- Mr.W

Logo Development Project Phase 2: Final Design and Production Art1

Hello Students,
For this project you will review the 15 examples you created in the prior project. Identify the strongest example(s) and further develop them, resulting in a single logo rendered as final production art. This assignment has multiple deliverables, so focus on reading and understanding the expectations laid out below before beginning.

Final Logo Development Project:

• Take the strongest example of your previous project and develop it further, explore it's design, create 3 strong variations of your final design, explore layout and graphic options, choose the best version and render it as final production art meeting the deliverables below.
• To evaluate your best designs, email the finished results of your previous project and or the current state of your designs to me as JPG's and I will email feedback and offer suggestions on how to progress and refine your design.
• For final production art you will create and post a version in black and white and one in color, you will also post your 3 pencil sketches alongside your final vector artwork. Presentation and quality counts. Show the versatility of your logo design with different sizes, colors and how it might be used against different backgrounds, white on black, black on white etc.

Deliverables:

• 3 Logo design variations based on strongest design(s) from previous project. Email these to me for feedback before proceeding.
• When given feedback, render your 1 final logo rendered vector art, in both color and black and white/white on black and in 3 sizes from large to small (64X64 pixels or 1"X1"). Alter or edit smallest version if needed for clarity
• To clarify: Final Logo is posted as...
• Full Color
• Black on white background
• White on black background
• 3 sizes from Full size, to small (think business card size) to Icon size (64X64 Pixels, unique pixel art modifications may be needed)

Grading:

Refer to the grading rubric for the expectations and methods I will use to evaluate your work.

3 Logo Variations are Due by Thursday, Final Logo artwork is due next Tuesday - Mr.W

Previous Student Examples: Low Performing:

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This design shows poor execution and failed to meet assignment deliverables. There is no attention paid to the quality of the line work. The logo is not describable. The logo is not expressive of it's organizations purpose.

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Medium Performing:

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This logo shows good craftsmanship but received a poor rating as it was appropriated from a pre-existing design

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High Performing:

These examples showed strong design skills, good craftsmanship and students met required deliverables for the assignment. Strong original designs can be a shining example in a young designers portfolio.

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New Project: Logo Design and Development

Students,

For this in depth project, you will create a series of logo designs to explore different logo creation styles and then sketch and design a final logo design for use in your portfolio as a work sample. Once complete you will use this logo to create an identity package, which is our next project. Read the assignment details thoroughly!

I recommend you use Illustrator for this project. You could use the final logo design as the center piece to your final portfolio website, so consider logo themes that describe you and will work well in different environments.

Overview - Rules and Principals of Logo Design:

1. A logo must me describable

2. A logo must be memorable

3. A logo must be effective without color

4. A logo must be scaleable. So it should look good at 12"X12" and 1"X1"

5. A logo should be appropriate for it's audience and brand

Logo Design Assignment Details:

There are 5 logo examples below, you will create your own logo designs, 3 for each of the 5 styles for 15 designs. You will then design a final design utilizing the best of all styles, for the final design you will pencil sketch 3 different designs before evaluating the best choice and completing final artwork.

Create an imaginary company, organization or think of what you would like to do if you begun your own business. For instance if I was doing this assignment I would create logo's for Wilson Enterprises, Wilson Design Group or Wilson Co. etc...

Research, look at logo designs for similar companies or check out logo design collections online for inspiration. Here is a cool collection of vintage logo designs to peruse.

Create 3 versions of each of the logo style examples below:

1. Typeface only: Create 3 logo's using a different font for each one. Pay attention to spacing between your letters. Think of clever ways you can make a simple font-only logo have impact. Use color, proximity, contrast to your advantage.

2. Typeface's combined: Create 3 logo's that use 2 different fonts, make your font choice strategic to add emphasis and draw attention. Check out this link on effective type combinations

3. Typeface plus an abstract art element: Create 3 examples of an arranged logo that uses a typeface plus some simple elements, rectangles, lines or dots, but they must be abstract. Sketch on paper to aid your creativity if needed. Check out this gallery of abstract logo designs.

4. Typeface plus a shape or symbol: Create 3 examples of a logo that uses a typeface and an image or symbol that is relevant to your logo's subject matter. Sketch on paper to aid your creativity if needed.

5. Shape or Symbol logo with typeface: Create 3 examples of a logo that makes the symbol or shape dominant and the typeface subordinant. Sketch on paper to aid your creativity if needed. Include a written explanation and description of your symbol or imagery.

Due Dates: Logo designs 1-5 are due Friday

Previous Student Logo Developments:

High Performing:

These examples show strong design development, consistency and good application of the principles and elements of design. Additionally they all show strong technical skills.

 Medium Performing:

This set of designs shows progression and focus on design elements and principles up to a point.  Perhaps too much polarity in the more advanced designs failed to yield a refined conclusion. Sometimes a train of thought must be explored deeper to yield an effective resolution to a design problem.

Low Performing:

This low performing result fails to meet assignment parameters. Additionally it does not display mastery technical skills or understanding of design elements and principles.

- Mr.W

New Project: Create a Package Design and 3D Mockup

Hello Students,
Your new assignment is to create an original package design that can be printed and assembled into a 3 dimensional mockup.

Examples of printed and assembled 3D package design "mockups"

Package Design Assignment Details:

• Search for template designs for packages, find one you like or make an original design. Try a google search for "package template(s)". Here is a link I found
• Outline or trace your template in Illustrator... note the tabs for gluing/taping together and the folding pattern
• Come up with a product idea and create a package design, front, back, sides, top and bottom
• Include product name, information, ingredients, bar code, etc... 
• Take time to create interesting designs or illustrations, use your color theory, typography and design skills in all aspects of the package
• All artwork must be original, no tracing or processing of photographs unless you took the original photo yourself!
• Your project will be graded on originality and complexity of your package design as well as meeting design standards for emphasis, contrast, alignment, clarity, communication.

Package Design Assignment Requirement:

• Package design must be complete with all required information, nutritional information, weight in ounces, warning labels, recycling labels, etc. Look to real world examples to see what your design should include
• Your design must apply and consider use of the principles and elements of design
• Your design must have appropriate typography that is clear, legible and communicates effectively
• Your design must use well thought out color palettes for optimum visibility and contrast
• To present your finished design you will post the flat artwork and a photo of your finished assembled 3D mockup to your blog

Resources for inspiration:

Link: Packaging of the World

Link: Cool Hunter -  Power of the Package Design

Bonus Links:
Vecteezy Free Package Templates in AI Format
Online label generator for nutritional facts, barcodes and QR codes

Simple cereal box package template

Completed cereal package design

Student Examples:

Have fun!

 - Mr.W