Brief 2: Mobile Dog Grooming Logo

This is the brief I have chosen from the website 'Design Crowd' which lets businesses upload a job to the site for designers to submit their designs.
I chose this brief because I liked the subject matter of dog grooming and the idea she had of the logo being brightly coloured and friendly. I copied the brief into Illustrator to highlight key details and keep her description near to check I am designing something that fits her requests. She had attached some existing logos that she likes elements of; which was very helpful in seeing the design style and tone of her business.


I did try to contact her but she didn't reply - here is the message...

I then researched and collected images of existing dog related logos to get a sense of what is successful and appreciated in the industry. She specified that she was not a fan of cartoon dogs so it is more the shapes and typography I am looking at here - however, I like the dog silhouettes in these logos which she is comfortable with.

She specified a specific colour scheme of aqua blue, white and pink so I started to look at how those colours can interact...

I then looked at various styles of typography to see what could work for this business...
I wanted something more informal and bold to look inviting and reliable (something she specified in her brief)

I tried out a script typeface using her colour scheme to experiment how I could display the various elements.. However, I think it needs a bolder typeface that can be read from a distance easily. I also tried an enclosed logo in this circular emblem but there is too much confined into the space.

I tried this bold typeface that looks quite informal and friendly. I then filled in some of the letters and placed pink, dog related vectors which she said in her brief that she didn't mind having. I think this is fun, simple and gives the message that it is a dog grooming business that you can trust.

Next I started to experiment more with different dog shape vectors being the background for the type. I really liked the dog being behind the text but the logo on top doesn't fit within the shape so I would like to try out some alternative layouts with this feature.

I experimented with the contours of the shape and the colours of the text but I didn't really like the outcomes because they looked to confined and busy.

I took away the letter 's' and added the tail vector to reinforce the subject of dogs as a part of the logo but I think it needs more dog elements. I then tried a dog in the bath shape but it looks unprofessional and unfinished so I need to rethink this layout - I do like the concept however, as it shows that it is a dog grooming business and not just a business related to dogs.

Finally, I rethought the idea and had a big bath with bubbles that the logo could sit on and the dog's head popping out like he was lying in the bath! I think this shows a fun and friendly image of the business am clearly shows the intentions of the company.

I also added the paw prints to reinforce the dog message and allow a simplified version of the logo to still carry the message.

Finished logo submitted to the client...

I also submitted the simplified version that she may also find useful...

Unfortunately, I didn't win but I really like the one that was chosen...

I really like how they have manipulated the letters 'a' and 'l' to show a dog being washed.

Evaluation:

I chose this brief because the tone and style of the business played to my strengths. Her colour scheme of aqua blue, pink and white really appealed to me because I like to use bright colours and vectors in my designs. So this brief would give me the opportunity to do this. She stated how she wasn’t fond of cartoon dogs but most of the logos in my research used cartoon dogs – however, the silhouette shapes of dogs were also popular and I saw this as a stylish compromise to this production obstacle. The client specified that she wanted an appealing, trust worthy logo that was less corporate and more inviting; which her colour scheme lended itself to. Through experimenting with typefaces I found that the bolded fonts suited my design idea and would stand out against any dog vectors I had in the logo. Another issue I had was that she wanted a slogan and a description as part of the logo which would mean there was a lot of text to arrange in a clean way. I used the same font and size for the two sub titles and differentiated them with colour so that they can be legible but don’t distract from the main focal point of the company name. 

My main design submission of the dog laying in the bath shows the welcoming and light hearted feel to the business that I think she wanted to display whilst the chosen typeface with the paw print shapes add a more simplified look that when subtracted from the main logo can still be a memorable logo design. However, unfortunately I didn’t win the contest but the chosen design is very clever in how they have manipulated the letters to show a dog being showered. I can see why this logo was chosen as it is simple, engaging and fits with the logos that the client included in her brief. I think that my main logo may have been too busy when a logo needs to be compact and clean – this is something that I need to develop on future briefs in order to create a professional design. Throughout this short brief I did a fair amount of on screen development but I think I would have benefited from some very quick thumbnail sketches to experiment with letter shapes. I would grade myself 6 out of 10 because I designed an original and tidy design that I feel suited the brief but it was not concise enough to be chosen as a simple, memorable logo.