In this report, I will be reflecting back on my very first creative communications assignment. It’s an artefact that I appreciated and enjoyed to a great extent since it pushed me to my limits and tested my creative side in all the good ways. I will also be explaining the process that I went through to develop the brand logo and demonstrate all the theories, concepts, and models that I have applied. In addition, I will go into detail on how this artefact could have been improved and the skills I have gained creating my brand logo and guidelines.
When we were first given this artefact the first thing I directly thought about was the colour of my logo, even before designing the logo itself and naming it. Colour is an integral part of products, services, packaging, logos, and other collateral and can be an effective means of creating and sustaining brand and corporate images in customers’ minds (Madden, Hewett, & Roth, 2000). One thing that I was completely confident about is that I wanted to keep my logo as simple as possible yet still grab people’s attention and attract clients. Choosing a color was the easiest part of this assignment as I always liked the color black. Black for me is a very heavy color visually and will therefore have a very strong message behind it. Furthermore, black for me, associates with power, elegance and strength which is the main message for our brand. I had to choose another color to add to the logo and according to Geothe’s theory of colors, the colors that are diametrically opposed to each other are those which evoke each other in the eye (Goethe, 1840). This theory helped me decide on the brand’s second colour which is white as black and white exist as opposites. Another reason I went with the color white is a result of the many benefits of having a white and black logo such as: low printing costs, environmentally friendly, quality control, Faster printing times, and quality control. According to Satyendra Singh an Associate Professor at the Department of Administrative Studies, University of Winnipeg, he stated that humans make up their minds within 90 seconds with people or products. About 62-90% of their assessment is based on colours alone (Singh, 2006)
Naming our creative agency was the hardest part of this artefact and took the longest time to finally decide on a name as a group. it also created a lot of conflict between members of the group, and this is when we decided to apply Tuckman’s group development and maturity model which is made up of 4 stages that includes forming, storming, norming, and performing (Mullins, 2016). This model helped us understand that groups take time until it’s functioning and fully formed. This model also indicates that to reach the performing stage you have to go through ups and downs during the storming phase until you reach the performing phase. After going through these four stages we decided as a group to name our creative agency Initiate, which simply means the process of creating something and we all think that it fits perfectly with a creative agency. Moving on to the designing and creating part of the logo, we had to create our logo using Adobe Illustrator which I struggled with a lot, especially in the beginning. I have never used the software before and to have to create a logo using it was very challenging yet a fun experience to go through. Logos are an important part of a company’s communication efforts. Taco Bell spends 20 times more on its perpetual media signs that carry only its name and logo than it spends on advertising (Kohli & Suri, 2002). I wanted to make sure that the logo was eye catching and well-fitting so I decided to sketch it first to then convert it to Adobe and do more work on it. I though sketching on paper was the better solution as I’m still a beginner and yet to explore everything on Adobe. I mainly only had two ideas for the logo as shown below. I struggled with choosing the final logo as I didn’t know which suites the name initiate better. I then decided to apply the OODA loop model, it’s a very simple model yet it tells us so much about how we are going to make decisions. The model consists of four stages which are observe, orient, decide, and act (Enck, 2012). I had to then orient myself with the information I have in order to make a decision, and given the information and the name I have I finally chose the handshake as it fits the theme and name more than the lightbulb. I converted the sketch to Adobe and edited it so it can look more professional and presentable as shown below in the picture. This artefact is suitable to our target audience as we’re still new in the creative agency market, having said that we are well trained and can help small to medium businesses achieve what they’re looking for. Hand in hand we can succeed. To conclude this, I want to say that I have gained many skills from this artefact especially on Adobe. Knowing how to use Adobe is a skill in itself and a very important resume builder. I have also learned how to express myself creatively which is something I struggled with in the past. If there is something I would have improved is to ask more questions in regard to Adobe and not just try to figure things out myself. Thanks to Adobe and my tutors I now know how to build my personal brand.