Today, I’ll share my experience with a new client, formerly known as BrrBerry. For this project, I was hired to assist in coming up with a new company name for which I would develop a logo design.

Client Brief

BrrBerry Mission Statement

We are kind of different than most of the frozen yogurt shops. We will have one specialty dessert each day of the week as well as gourmet coffee.  We want people of all ages to feel welcome.  We want it to be a fun atmosphere for parents to bring there kids to come get a delicious treat as well as a place for adults to indulge in a healthy treat (frozen yogurt, fresh fruit, etc) or if they want to splurge, they can have a piece of our homeade dessert of the day.  We want people to know that you can come get something delicious that is good for you, but that you can also splurge-it’s their choice.  We are going to try and keep fresh fruit as much as we possibly can.  Living in Wyoming there may be a few months we can’t, but we really want to focus on staying as fresh as we possibly can and making sure our products are the very best (including our yogurt, toppings and desserts). It will be self-serve so again “they choose” how much they want, how many flavors of yougrt, how many toppings, etc.

The focus is Quality, Healthy, Fun, Hip, Clean…& All age groups.

Key Notes Taken From The Brief Interview

• Company: To be determined during development
• Not childish, All Ages
• Use Wonder Blue and Clear Pond Swatches provided
• Quality, Healthy, Fun, Hip, Clean
• Self Serve
• Fresh Toppings

Original Client Logo Design

You can actually see that the previous designer did not bother polishing out lines from an stock photography watermark. Don’t get me started on what’s wrong here. Jay-Z could have made this.

Some Inspiration/Materials Provided By Client

Store Front Space

Brainstorming Connections and Company Names

The frozen yogurt market is severely saturated. In the past 10 years, thousands of stores have popped up following companies like PinkBerry. Words like “froyo” are trademarked and unusable. The client and I spent a week or more debating names. Then we had to check them for trademarks!

In these brainstorming exercises the idea is to discover new ideas by association.

Listing name ideas. I had about 100 names or more by the time I was done. The client narrowed it down to a few. The main choices were KoBerry, Bliss, P.S. Yogurt (initials of mother and daughter), and maybe going back with BurBerry.

You’ll see in the sketches below that we attacked a few name ideas to see how it went. I also encouraged thinking about the name being used freely by customers in a sentence.

Examples:

The Process Of Sketching Concepts

I always start in my sketch book. It doesn’t matter whether it’s easier or not. In this case, I spent a little less time hand drawing because we were working with handwritten typefaces. Writing beautifully is not my strong point.

A couple quick sketches to warm up and see what type style feels good. As you can see, I also had a few more connections continued from the brainstorming.

Playing around with some other ideas other than typography based logo designs.

Digital Concepting

Playing With Type. I picked a grid of handwritten typefaces to look at.

Option 1 Logo Typeface

Option 2 Logo Typeface

Take it a step further with comparisons and more digital sketching. Also, looking at another type which we end up choosing.

Trying to incorporate a relative symbol. The idea was to try to use some creative fruit-like object, play on a heart, or even a swirl.

Adding Color To The Logo Design

When we started on color, I already knew that we would be primarily sticking to the swatches provided from the interior. The clients budget had been set to allow moderate exploration during the logo design process. This meant I could spend a little time outside of the main palette to see what it looks like. Not all options look good, but now we can at least say that for certain.

A more safe palette.

Some more vivid experimentation.

Finding more middle ground.

Trying to balance red and blue. Looking into possibility of subtle discord. We ended up agreeing that the red was a bit too powerful.

Trying different combinations.

Reducing the B

Cleaning Up The Logo

As you can see, in some of the previous concepts I had cleaned up the type a little. Now it’s time to really get in there at 1200% zoom. I’m looking for jag edges, awkward lines, and creating a spotless impression.

It’s hard to see on a small version. Click the image to see a larger size. Notably the bottom the “B,” heart fruit, and line intersections.

I zoomed in a little more to show some examples. Most people will think I’m crazy if I don’t. haha.

The Client Makes The Final Decision

We spent a long time on the color scheme, even more than shown in this article. We had beat this logo development until it had no more possibilities, or so it felt like. My job as the designer was to make a recommendation on the design and color scheme.

The client had insisted that the “g” in yogurt use the clear pond. I vouched against it, but the client controls their final product. I made sure to provide files for the requested design, plus my recommendation. This way they can choose.

Final Version.

Store Front Preview

Summary

Typeface Decisions
The client was looking for a flowing, neat and classy design. We agreed on a handwritten font that achieved all of these along with a mild cuteness factor.

Color Palette
The color palette was influenced by the interior of the building so I stuck to wonder blue as the primary swatch used. Clear pond, the lighter green/blue is used to accent the design.

Overall Concept Execution
The design fits nicely on yogurt cups, their website, and the front of the store.

Thanks for checking out the logo design process of Bliss Yogurt! If you are looking for a professional logo design shoot me a message.

PANTONE has just added 336 new colors to its PANTONE Plus Series, bringing the total to 1, 667 colors.

According to PANTONE, the new shades—which ranged from pale pastels to mid-tones, deep hues, neutral and bold—were inspired from the PANTONE Goe System.

Each of the new tone will be permanent fixtures and are availaible in coated and uncoated formats and are printed on text-weight paper to match the print specifications.

The Pantone Plus formula guides set supplement can be purchased here.

(Via DesignTaxi.com)

“Well I’ve met him — I’ve even done a vodka bottle for him as a matter of fact. I don’t know how to think about him. He’s an example of the power of the ego. How can anyone be so totally egocentric to not understand that there are others in the universe. It also shows the power of that position: When you don’t think there are others, everything is attainable for you. I just find that the combination of incredible ambition and a lack of modesty can be a terrifying prospect. And if you’re in a roomful of people like that, you realize that that’s why the world is the way it is.”

The Milton Glaser label design for Trump Vodka, bottle by Bruni Glass

“And the other thing is: I can’t figure out his hair. From the point of view of someone who is into art and form-making, I can’t figure out the structure of it: where it’s coming and where it’s going. And then I also wonder, what does he think this object on his head achieves? It’s just a great mystery. “

View the entire interview on New York Magazine.

Milton Glaser is the designer behind “I Love New York.”

(via DavidAirey.com and NYMag.com)

Papefold CSS is a plugin that you can used to make folded paper effect in 3d space on html page. Paperfold CSS takes a dom element slices it into parts and arranges them like a folded paper in 3d space. It is built using JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS3, Mobile. Papefold CSS works good on Chrome and Safari but in Firefox there are still gaps with the folds. This is a proposal for a visual folding-effect for hidden comments and it’s released under Creative Commons License. you can download the source (74.16 KB) for Free.

via (blogupstairs.com)

Wanting to get your feet wet with some HTML5? It’s time to rally up some learning resources.

• HTML5 Spec at WHATWG
• Opera’s Bruce Lawson on HTML5
• Why designers should care about HTML5
• Everything You Need to Know About HTML5 Audio and Video
• HTML5 Canvas: The Basics (Opera Developer Community)
• HTML5 Please helps you out with recommendations for polyfills and implementation so you can decide if and how to put each of these features to use.
• Can I Use provides extensive browser compatibility and support information for CSS3, HTML5 and more.

Do you have any HTML5 links to share? Comment below!
via (justcreativedesign.com)

Have you heard about Explore? A discovery engine for meaningful knowledge, fueled by cross-disciplinary curiosity. Edited by Maria Popova for Coursekit.

Explore is about the evolving definition, process, and promise of learning. It’s a cross-disciplinary lens on what stimulates, what enriches, and what matters—an intellectual and creative incubator for cultivating your interests, and a discovery engine for things you didn’t know you were interested in, until you are.

Explore embodies Coursekit’s aspiration to reshape education in the Information Age, and is edited by Maria Popova of Brain Pickings.

Check it out http://exp.lore.com/

I came across an interesting motion captcha development on Joss Crowcroft’s website while building my upcoming ThemeForest WordPress product FreelanceFolio . Unlike most annoying captchas, it features a more interactive approach. In his demo you click and drag your mouse to verify the image shape.

The only problem here is that it’s not currently working in Internet Explorer. I’ll keep watching this to see where it goes!

FireFox is releasing a 3D developer tool. It looks pretty interesting…

The theme design is loosely based on my current layout and a comprehensive round-up from other freelancers around the web. What do you desire in a theme?

I’m looking to have this for sale on ThemeForest by next month if all goes to plan. Comments greatly appreciated!

I Didn’t Know Sh!t… Until I Started Working:

A talk about the stuff that’s hard to learn.

Networking. Client relations. Your duty as a designer. Getting your boss to like you. They don’t teach these things in school because they’re messy, and most folks don’t talk about them because they’re personal.

Minneapolis-based independent graphic designer Seth Johnson will talk intimately about the things that are essential for all designers to master but are unlikely to learn in the classroom.

When you’re out of school, how do you scale the steep learning curve? It ain’t easy, but this should help.

About Seth Johnson

Seth Johnson is a designer, strategist, writer, educator, and principal of the Minneapolis-based consultancy Seth Johnson Design. He partners with clients in a wide range of business and non-profit categories to conceive and implement branding and communications solutions. Using a human-centered approach to simplify and clarify, he makes his clients’ voices heard, their messages understood, and their visions realized.

He began his career at the age of 15 as a layout artist for a textbook publisher and a staff designer for his hometown newspaper. Since beginning his own practice in 2006, Seth has been fortunate to partner with brands and organizations such as General Mills, Hamline University, Hazelden, HealthSimple, Nordquist Sign Company, RBC Wealth Management, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, UltiCare, University of Minnesota, and Weight Watchers.

Like most Wisconsin natives, he is a connoisseur of beer and cheese, but he’s also adept at identifying typefaces in film titles—much to the annoyance of those seated nearby. He lectures frequently at design organizations around the nation and has held adjunct faculty positions at colleges in Los Angeles and Minneapolis. Seth is the currently-serving president of AIGA Minnesota (where he also served as its co-director of education and founded its mentor program), an advisory board member of Art Buddies, and a founding member of FEAST MPLS.

Register Here

WHEN:  April 26, 2012 @ 7 – 9pm

WHERE:  Eskenazl Hall – Herron School of Art + Design

ADDRESS:
735 West New York Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202

View in Google Maps »

PRICE:
Members:  $10
Student Non-members:  $15
Professional Non-members:  $20