I also chose this brief due to the time frame. When I first looked at the contest entry, the time specified that there was only 3 days and 16 hours. This is the shortest brief I have ever worked with, and as the brief requires an online submission by a certain time, allows no ability to be late or rearrange the deadline.
The Brief:
'Create a winning design for a newly certified Yoga Teacher.'
I took a look at the specifications set out by the client.
The name that they wanted to incorporate into the logo was 'Yoga by Tasha Rae'.
Sample Logos the client uploaded which they thought could inspire a design:
The client included some extra information which would influence the design:
She wants the design to lean more towards inviting a feminine based audience as a pose to a masculine one. There is a 50/50 balance requested for both the young and mature scale, meaning she wants the design to draw in both ages, and be in the middle of Economical and Luxury. The client would prefer the logo to be much more classic than modern, however with the cleanliness and simplicity that the client wants I think the design could also result in appearing quite modern. There is also a 50/50 preference for playful/seriousness, Loud/ quiet and subtle/obvious. Due to this I don't want to be overly gimmicky with including too many yoga motifs, but try to keep this more subtle.
The colours preffered to be used are stated as black, grey and pink. However, I feel that these colours don't particularly encompass a vision of yoga. They seem, very strong, assertive, and quite edgy. Whereas yoga is very calming, balanced and relaxed, and therefore this particular element to the brief leads me to want to submit two copies of the logo, one in the specified colours, and one in colours I would find more appropriate.
The logo is going to be used online, on a website, in online advertisements.
Extra notes that the client added was that she wanted the logo to be classic, like it will be used forever. The client also gave a slight piece of information of context of the logo stating that photographs on the website will be in black and grey.
My first port of call was to look at logos for other Yoga teachers/ Yoga houses, I started to build a collection of the ones that I found most interesting:
This piece was one of my favourite I had found, It was its brightness, simplicity and subtleness that struck me. The colours seem to convey something bright, happy and soothing, whilst the blend of the two typefaces used dream up ideas of culture and the buddhist spirit in which yoga draws from.
This piece also devised great visions of relaxation, vitality and a journey through the personalised text which invites our eyes to wonder. The colours used also arise an image of joy, vitality and life.
This logo is much more calm due to the use of an earthy green, a natural and organic colour. However this logo does not appear organic, due to the mechanised illustration, however it does seem quiet, tranquil and low key.
The next piece I felt was slightly more classic, with a more formal illustrative style and colour choice. The logo also has a more rigid font choice with extra decoration in the form of some personalised serifs.
This piece I had found was one of my favourite, due to the spirituality that spilled from the logo. The art noveau type seemed very organic, much like style that yoga is. The logo also makes an emphasis on the idea of light, A very great symbol in the buddhist religion.
I was fond of the next logo due to its ability to be subtly playful. I enjoy the way in which the designer has taken the classic lotus flower emblem associated with logo and played with negative space in order to create a direct reflection of the text with illustration.
The last image I found reminded me how it can pay off to be simplistic, and that sometimes the simplest ideas are the most appropriate. The designer has chosen a simple typeface, and then created one vector line, and repeated this 4 times in order to create an outline pattern.
I started drawing up an idea, which was rather influenced by the first logo I had seen. After looking at the other entries to the competition, I really wanted to enhance the sense of simplicity. I also wanted to emphasise how a much more minimalist design, could be much longer lasting than other more decorative options.
Another element that I didn't like about many of the other entries was that I felt they already looked dated. this is especially obvious in the first two designs. Gradients used in this manner are ressemblent of those seen in the early 2000's graphic design. The out dated look is also helped especially in the 2nd image through the use of a very ornate font, used for too much text. The client wanted the design to be classic, so that it would not need to be changed for a long time, I do however feel that some of the entries looked in terms of that they would need to be changed before they were even used.
first logo:
I noticed when looking at other designs that the Lotus flower was a very prominent motif.
The meaning of the lotus flower:
'It emerges from the lowest point of the muddy swamp, growing from the mud at the bottom of ponds and streams; the superb Lotus flower rises above the water and is usually white or pink with 15 or more oval, spreading petals, and a peculiar, flat seedcase at its centre.'
'The Lotus flower essentially represents the clarity of heart as well as the mind. It also represents strength, good luck, long life as well as honour and respect.'
'It turns out the symbol of the lotus flower, or lily, has been a spiritual symbol in Eastern religion for thousands of years. The lotus flower grows from the bottom of streams and muddy ponds to rise above the water and bloom. It symbolically represents being fully grounded in earth, yet aspiring towards the divine. At night, the lotus flower closes, and sinks below the water, just to resurface again untouched the next day. The lotus flower is an iconic symbolism of beauty because it lives in the muddy water yet remains unsoiled.'
With such a monumental meaning, and its great links with the lotus pose within yoga, I decided that working with the lotus flower would be a great place to begin.
Using both the petals of the lotus flower and the structure seen in the yoga bhoga logo (pattern around the negative space of a circle) I drew up a first motif.
Although I liked this idea, I thought that the shape of the petals were too generic, I wanted to inject personality and more so some culture (Yoga originates from Buddhism) into the design giving it a more ethnic look. I did this by making some simple changes to the shape of the petals.
However, with the new changes made, I felt that the ratio of the size of the petals to the inside circle which would hold the information subscribed by the client (Yoga with Tasha Rae) was wrong. The size of the petals would need to be smaller. so that when sized down the information inside the logo would not be compromised.
I drew up the same structure again, however this time making the petals about half of the size, not only was the new design more realistic, but scaling the petals down also made the design look furthermore culturally rooted.
Once I was happy with the shape, I drew this up digitally in illustrator.
I felt that the simple line work was reminiscent of the simplicity and minimalism I was previously talking about.
I then started to work with the information that would be placed inside the circle.
(Yoga with Tasha Rae). I wanted to break up this information by doing it in two different fonts. The first section 'Yoga with' I decided to do in a very oriental font.
The use of a more ornate font, against the minimalist line work would enhances and brings the to design the roots of yoga.
For the second section I wanted to choose a font that would be complementary to the ethnic font I had already chosen to use. After trying out both a serif and a sans serif font I decided that the serif matched more appropriately.
After I had added the text as prescribed by the client, I felt that there was too much negative space within the circle, and so went back to the motif of the lotus flower. I drew up a small lotus flower in illustrator and placed this above and below the written information.
However the design felt too busy and so I tried it using only one lotus flower.
I was happy with this design, I felt it responded well to the simplicity and modern aesthetic requested by the client. However it still latched onto the roots of yoga, implementing the use of the lotus symbol and the use of an oriental themed type. I didn't particularly agree with the colours prescribed by the client and so I tried to manipulate the colours asked for to suit the purpose of the branding more.
The colours that the client asked for were Black, pink and grey. As far as colour pallets go I would normally associate yoga with more organic colours as it is all about mind body and soul, however this is completely opposite to what the client is requesting and so I tried to work with her colour pallet.
I finished the logo in three colour ways. The first I submitted was the one I thought would be most appropriate, solely black and white. I felt that the black and white made the logo appear less gaudy and somewhat materialistic and too feminine. Inside I felt that the combination of two colours made the logo look calming, classic and simplistic as well as modern, through the use of a monochromatic colour scheme.
However The client eliminated this design straight away as I had not included all the colours she had requested for the colour scheme. And so I produced the logo two more times using colours which I thought the client would prefer.
I created the logo in a mix of white, black and two shades of pink, I felt that this was a good compromise between what the client wanted for the brief and what I thought was best. The client seemed to prefer this design to the last and kept it within the competition and open for votes.
The last design I submitted was my least favourite it used solely black and pink as a colour scheme. i felt that when the pink was added in and used by itself, that it cheapened the logo and actually took away from the timeless aesthetic that the client was searching for. The client appreciated this logo more than the other two which made me realise that we both had two entirely different visuals in mind. Unfortunately I didn't advance in the competition and the client picked a different logo as the winner.
Winning design:
I wish that I could have had the oppurtunity to communicate with the client and work more with her wants and enlighten her on why I made certain descisions. However, I also realised whilst completing this brief that I shouldn't worry too much about the situation, as when working with clients in the future, I will always be in good communication and contact with them. However It was a valuable experience in having someone judge your designs without you being able to explain yourself, as this is much what it is like when people see your designs out in public.
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