Week 8: Logos/Identity

The Energy Star logo is designed using cyan as its only hue. Energy Star is a positive indicator that the electronic appliance on which it appears uses 20-30% less energy than is required by federal standard. This implies that electronics that use less energy help conserve our resources and promotes environmental sustainability. In this case, the color cyan is associated with a positive contribution, an optimistic outlook and natural resources.

Barclays is one of the world’s largest global financial services companies, based in London. It is also one of the largest overall companies in the world. I think they chose to use a bright cyan because it is a fresh and vibrant color. It is also a reliable color, as it appears frequently in our daily lives. However, in my opinion, it seems too playful to represent a bank. I would assume a bank logo would attempt to appear more austere and sophisticated. I think they were focusing on the positive energy and associations with the color cyan. It definitely stands out from its competition because many other banks use royal or dark blue. However, while I don’t think it’s a terrible choice, I don’t think it was the best option. If they had wanted to use cyan specifically, they could have chosen a darker shade.

Goldman Sachs also uses cyan, but it seems to be a calmer and softer tint. They are probably trying to evoke the feeling of trust and comfort.

Some examples of other logos within the same industry, for comparison:

Week 8: Branding/Identity

Cyan was one of the primary colors chosen to represent the Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics in 2010.

They considered “What is the story of the Vancouver 2010 games?” The design team went through a very intense research process. They explored natural environment and cosmopolitan towns a cities. They wanted to create a synthesis, a merger, a fusion, of all aspects of Canadian life and what Vancouver has to offer. The color palette and graphics were based on this concept.

Cyan was used as a main color in their palette, as was named: Mist. It was complemented by an analogous palette: Winter Ocean, Moss and Cloud. Texture was a substantial part of the visual research process and was a significant component of the Olympic graphics, ie. wood grain, cobblestone, water, rain.

The identity for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics was considered a huge success. The visuals were captivating as gestalt, as a whole, but also blended into the environment and revealed unexpected details and textures. The longer you look at an image, the more details revealed themselves. It was also widely noted that the graphics looked great on television and across various publicity platforms and merchandise. The design team certainly conveyed “the Canadian spirit” and “helped to define who we are.”

Vancouver Olympic Website

Blog About Vancouver Olympic Design

Week 8: Texture

ColorBook_Comp_05

I had a great time experimenting with textures this week. I enjoy isolating details of images which then become expressive and abstract. I also enjoy creating textures which often resulted in a surprising outcome.

I began with an analogous color palette. I worked with cyan (my primary hue), blue and green. The top three squares are textures from photographs of found objects. These display patterns, spontaneous and organic visual textures. The bottom three squares are scanned textures of fabrics and materials. When looked at closely, the images display a range of shades, tints and tones, but if you squint they blur and the dominant hue appears more distinctly. The top row of images seem more natural, organic and intuitive where as the bottom row of textures seem more artificial, controlled and man-made. All of the textures in this study are strong and vibrant color. The top row is especially active and shows dynamic movement.

My second texture study explores a more subdued analogous set: blue, cyan, green and yellow-green. I scanned found object that have a smaller, tightly woven texture. The top row is scanned images and the bottom row shows how they react to Photoshop texture filters. Filters (from left to right): glass, dry brush, crystalize and stamp. After applying digital effects, I found many subtle variations and shades, tints and tones within each texture, although at first they appeared to have a more uniform hue. These textures are definitely more calming and soft. The all have a subtle grid but are overall more static and placid. This seems like a nice interior color palette, that could use an accent color (red-orange or red-violet) to bring it to life.

I handmade a third analogous color study. In the top row, I created textures with household materials and painted them blue, cyan and green. I like the range of highlights and shadows this achieved. In the bottom row I created texture by painting and stamping objects. I like how the bottom row becomes abstracted and the viewer can associate different meanings for each texture. Someone might see an explosion, reptile scales or the surface of the moon. This shows how textures can sometimes appear representational or symbolic.

This study explored triple complementary pairs. I isolated details from photographs I’ve taken. By doing this, I really love how you can appreciate the beautiful texture and color of a detail in an image. Sometimes when observing an image in its entirety, the unique details can be lost. This is a concept that is driving my color book. I love to highlight the beauty of details found in unexpected places that are often overlooked. These are all items that can be found in the home, but perhaps this study offers a new perspective.

I also tried to focus on choosing shades or tints of each color and not its pure hue. All of these textures seem to be bursting from their squares. You can begin to visualize the rest of the image, just based on this small clue. I especially like the contrast between warm and cool colors in each pair. They are so different, in amount of detail, color and movement, yet work together. They have complementary colors as well as contrasting compositional elements.

Last week, I really enjoyed creating neutral palettes based on my hue (cyan) and its complement (red-orange). I tried to recreate the color palette I achieved last week, using textures. I think that all of these textures show unique qualities and I like that it is difficult to tell where many of them come from. Many of them show how light and shadow affect a hue as well as the difference between a uniform pattern and organic shapes. I am usually very drawn to bright and vibrant colors, so I am happy to have discovered new possibilities when working with neutrals.

Lastly, based on my color book theme, I decided to study the textures and various shade, tones and tints found in the sky. It is rare that we take notice of how active the sky can be and how the clouds take on many different shapes and textures. I realized that I would like to take more photos at dusk, so I can include darker shades of cyan in my study.

Week 7: Bryant Park Studios

While taking pictures near Bryant Park, a doorman at one of the buildings invited me to come in and meet with the manager whom, he was sure, would take me up to the roof of the building for a better view. “OK!,” I thought. Why not? So I was escorted to the roof of Bryant Park Studios which has been appointed a landmark building in New York and is known for having housed the studios of famous artists, like Fernand Leger and Winslow Homer, as well as for being a speak-easy during prohibition. While it was only ten stories high, I got a new perspective on the great buildings in mid-town. It was nice to be shooting pictures from a different vantage point. Here are some of the photos I captured.

Week 7: Logo Development

This week, in addition to taking photographs while looking up, I decided to head to the pier and take some photographs of cyan while looking down at the water. Although the Hudson is certainly  not a beautiful cyan-colored tropical body of water, it still reflects the color of the sky in a more subtle way. In the water, there are many lovely shades of green that are also visible.

For my logo design, I wanted to reflect the experience of looking up at the sky and looking down at the water. In both of these environments, I continue to observe many instances of vertical and horizontal grid-like configurations. I created some sketches, on-site, to reflect this observation. I also create a collage on the computer to isolate details of certain images that support this concept.

For my logo, I began with a more graphic-looking design that suggested the image of a building and a pier/dock. However, this design appeared too sterile and architectural. My photos have really been about the combination of structured, architectural elements and organic, curvilinear and natural elements. I wanted the logo to reflect this synthesis. So I created a graphic stencil, and then used oil pastels and acrylic painted to fill it in. I think the combination truly represents my concept.

I decided to use the logo on the left because it worked more successfully when reduced to a smaller size. Using my neutral color palettes as inspiration, I create some color options for this design.

And I named the colors to correlate with the urban landscape.

Week 7: Complementary Mixing Scale

I create a complementary mixing scale. I created 5 columns. The outside columns show the pure hues: Blue/Green and Red-Orange. My assigned hue, cyan, is attained by adding a small amount of white to the blue/green hue and is most accurate at the third square of the blue/green column. The center column shows an equal combination of both hues, a middle ground and neutral combination. To the left of center is a blue-green based neutral and to the right of center of a red-orange based neutral. As the column rises, each color’s lightness increases by adding white to create a wide range of beautiful tints. While I established 8 increments, I felt I could have pushed each color 2-3 steps further. I particularly loved the shades of grey towards to top of the blue/green dominant neutral, in the second column from the left.

I tried to create some color palettes for the free form optional assignment. But I honestly kept forgetting to add to it before my paint would dry. Oops…

I was pleasantly surprised by some of these interesting color combinations, so I decided to create a range of palettes on my computer. I used my painted mixing scale to fill color blocks in an InDesign document. I really enjoyed the unexpected surprises of this exercise. I used this as a basis for considering which color combinations would best apply to my logo design.

Week 7: Frank Stella

I have always liked Frank Stella’s shaped canvases and use of interesting and vibrant color combinations. He considered himself to be a controlled abstract expressionist. While some considered his work to be cold or “lean,” he disagreed and compared his work to the sentiments expressed by a Rothko painting. He used words such as repetition, flat, regulated and modernist to describe his work. He comments that his paintings were initially poorly received by critics because they were visually simple, whereby his process was not evident and there was no indication of the artist’s struggle or suffering. Also, critics could not really provide a deeper perspective that the average viewer couldn’t grasp on their own. In Stella’s paintings, color creates movement and dimension. Color establishes foreground and background relationships, as well as a dynamic between complementary and analogous hues.

I have seen Stella’s paintings several times in person. Here is a photo from the Louisiana Museum outside of Copenhagen:

Here is the video:

Week 6: Logo Sketches

Here are some very beginning ideas for logo designs. I am not yet sure what to call this book/project, so I think I have to continue developing ideas. Overall, I think I have to solidify the content for my Color Book. I have to work on the color story and the image content, as well as pattern sketches. I believe once these concepts have been more defined, it will be easier for the logo to emerge.

Title/name ideas: Horizon, Above/Below, Up/Down, Looking Up, Clear Skies, Clear Day, Spring, Forecast

Names for Cyan: Cerulean, Teal, Turquoise

Week 6: Color Studies & Inspiration

Color_Book_Comps

I really enjoyed the color exercises this week. It was very useful to use the Photoshop filters (which is probably one of the only circumstances for which I will justify using a Photoshop filter), to distort the imagery so that the color palette could be deciphered. I will definitely use this trick in the future, especially when coming up with patterns for the Color Book. I plan to take color inspiration directly from my photos. I noticed that many of the images showed a subdued color palette, and then a small burst of color, in addition to the beautiful cyan sky. This was an interesting observation.

The first color palette analysis was more involved than the subsequent ones. I simplified the image using the mosaic effect and then created a grid overlay using rules in Photoshop. I filled in the color squares one by one, according to the dominant color in each square. By doing this I could accurately calculate the number of squares per color as well as the percentage of each color within the entire composition. Then I created a very accurate bar showing the correct color ratios.

I walked around the Village this weekend and took photos to begin creating content for my Color Book. I was trying to capture beautiful background of a lovely cyan sky as well as seeking out potential inspiration for pattern development. I plan to go to various neighborhoods and see how the architecture, pattern inspiration and color palettes differ. Here are some pictures to show my starting point.

The Amazing Sarah Morris

Thanks to Michelle, I am newly obsessed with Sarah Morris. Her work displays a whole new dimension to geometric patterns. I like the depth created by the interaction of positive and negative shapes. There are so many ways you can interpret these abstract puzzles. I also like the notion of taking inspiration from seemingly mundane and ordinary objects (like a paperclip!). She will provide ongoing inspiration for the development of patterns for my color book.