To start off my first production report, last week I created a Proof of Concept for my project, which is attached below.
Following my timeline for the project, this week I hosted a meeting with my client to discuss what my client would like to see in their product and this is what I took away from that meeting:
My client would like her content to be catered to the following social media platforms:
Ideally, she would want to sell her items via an antique booth, so she will need a sign or something of the sorts representing her brand that she can put in her booth. She also mentioned that she would like to advertise her booth on Facebook. Given that all her advertising would be through Facebook, content would need to be made for this platform not only advertising her brand, but also her products. To do so, I will have to create social media content and staged photos of my client’s work for Facebook for her brand account.
For her logo, she would like it have Simply Handmade written out in front of destressed shiplap. She also mentioned adding a blue bird sat inside a nest in the bottom right hand corner of her logo. For a header, she said she would like these same elements to be incorporated.
My client shared with me, that in my mood board, she would image it including some of the following aspects:
- Shiplap
- Blue bird
- Nest
- Chip Brush
- Glue Gun
- Dollar Tree
- YouTube
- Paint
- Greenery
- DIYed Cloche
- DIYed Carrot Wreath
Colors/Looks she would like to be included in her color palette include:
- White
- Cream
- Black
- Brown
- Grey
- Neutral Tones
- Galvanized look
- Pops of different colors depending on the season
When it comes to fonts, she said she would like to utilize a Rae Dunn inspired font. She mentioned how a lot of up and coming YouTubers utilize this style of font on their circuits and how she thought it’d be an appropriate font.
She said she would like to see buffalo check incorporated into the branding element of patterns.
With those considerations discussed, my client and I concluded our meeting about her brand. Next week, I will be taking these concepts and begin the brainstorming process where I will layout all my potential ideas before creating prototypes for those ideas the following week. The brainstorming process will include sketches which will be included in the next progress report and perhaps the creation of a mood board.
After wrapping up my meeting with my client, I wanted to conduct further research for this project based on assignment feedback before I jump into brainstorming next week. My research was conducted on CRAP, logo design, and creating a mood board. The following sources are three I found to be the most helpful when conducting my research: VWO Crap Design Principles, Logo Lounge Trend Reports, and LinkedIn Creating a Mood Board. My greatest takeaway from each resource was:
- VWO Crap Design Principles:
- In the logo I included in my Proof of Concept, I learned that I made a few errors. First and foremost, there is not much contrast between the colors I used. This leads to the S and H not standing out against the background, so the letters may be difficult to see. A general rule of thumb I can follow going forward is to utilize colors that lie opposite of one another on the color wheel.
- A trick this resource shared that I will use going forward is putting my image into greyscale to see if it has optimum contrast.
- Repetition is key for consistency.
- I learned what edge alignment is, which is when elements’ outer edge lines up against margins.
- Lastly, for proximity, I learned that elements that are associated with each other should be placed closely.
- Logo Lounge Trend Reports:
- From 2021’s logo trend report, I found the trends to feel both familiar and unique. Trends such as asterisk, off jog, and trans flip were all ones that felt familiar. Electric tape is certainly one that felt more unique and considerably less familiar.
- Something that surprised me is that when it came to font, stark sans was utilized in place of display serif simply to prove it was possible.
- I certainly believe there is a never-ending amount of information that can be found through this resource and I will certainly refer back to it when I go to create my client’s logo. I will likely go further back than simply 2021 to see what else has been a trend amongst logos in the past couple of years.
- LinkedIn Creating a Mood Board
- After watching the introduction to the course, I feel as if I should have went into my meeting with my client having already created a mood board; however, having a better vision of what my client wants, perhaps the first piece of content I create for this project should be a mood board.
- I appreciate learning official terms, such as design asset, which refers to all materials needed to complete a project. A mood board is helpful in making decisions with design assets because the designer is better able to judge whether the asset is an appropriate fit or not.
- Creating a color palette is the first step in creating a mood board.
- Four design inspiration sources are: Pinterest, Instagram, Behance, and Dribble.
- By using Pinterest as a mood board, there is no layout work and the client is about to interact with the board, not to mention it is free.
- Canva is a free graphic design app that has an impressive range of features which is another recommended program to use to create a mood board.
- Adobe Spark, another recommended program for creating mood boards, offers a free online and mobile design app.
- Instagram is a great platform for reaching potential clients; referral sources; and collaborators. Your posts act as a social media portfolio. The same goes for Pinterest.
