Identity

The ‘r’ Identity

As a designer, creating an identity for yourself can be one of the hardest projects you’ll have to face.  Being so close to the client (i.e. yourself), how can you sum up your whole life, experience, and design style in one simple logo?  It is quite a daunting task and one that made me look at myself and really think about who I was as a designer. While at SCAD, I was assigned to creating a brand for myself in one of my classes.  And what resulted was this:

One thing to note is that during this time, I was still taking most of my drawing and basic art courses.  My time was mostly filled with using charcoal and ink. And I have always had a particular leaning toward ink. The whole idea behind this logo was I think the first realization of me as a designer.  A realization I definitely played on later with my current brand.  It is this whole idea of real life materials crossed with digital.  This logo was about the idea of a graphic designer, me, that wanted to be part artist.  The ink blot represents that artist, it is chaotic and messy. The structured and clean typography of the ‘r’ is the designer.  It is a mess of the two worlds I was in at that time.  While I enjoy this logo, it is a bit cumbersome and complex.  And as I grow as a designer, I find myself wanting to be simpler.

This simpler mark or logo is about taking all the ideas of the old one and condensing them into a more usable form.  While some of the lines are still rough, I ditched a lot of the chaotic forms my previous logo had. This symbol takes most of its cues from the letterpress, where each individual letter was cast onto a piece of metal.  The logo is sort of like one of these letters inked and pressed into the paper.

Speaking of paper, I think one of the main aspects of my logo or even my “brand” for that matter is the idea of texture.  Many of my designs incorporate the ideas of texture and often times I try to replicate real life materials in web form.  That is why each piece that I use my logo on has specific paper to represent different textures.  I want the person that sees this logo to want to feel the paper and experience the textures.

The business card for example, the logo is printed on a thin strip of newsprint. As It is glued to a thick sheet of card stock it becomes raised up from the surface. Each piece of the card provides a unique feel for the person to enjoy. Even the front and back of the card have different textures. These textures help make the card rememberable in the pile of business cards a client might get in a day. From letterhead, envelopes, and even the website, I continue to explore different textures within each of my own branded pieces.  Each piece is an individual and unique experience to enjoy.

The final branding for myself is simple, versatile,  and modern.  I wanted to make something that relates to how I feel as a designer while still keeping all the materials and vision clean.  Overall, I feel that I achieved those goals and so far enjoy working with my new mark. I hope everyone that sees it does as well.