Bianca Benson Graphic Design
bianca (16 pencils) | Mon, 2010-10-04 12:10
Hi All
I graduated in 2009, got my bachelors in Graphic Design and started out on my own. Designing my own logo was quite a challenge. But here it is, i am already using it. But none the less I would appreciate some feedback that i can take with me in future designs (and maybe I get inspired to relaunch my brand ;)
Please bring it on since I have learned that a slap in the face teaches you way more than a pat on the back.
Thanks in advance guys.
Commenting on this Image is closed.
It's a lovely shade of red! Otherwise, I'm just not feeling it Miss Benson.
To be more specific, the mixing of a script upper case with a modern sans-serif is visually jarring. I cannot recall any design work I've come across where a designer attempted such a thing and didn't rapidly scrap the concept all together. The communication of these different typefaces simply are not congruent to each other. Even breaking this 'rule' would seem to have little benefit other than to say you break rules
Furthermore, I'm not sure you've explored the negative space. The raggedness of the right/left is maddening. Even if we were to move forward with the concept (which I'm seeing as eventually being a fully justified san-serif reverse out of a square, ) will we be convinced you have the design skills to do whatever project I have in mind?
Your logo is an opportunity to wow the heck out of a prospective client without saying a word. Sometimes the process takes many months. Designing your own logo is hard so don't be afraid of investing the time and thought and sheer sweat to make that 'wow' happen.
Lastly, when you make a logo its very helpful to put those English classes to work for you. By this I mean, write something compelling about your mark. Tell us what the mark is for AND HOW you arrived at deciding how to graphically represent it. Why did you chose the font? What feeling this shape or that line is meant to convey? Why those colors? Tell us the historical perspective and inspiration. Tell us the story!
Even if the mark fails, we designers may fall in love with the story or the ideas behind it and can help you refine it further.
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
Hi there Mr. Caoimghgin
Thank you very much for taking the time to look at my work and share your thoughts. I am waiting (ever so hopeful) for more remarks and 'critque' in order to digest it all. Then I'll respond with a collective answer! Watch this space...
I agree with caoimghgin. I would sit down and sketch it through, treating yourself like the client. What do you want to do with this mark...wish it to convey? Make up a brief on yourself and then tackle this again.
Cheers.
3dog
"Art -- the one achievement of Man which has made the long trip up from all fours seem well advised." - James Thurber
This is the ultimate typographers nightmare. It really looks like you took all typography rules, put them in a hat, picked four, and broke them.
It has no concept, it looks like a bunch of stuff thrown on a page, and when you're designing for yourself, you want to make a logo that will inspire confidence in your client. This is a jumbled mess. Start with the message you want to convey.
Leaky Penny
Check out what I've been up to lately!
http://petersonjoseph.com
I'm going to print it out and eat it.
-Unknown Artist
Yeah it looks a bit like the typical result of a logo design which started straight in Adobe Illustrator.
I agree on all said above here. Simplify it, work from an idea, not an execution.
http://jackmancer.com/
http://twitter.com/jackmancer
Hi All and thank you for the slap in the face - I appreciate it ;)
Comments like yours keeps my going and inspires me to reach further and try harder.
Keep them slaps coming!
I will keep you updated on any changes I make.
there is some fun interpaly within the script letters. which id bet is what got you drunk on the concept to begin with
but the interplay id suspect is somewhat "happy accidental" and not fully thought out. the other problem is that the script component has almost no visual connection to the rest of the words. i see a bunch of squiggles on the left and ianca enson raphic esign on the right.
its not the worst studio logo ive ever seen. but its not going to stand out in any conversation either.
if you alternate left/right offsetting each word and tighten up the kerning, it might get somewhat more defendable
Relaunch your brand the minute you're done working four or five years for a publication, production house, agency or any combination thereof. It's obvious (to me) that you need some real world experience.
SLAP!
(rubbing my cheek) Thanks! I agree, real world experience is the next step.
Having a thick skin that can absorb those slaps is a good start. Remember - it's okay to break down and cry every once in awhile - just do it in private where they can't see you. :)
And don't worry about the logo. My logo took 4 years to finally get it down on paper. You can still work on other jobs in the meantime. With artists it's always the same problem - we can draw for others, but the only thing we can draw when it comes to our own stuff is a blank.
I try to steer people launching a career in design AWAY from production houses as much as possible.
I know. It sounds counter-intuitive.
I believe designers who land a production job are labeled as designers who couldn't land a design job. The stigma follows them. Mostly, they resign themselves to being production artists for their entire careers. It's sad really.
If at all possible, land an internship at a design studio. Why colleges are allowed to offer courses in design without effectively teaching design theory is mind-boggling. I don't know if this happened to you, but it's all too common.
The good news is that design is something you can teach yourself through experience and your own personal study of others design work.
A wonderful site mentioned before, www.dribbble.com. It's a peer-reviewed site. Members are specifically invited to show their work by other designers who respect them. This keeps the design level very high and it's an excellent resource to see what is considered 'good design' by people who should know.
See what you like. Attempt to DUPLICATE what you see. Study the lines and the relationships. Create your own opinions on what works, what doesn't, what's just plain silly. Be discriminating in how you consume design everywhere around you. Be insufferably opinionated about design and able to back up your opinions on the spot.
Design is a field that combines the highest elements of our collective civilization, history and culture, and what we desire.
It's hard not be excited about that.
Good luck and be sure to come back and tell us what you discover!
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
I really really appreciate all your input and all the effort in your remarks. There is thought and reason behind your criticism. The dribble.com website is fantastic - the work featured on there are the reasons I fell in love with graphic design in the first place.
Thanks to all the slaps in my face, I find this forum highly stimulating and informative.
Keep on slapping! You will see more of me (meaning my work) in the future, for sure!
Yes - that's a good point about people being pidgeonholed into "design" or "production" only (with the third option being "marketing"). And yes - some artists fall into one of those areas and never leave. So - agree 100% on all that. But you really opened one huge can of worms there (probably worthy of it's own thread some day).
Let me just say this - you and I (having some production experience in our backgrounds) know how many artists are out there that have absolutely no idea what happens to their file once it leaves their computer. Having some knowledge in that regard puts us one step ahead of those folks. That's why I threw it in there - production is a good thing to know - especially if you plan on being on your own one day where you will be at the mercy of production people. And if you learn something about all 3 of those aspects of the business - design, marketing and production - you'll never be unemployed.
As always - that's jmho. :)
100% agree, production experience is invaluable if you eventually go solo, I use several print houses for my projects, and the ability to recognise bullshit, know ways to save money by ganging up jobs, stock / finishing options, and just the knowledge of what will and won't work in print will make your life so much easier.
+1 on the design, marketing & production comment Art. I have been lucky enough to gain considerable experience in all three of these fields.
I have said it before, and I'll say it again, but design without marketing know-how is useless, unless you are just trying to make pretty pictures...
living on dreams and custard creams.
Exactly. In some ways, production is a lost art for a lot of graphic artists. It used to be you started as the "paste-up" guy and worked your way up to AD (or went solo). Production was a natural step in the progression of every career. Now I run into people all the time who have no idea what a separation is or how the printing process actually works. And the surprising thing is - a lot of them have that production/design blockade going - like production is beneath them or something. Hey - it's money out of YOUR pocket when the printer fracks up and puts the blame on the designer to cover his own ass. You better have some knowledge to back yourself up in a pissing contest or you'll lose every time.
And of course I AGREE with everything you have to say 100%. I know the value.
Trouble is, I'm the minority.
College Graphic design programs don't teach pre-press figuring the students will pick it all up OJT in whatever design/ad agency picks them up. So, the guy whose looking to hire was hired straight out of college 20 years before into a design/ad agency and he's expecting to hire somebody directly from college or just out of an internship at some nice agency.
He's not hiring pre-press people for 'creative'.
It's not a right/wrong thing. It's just the world as I perceive it.
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
I would hire 'pre-press people' as designers if their creativity was shining through their portfolio over a fresh college graduate any day. Having experience in a commercial environment toughens you up. It settles you into good working practices. It proves your attention to detail and deadlines.
Learning pre-press on the job is the norm, as most print facilities differ greatly, and most people only learn what they need. Pre-press could be a degree in it's own right.
When I left school (18) I had a couple of A-levels (UK further education qualification) in Art and D&T, but I had no money to go to university with so I got a job at a local printers as an assistant in the pre-press department planning film & loading paper whenever my time was free. I eventually got moved into the office of the designer after a year of nagging the boss.
'Tim' taught me the fundamentals of design, composition, the pitfalls to avoid, postscript, workflow, imposition & his knowledge of typography, he INSPIRED me. He was a great teacher, very patient and creative. He was happy as 'mac-man', I wasn't.
I saved and saved and put myself through college, then Uni.
By using the tools that had been handed to me by Tim 'the mac guy in prepress' I was able to come out of education with minimal debts by picking up freelance projects where I could. He taught me well, and I owe him big time.
Any employer that considers a college degree more valuable than experience is a fool.
living on dreams and custard creams.
"Any employer that considers a college degree more valuable than experience is a fool"
And all generalisations are true and helpful.
My employees with university degrees are more valuable to my business than those that had learned from a single mentor 9-5 every day. It's not the piece of paper at the end, it's the life you live getting it and the critical thinking you develop in the process.
One of my employees is an expert in the (you'd think irrelevant) field of post-post-modern-abstraction of surrealist-inspired claymation. And she is wonderful. Another guy came with 3 years experience as a magazine designer. He cost me a lot of business because he had a drug problem and downloaded porn all day. Case closed.
Write a wise saying and your name will live forever – Anonymous.
http://theghostwriterinthemachine.blogspot.com
Yup.
Without my sense of direction, I don't know where I'd be.
loved as type exercise.
looks so much sometimes as logo because it has a strong and repetitive rhythm.
yes I'm brazilian xD
no, no no.....
how about making up a name for your freelance business? It would be easier
Julie
http://www.luckybirddesign.com