Logos

Artist's Statement:

Jillian Wight

Medsker

2D Design

7 October 2020

In both of these logos, I was able to convey a clear idea and purpose. The first is an illustration of the word “boat,” not only making the word visually evident to the viewer, but also utilizing style and color to convey a salty, coastal feeling like a lobster shack may have. In the second piece, I tried to convey a more expensive feeling, mimicking the Louis Vuitton print that is often displayed on the brand’s luggage, bags, etc. I think that this was effective, and the fonts and shapes I used came together nicely to illustrate a designer type of pattern. Overall, I would say that in the first logo, I conveyed a very rustic, coastal Maine, familiar, friendly sort of feeling. In the second, I was able to illustrate expensiveness, while still making it clear what I was representing (remote learning). These both relate strongly to my life, the first especially. First of all, I live in Maine, so a boat is a familiar concept. I tried to make the style reflect the type of logo you might see at a lobster shack or small coastal restaurant. I think this was successful, and the results remind me a lot of times that I have eaten delicious food surrounded by friends and seagulls. To further and more obviously illustrate the word “boat,” I drew two people in a canoe riding atop the waves. For this illustration, I drew from my memory. Ever since I was very young, I have traveled to a lake in Pennsylvania for a few weeks every summer to visit my grandfather. I have so many good memories from Bear Lake, but one that stands out is taking out the canoe in the evenings with my sister to try to spot beavers. With my color choices and simple silhouette, I tried to convey a deeper, peaceful aspect that reflected my own immediate reaction to the word. The second logo relates to my life by drawing from some of my interests. I love fashion and graphic design, and I would consider myself a maximalist in most aspects of life from decoration to fashion to 2D art. Not only did the logo draw from my knowledge and interest in fashion, but it also reflected my maximalist tendencies by repeating to become more of a simple pattern than a logo. However, I think that these two can come hand in hand, as Louis Vuitton demonstrates. When you look at their classic print, you immediately know what you are looking at. You know the brand, and the style. I think the same goes for the print I created.

To create these logos, I used fairly simple materials. I started with blank sheets of multimedia white paper, and then used pencils to sketch and plan a few ideas. When I settled on one, I used a black pen (felt tip for the “boat” logo and micron for the “remote learning” logo) to outline my design. For the “boat” logo, I then filled in the silhouette of the canoes and passengers. I finished with this one by etching thin bubbles into the letters. Finally, I used 4 different shades of crayola colored pencil to fill in the letters, doing my best to suggest depth by starting with a deep blue and working my way to a green. This logo was finished! The second took a little longer. After outlining with pen, I filled in what I needed to, leaving negative space to illustrate items in a simple manner. Once I had illustrated half of the design, I used an editing app to duplicate my work and make the print more complete. I’m very happy with how it came out, and I think that doing a bit of digital enhancement was an efficient choice. To finalize each logo, I let the ink dry and then went in with an eraser to get rid of pencil lines. I then photographed my work making sure to crop in an artistic manner so that the right amount of border was present.

I used a number of processes to create these designs. For example, the process of sketching negative space for the second logo was very difficult. I wanted to effectively manipulate the spaces in between each small shape so that the whole piece would appear cohesive and really stand out. I think I was fairly successful but it was after a long process of sketching, moving, planning, shifting, and finalizing that this came together. I thought about the shapes themselves and what shapes would look best, as well as how I should arrange the negative space to suggest a theme rather than laying the theme out in detail on the page. The process of adding color in an effective manner was also hard. I opted to leave the second logo black and white, because I felt that there was already enough going on without adding extra pizazz. However, the first logo was very simple so I felt that color would add a lot. I wanted the color to be very effective yet not distracting, so I chose one basic origin (blue) and focused on different shades. When I had added color to the letters, I considered adding it to the boat as well but decided against it so that the canoe would stand out and be emphasized against the background. I am happy with my use of color. I think it successfully balanced the logo. For the second design, I think my choice to leave color out of the mixture was smart, because the print contrasts very well with the background, and this emphasizes my work and makes it easy to view. Overall, my projects both evolved from very simple designs that I felt didn't quite click, and with a little manipulating and experimentation, I was able to produce logos I am proud of! My next steps could be working on simple designs that I love, because simplicity is a struggle for me.

. . .