Creating Website logo

Today, in a group chat with the people who turned up, it was identified that we still needed a logo for the name and byline of the website. I volunteered to do some designs for this because I enjoy the creative side of the course. Also with me having time off recently for ill health and my surgery, I wanted to show that I am back and ready to step up and work as a part of the team.

The agreed name of the website is: “Out of the Shadows” and the byline is: “Shining light on Modern Day Slavery.”

When creating this logo I know that it has to reflect that of a professional standard and has to also reflect the brand identity of the site. This will help to draw people to stay on the site and deem it as a highly well designed and thought out. Professionalism is key as it then makes the audience see content as reliable.

Whilst I know the text that has to be included in the logo, I am not entirely convinced on how the layout should look. To help me narrow down on a few different designs I roughly sketched on a piece of paper some ideas.

Once I was satisfied with three designs I then started to build digital versions. This will help me to see what works and what doesn’t. Also, it gives the group more designs to choose from. To build the digital versions I will and am still going to use Adobe Photoshop as this is a great tool and I have previous knowledge of the software.

For the first design, I wanted to create a spotlight effect. In order for me to do this, I referred back to old notes and spoke to Dave Eccles who taught me in the first year. He explained the steps that I needed to do and this really helped to refresh my memory. As he spoke I made notes in order for me to remember everything so I didn’t make a mistake.

Here is how you create a spotlight effect

Step 1: set up a blank document with a black background. set the canvas to 10 by 6 and 75 dpi. This can alter depending on the size of the file required.

Step 2: create a new blank layer, with that layer selected then click on the rectangular marquee tool. With this draw, a narrow selection in the middle of the canvas but all the was down to the bottom of the canvas. After this either click Shift and Delete (mac) or Shift and backspace if you’re using a windows system. this brings up the fill palette, set this to 50% grey and click ok.

Step 3: Go to the filters drop down menu and hover over render then select fibres. The fibres tab will appear. zoom the rectangle image out to 33 % so you can see the fill image set the variance to 4 and the strength to 30 then click ok.

Step 4: Next open the levels tab and the 3 points change to 16- 1.00- 138 then click okay. This will help with the contrast.

Step 5: After that go to the filter menu go down to blur then click on motion blur set this to 90 degrees up and down and set the distance at 250 pixels. click ok then add a layer mask onto the layer. use the gradient tool and in the pallet pick the 2nd item in the first row. This is the foreground to transparency. Set the colour to black.  Press Shift and drag from the top of the rectangle downwards. Now you can delete the layer mask and click apply because that will keep what you have done on the actual layer itself.

Step 6: Press command, control and t and rotate the object to a make it angled off the corner of the page. whilst still highlighted click control and right click then pick the option to distort. push and pull the points to make it closer together at the edge of the page and open up the other points to represent that of a light beam.

Step 7: click control and the hue and saturation option the tab will open up. tick the box that says colourise and slide the points across until you get the colour that you want.

Step 8: create a round element by selecting the elliptical marquee tool and create a narrow oval shape. This shows the bounce of the beam on the floor.

Here are my efforts

The next design was more simple to create but still had a few steps, this time I wanted to use thicker text and smoke.

For the font of the text, I used Haettenschweiler. I thought it was bold and it makes a statement and was easy to read for the audience. Next, I wanted to use smoke but that is something I wasn’t sure how to create so i used an image from Creative Commons which is a royalty free site. This protects me and the project from legal issues with plagarism and copyrights.

The image was set as the background and I duplicated this layer and placed it higher the text layers as I wanted the image through the white text. To do this you go to layer create clipping mask. This has been successful on two words but having issues with the two other words I want the same. I don’t know what the issue is so I will ask Dave when i next see him around HSAD.

Here is my attempt so far

Hull Central – Design Work

I was asked to produce designs for the banner and logo for the new Hull Central website. I was briefed on the mandatory elements, and what they wanted. To prefer, the client was open to any design ideas.

It had to include:

1. Quote – “News and Views for the centre of Hull”
2. Colours – Blacks, whites and Oranges
3. Has to be letterbox format

I planned out a few ideas in sketch format and then transferred the ideas onto Adobe Photoshop. Here is where I put together the designs and edited it all.

The first design 

I used the key information and colour schemes. I used my own picture of the Humber Bridge as it is an iconic landmark and the Hull City Lion logo. However, when I showed peers it they said that it may come across as promoting the football team and not really identify with the website.

They said that there was too much orange and that they thought it would look better without the tiger logo. Also, it wasn’t in the letter box format like originally asked for, this needs to be amended

The square logo here with some adjustments will be used for the social media logo but not for the banner on the website.

Below you will see the revised version, I removed the tiger logo, moved the quote higher up as there was too much text at the bottom of the logo. Changed the word Hull too white instead of orange and changed the image to white with a black background. I airbrushed a bit of orange on too the bridge as it helped to break up the black and white. Also kept with what the client wanted.

Banner Designs

For the Banner I wanted to produce a simple, clear and professional looking design. As Hull has a long tradition and connection to the sea I thought that the main image to be used could be of the waters. I did two of the same designs one with a tiny bit of orange and one with just plan white text.

These designs where ruled out, because the audience didn’t feel a connection to Hull. The feedback showed that they preferred the logo design which was going to be used for social media instead.

Personally, I liked this design better as its simple and professional looking. Simple designs are better.

Anyways, when working with clients you have to put your personal opinions to one-side and provide them with what they want.

The client was happy with how it turned out in the end, I forwarded him all the logos and give him options to have it with or without the quote.

Final Logos Agreed

 

THINKLINK – My First Attempt

If you click on the image white dots show up if you hover over there is text which explains how I created the infographic. This I will be submitting for the website and as a part of my own initiated project. There are many reasons why I chose the elements you see but that will be explained in the next post.

Thinklink is a fantastic open sourced app that allows individuals to create depth to an image and allows users to have a more immersive experience. This is because they can hover over the dots and find out more information. It is not just information, it can have sound bites and links out to other relevant websites.

Thinklink, in my opinion, is fantastic and will help me to add more dynamic to my work and hopefully make my work stand out more.

Digital Versions of My Sketches

After coming up with some ideas, I then produced digital versions so see how well they came out. There where designs that didn’t look good at all when I produced hem and others looked more appropriate for the task.

The Bad attempts 

This one looked wrong and didn’t seem to be a brand that would be catchy or remember-able. As I didn’t like the digital version I ruled it out and decided to move on.

This next design was a complete failure as I tried to create an Additions logo. This used typography as well as a picture. This would not be a brand identity as it is too much and at different sizes will become unreadable and not good at all.

I ruled this one out and decided not to try and develop it further as it wasn’t going to become my brand.

OK Brand Ideas

This logo was better then the ones above, however I didn’t feel it was creative enough. It is very basic and not that what people will remember. My design has to be more creative and so that I stand out amongst others. This logo was that what reflects that to what’s already out on the market. Journalist generally just have there names simply done. I want to push boundaries of what is the normal for people in the Journalism field. The second logo with the black, white and yellow is designed that way as these are my sporting colours. In both of these logos i have designed each letter used in Illustrator.

My favourite brand ideas 

This design is my favourite by far. it really reflects me. The ‘C’ and the ‘M’ are made from wheelchair tires. This is key as i am disabled  and not ashamed to represent this aspect of my life. The wheels are symbolic as they showcase my personality. The chair transports me around but I am the individual. some people say they don’t want to be defined as a wheelchair user but I see it that its a part of me and why be ashamed.

This design is the building blocks which i want to work from. I want to make it flow better and to make the ‘M’ a continuous flow. The ‘M’ to me looks to much like the McDonalds ‘M’. This could get me into a legal issue if kept this was so by making it flow better and get ring of the central piece of the ‘M’ will help to make it less like the McDonalds brand. The brief states it must work in colour as well as black and whites. My chosen colour scheme will have dark reds or golds.

Sound – Timeline and Timings

Show Outline

Here’s is my idea for my show timings

– Show intro monologue (who you are, what you’re going to talk about): 20 seconds

– Intro music jingle (if I was to make a sequence of shows I would repeat for each show so listeners identify the jingle with your show): 15 seconds

I want to create a pastiche jingle – this is a tune that sounds like another but is a way to get around copyright issue. I really need to find an upbeat, sporty and catchy tune which I could adapt. My first thoughts was to use Birdy wings. It’s catchy and inspiring to say the least.

– Topic 1 – Interview: 3.15

– Topic 2: Interlude (music or break): 10 seconds

– Topic 3:  Interview: 3.15

– Closing remarks (thank audience, thank guests, and talk about the next show): 20 seconds

– Closing music jingle (suggest same as Intro music jingle): 20 seconds

 

This structure is a rough outline to what my pod-cast will actually be.  It follows mandatory elements that we have to have in our piece and the timing or it runs approximately 8 mins long