I was tasked with creating and designing for two distinctly different brands. I chose to create brand identities for a music software brand and a high-end coffee maker brand because I felt that there was little overlap between these industries, allowing me to be challenged beyond my typical comfort zone. The first stage of this project was creating the lockups(cohesive layout of the brand logotype, icon, and tagline) for the two brands. The second stage was to apply these design decisions made in the lockup process to create a style guide(a set of standards that ensure continuity in brands messaging to customers) for each brand to serve as a guide for implementing the brand assets.
I was to select two keywords for each brand representative of the brand’s intended impressions on the audience. The entire design process was to be guided by these brand impressions. My first deliverable was to create distinctly different lockups for each brand that are clear, readable, and utilize design principles to highlight the brand impressions. The next deliverable was to create style guides for each brand that represent the brand impressions and provide instructions for future use. Throughout the process, I made all my design decisions with my knowledge of the following design concepts in mind:
Based on my research of similar brands and design presidents within the given industries, keywords were chosen to represent the intended impressions of each of my brands.
Modern: A company creating cutting-edge music production software should be perceived as modern so the audience can trust that they will continue to move forward and innovate.
Dynamic: The software development and music industries are changing and advancing constantly. A brand at the intersection of these industries should be perceived as dynamic to show that it is adaptable to the rapidly changing demands of these industries.
Premium: With so many coffee makers on the market, this brand can stand out by highlighting the high-end nature of the product.
Approachable: While the product is high-quality, the brand should not appear to be “snobby” or inaccessible to potential customers.
I utilized a split-complementary color scheme(one color plus 2 analogous colors on the opposite side of the color wheel) consisting of warm and cool colors(Warm: colors in red, orange, or yellow families; Cool: colors in the blue, green, or purple families). This color combination tends to have a striking effect, which aids the dynamic look of our brand. This combination also creates an artificial feeling, which aids the modern impression of Polarity. The colors chosen are high-key colors(hues closer to white that are more pastel), which is consistent with many brands in the music software space and makes our brand feel friendly and modern.
The Brew brand utilizes a cool, analogous color scheme(colors next to each other on the color wheel) because this combination tends to have a calming effect, which aids in the approachable feel of our brand. The specific colors chosen are high-key colors, which tend to feel friendly. This is a necessary sentiment for an approachable brand and most Premium brand referenced tend to use high-key colors as well.
OCR A is a stylized sans-serif typeface(a typeface in which letters do not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes), best used for headings and not in body text. This typeface’s emphasis on diagonal lines, providing a dynamic look and feel for the Polarity brand.
Poppins is a sans-serif typeface that provides a modern look and feel for the Polarity brand. This is a versatile and highly readable typeface making it ideal for sub-headings and body text.
Sans-serif typefaces tend to create a modern and approachable feeling for brands.
Abel is a sans-serif typeface that is ideal for body text due to its high readability and may additionally be used for subheadings. Abel provides an approachable look for our brand because sans-serif typefaces are typically seen as modern and approachable.
Perpetua is a serif typeface(a typeface in which letters have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes) that is ideal for large headings but should not be used for body text. Perpetua provides a premium look for our brand. Serif typefaces tend to create an established and traditional feeling for brands, making use of a serif font perfect for the premium look of this brand.
The logotype(the full brand name within the logo lockup), icon(symbol associated with brand name/logo), and other design assets within the brand use an emphasis on diagonal lines. Diagonal lines create a sense of movement in design which can make a brand seem more dynamic.
Hard corners are not common in the designs of music software brands or other modern brands. For this reason, I implemented rounded corners on the icon and other brand elements to better match both the industry precedents and shape of the logotype.
Typography within the Brew brand emphasizes vertical lines. Vertical lines can create a feeling of stability and dignity, contributing to the premium feel of the brand.
Curved lines are utilized in the brand icon and other assets to reinforces the premium look of our brand, as curved lines are typically perceived as elegant.
The thin-lined iconography found in this lockup and throughout brand assets is consistent with the style of many other premium brands I researched.
The final deliverable of this project was to create style guides for each brand to express the design decision made while creating the brand lockups and express how the brands should be perceived through visual design, layout, and tone of voice. These guides would act as a reference for myself or other designs to implement brand deliverables in the future.
It was an exciting challenge for me to simultaneously design for two very different brands and industries. I had never previously designed any visual assets for brands in these industries before. It was necessary for me to keep the unique demands of each industry and the specific keywords chosen in mind throughout the process. While there are always improvements to be made, I feel I delivered on creating a modern and dynamic music software brand in Polarity and a premium and approachable coffee maker brand in Brew.
