Learning Journal – Branding, part 1

The following assignments were created for the Branding course from Adobe Education Exchange.

Workshop 1 – Creating a Logomark

Our first assignment is to create a graphic logomark for a real or fictional school, so I invented Level Seven Gaming Academy as a place where students can learn and train to be professional electronic gamers.

I quickly sketched a few rough concepts using mirrored L and 7 characters, settling on a rectangular design. In Adobe Illustrator, I created the L shape with the rectangle tool then rotated a copy 180 degrees to make the 7.

I always strive for simplicity in logo design, but this one needed more depth and energy. So I grouped the L7 layers and applied the 3D Extrude and Bevel effect on three copies with different settings.

This last iteration is the most successful because it is simple yet dynamic. I haven’t picked the logo colors at this stage because I am still defining the brand and fine-tuning the logo.

Workshop 2 – Creating a Logotype

For the next step, I experimented with typography to pair with the Level Seven logo. The fonts Roboto Mono Bold and Omnes Regular were the most successful pairing. I modified the V letters by adding a bottom point and enclosed “gaming academy” in a box to unify the design.

I’m happy with the design but not the colors. The L7 logomark doesn’t have enough contrast to be effective at small sizes. I’ll have to experiment further to find red and blue shades that more closely match the grayscale prototype, which had better contrast.

Logo Color Revision and Brand Pattern

After more experimentation, I found shades of red and blue that worked well in conjunction with grayscale solid shapes.

The simple shapes are evocative of puzzle games like Tetris, while the colors represent the “red vs blue” competition of shooter games. This new version of the logo also works well in one color and in small sizes.

Finally, I created a brand pattern using the 2-dimensional L7 design.

In the next Branding workshops, we will apply the logo to a product in Adobe Dimension and create a style guide of the brand.