Erin Burress:
Logo Design
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Project Overview
Project Type: Contract Position
My Role: Graphic Designer
Project Duration: September 13, 2022- October 13, 2022
Tools: Adobe Illustrator
Context:
The client needs a logo designed for their business as an artist, Erin Burress Modern Art. Erin sells acrylic and oil paintings of multi-hued dots that emphasize layers and negative space to create compelling visuals. The client wants a logo that reflects this style of art that she specializes in. She envisions a dot-themed logo with her initials incorporated into it. Erin Burress seeks a modern, high-end logo that reflects her art style.
Ideate Solutions
I had a general idea of the way I wanted to approach Erin's logo, so right away I started mapping out different ideas on Illustrator. In this initial ideation phase, I sought to find a number of logo solutions that felt distinct and new when compared to the others. At this stage in the process, color was only used to figure out fun ways to add contrast to the logo that would match her dot-themed style of art that she produces.
Refine Ideas Into Logo Concepts
From the initial brainstorming, I felt I had three unique logo concepts I could pitch to my client. I began tweaking the details until I was happy with these solutions, and offered two other other alternative versions of the logos I felt would best represent the brand.
Pictured right are the first draft of logos I proposed to my client. At this stage, there wasn't a good sense of the colors the client wanted to use. But I went to her website and from looking at her artwork I tried to choose shades that matched the general aesthetic.
Iterate on the Design
I submitted the first draft of logos to the client and asked which one(s) they liked, or which aspects of the design they’d like me to move forward with in the next iteration. Through this conversation, the following feedback was given:
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Move ahead with logo #4 as the foundation for our final design
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Incorporate the 3 dots on the side, like in logos #1 and 3
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Typography: she likes the lowercase font in #4, but would like it to stand out more from the rest of the logo.
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Color: Erin likes the idea of changing the colors to blue and light yellow. She's thinking of using colors from her artwork on her website (Light Yellow #2 or Light Yellow #3 and Navy Blue with another blue in the same color palette).
Using the feedback from the client, I made the following alterations to the designs:
Final Design & Design Guidelines
Finalized Logo:
Once the logo was finalized, I put together all the logo specifications for the client into the style guidelines. In this document I included the color palette and color codes, typography used as well as specifications for how to use them, logo design variations and color variations, spacing requirements, and mockups of the designs.
The final step involved sending over the Illustrator design files, as well as PNGs of each logo variation. I also provided the client with the style guidelines that I mentioned above.
Draft 3 Modifications
The client liked some of the modifications made to the design, such as adding the 3 dots along the side and the colors that were used. The client understood what I meant about the color contrast of the yellow color used in the initials, and agreed it didn't provide enough color contrast. Erin still wanted to use this particular yellow color though and ultimately decided she didn't like the idea of using a border around the logo either. Thus the client asked if we could return to logo #4 in draft 1 for the sizing of the initials in relation to the dots, but then use the new modifications made in draft 2.
Hearing her concerns, I started to think if there was a way to use the yellow that she wanted without also sacrificing the design that she wanted to use. I too thought the initials could be larger and more prominent than in the first draft. After adjusting some elements and taking all the feedback from both drafts, I had a logo I believed she would be pleased with. Pictured below is the progression of logos from draft 1, 2, and then the final logo I pitched to my client.
I created a proposal for this final version of the logo (see below) which I pitched to the client. Erin was thrilled with the final look of the logo and believed it perfectly captured the type of art she creates as well as looking professional. Based on the needs of how she would use the logo, I created a watermark version as well as an alternative logo for dark backgrounds.
