OUGD504 / STUDY TASK 02 / LOGO REQUIREMENTS

Logo design requirements

1. Find a suitable Kickstarter project

2. Research your chosen organisation thoroughly

3. Write down the key requirements for your logo

Consider: Colour, audience, client needs, context, reproducibility, etc.

The kickstarter project I chose to create the logo for is "Chonaic", a vegan, sweatshop & cruelty free clothing brand. I chose this brand as I feel it has a lot of potential and the client already seems to have the right idea of where to take their brand. I also have an interest in fashion. On the Kickstarter page, there's simply the brand name "Chonaic", no logo, and a picture of one of their tshirts which is a good sign to me as they are clearly not as well established in terms of branding as other projects, giving me a lot of freedom and also potential that they will adopt my logo if they like it enough. 

I decided to briefly look into what Chonaic means:

From Old Irish do·cí ("saw")

The name clearly reflects the Vegan side of their brand, seeing the truth of the animal industry and opening your eyes to it. 

In order to gain pointers for what the brand want their logo to look like I thought I would throw them a message on Kickstarter:

"Hello, 

I am a graphic design student currently studying at Leeds College of Art. Our most recent brief is to choose one Kickstarter project and create a logo/branding. I'd love to know any pointers on how you'd want your logo & brand to look like; you wouldn't be obliged to use it but any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thankyou, 

Lo."

After a few hours I was happy to see that I'd received a reply from Shane from the company:

"Hey there Lo,

Awesome! We're yet to decide on any sort of logo, but I can definitely give 

you an idea as to what we want it to look like.

We're thinking we might want some key words involved in the logo. For 

example perhaps in a square or a circle with the words "Vegan" & 

"Sweatshop-free" above the word Chonaic in our font. Under these words 

perhaps the "Be Conscious". We might need words more than other companies 

because we're using a non-english words in "Chonaic" (It is Gaelic) for to 

see, or consciousness (rough).

That said if it was a circle we wouldn't mins some very abstract art in the 

back. Perhaps the world map, but I stress very not noticeable otherwise 

it's too tack, perhaps black and white. Or something aligned with our 

message two cows faded in the background. Whatever it is it has to be 

skeletal, minimal and unobtrusive in the back. The focus is on the words.

Thanks for taking the time honestly, hope I gave you some good info,

Shane"

Main Requirements

1. Consider Vegan aspect & Key words 
2. Minimal Shape if paired with word - don't over complicate
3. Focus on the words
4. Gender neutral

I feel this brand would suit a minimal logo focusing on words or simple shapes. Recently the Vegan movement is massive and becoming so much more popular in culture today. This means brands who focus on being Vegan need to keep up with the times and have a more contemporary identity in some cases. When you think of Veganism, some may think of earthy and organic themes, but I'd like to challenge this and create something clean and refreshing to fit with other high end clothing brands.

Target Audience

Determining your target audience is a major step whilst branding. I need to know who I am designing this logo for in the end, who will view it and who will it appeal to?

Chonaic are just starting out their company so there isn't a lot that has been developed in terms of collateral and logo. Their website has not opened yet and they have not yet decided on a logo to represent their brand. Upon looking on their social media pages, it becomes apparent to me that they are a unisex/mainly men's clothing brand. Designing for only half of the population based on gender would put the brand at a disadvantage, as I think females should still feel welcome to buy the products, and not be shunned by the branding (just like Yorkie demonstrated with their branding.) I should focus on designing a gender neutral logo, nothing too masculine nor feminine in order to appeal to both genders.

The target audience for this product I believe will be young adults who are committed to the vegan lifestyle. It's becoming a large deal in society today, and some would say it's becoming a 'trend'. Since this statement could have some weight to it, it's a good idea to appeal to trendy teenagers/young adults who want to wear vegan clothing. I want to design a great logo that will appeal to those individuals and communicate a high fashion aesthetic.

If I wanted to appeal to all vegans of all ages, although it sounds better because you would be more likely to gain sales, it would also be very difficult to take all the groups of people into account, and much more beneficial to focus on one set social group; young adults/teenagers.