Ramon Miranda Logo Design.

For my english-speakers readers!As István told me, this would be interesting for educational purposes, so here you have it.

Warning ! Today I bring a long post where I explain how I designed my own logo , which was a challenge and also an opportunity to know myself better and see my goals, my projects and what I love and drive my passion.

If you find yourself in a similar situation and you want to have some reference of the proceedings , here I have posted all my creative process for the logo . I hope to help you. I have divided the process into 5 phases to organize myself better.

Phase 1. References
Phase 2. Design on paper
Phase 3. From pencil to Vector
Phase 4. Typography
Phase 5. Test on clothes

Phase 1. References

 
The first step is to see what others have done already . My first search is RM and the letter R. After I searched what other illustrators were using . The problem I see in these logos is they are not fiting my goal of being a printable "brand" in any way and at low cost , (eg one or two colors ) . In my case I think I have a particular "illustration " concept in mind.Then i created a briefing to myself treating me as if it would be for a customer

 

Phase 2. Design paper

Ok! let’s got to the computer and design ... Nooooo ! wait a minute this is going otherwise. It is good in this first phase sketching on paper and this is what I did. Sketch enough to come up with an idea to develop . It is easier to explore ideas and less expensive for everyone. The computer tends to become very strict , so I prefer dirty graphite . You want to see the phase of sketches ? There it goes.

step 01

I want a representative of my business logo. I look for the sense of flow , which is what represents the drawing, for me; a “dancing” line . I choose the letter R as the beginning of my brainstorming . The rest in the page is unrelated . To design sketches I usually used drawn pages because it helps me break the barrier of pure white sheet .

step 02

This moment is for my internal analysis. " What I want to communicate ." So I start with brainstorming while still scribbling with every idea that comes to my head. There's even a funny pencil with basque chapela ! at this stage anything goes well. I also analyze how I paint, my personal style , to see how that can influence the design. I see overlapping RM in different forms but still does not convince me .

But the R and M are still basic in my design . On the other hand in the lower right corner is to look for a square symbol that may accompany my name and activity.

step 03

I quit the idea of ​​joined RM and look for something more abstract like an arc with a light in the background. Something very characteristic of my paintings. I keep looking for RM shapes and think on clichés as easels, paint strokes , pens ... I find going to be an intense search . again I return to the RM and a pencil in the negative space between R and M but is not very readable

step 04

 

I still work with shapes and find interesting things but i don’t like them. I think the RM looking a "transformer logo " may be interesting, but do not talk about my work . It is the negative space at the arches of the m what catches my eye but the upper peak of the m I do not like it .

step 05

 

I like a lot the shape of a diagonal in the logo . It gives sense of movement and elegance ; but making such a twisted brush does not seem to work well . Yet the idea of ​​the square logo still on my mind. I just do not identify myself with a rectangular or circular .

step 06

 

I'm looking for something that defines me . R with the brush is a recurring idea but i don’t like it simple.. I'm making notes why I do not like that design or idea. So later I can redo the road. Continue with exploration.

step 07

 

I start looking for more geometric ideas and I want to define a font without serif and modern look. i quit the cubic geometry idea because although the drawing is based on transform what we see in fundamental shapes I do not think many people understand that. For something related to 3d can work, but not for my work where I usually work on a 2D plane .

step 08

 

Starting now from a simple R i reach its fundamental shape . I try different positions for the pen shape and brush shape. Eventually I came to a form that resembles a R with a digital pen and a brush through it. My problem now is to simplify the most of these shapes to make it simple.

step 09

 

Talking about go back and redo stuff with a twist . In this case I see again the ideas of the page 4. And I keep looking for ways to take advantage of the shapes of negative space . I put the idea of the brush and the digital pen in the negative space but there is something that does not convince me . The sharp corner of M , coinciding with the rounded edge of the square gives a sense of something ominous . This is accentuated the smaller the logo .

step 10

 

Here I return to the idea of ​​step 8 and work with shapes to see how everything fits together . I realize that is too much visual information and decide to remove the M.
I need a font that is not too thick but rounded and that is well spaced .
The graphic weight in the 4 quadrants are balanced . I can only correct the negative space of the brush shape

 


It is done! I have reached the end of the design on paper. I have 3 lines that define the logo . I correct the shape of the brush and add my typographic idea for my name and activity.

Part 2
Let’s go with the second part of this article about creating my logo.

• Phase 3. From pencil to Vector
• Phase 4. Typography
• Phase 5. Test on clothes

Phase 3. From pencil to Vector

 

Now it's time to get on the computer having a solid idea on which to work. At this stage I transform what I've done with pencil through a program like inkscape, illustrator, corel to vectors. this time i use Inkscape. I use a feature that is useful to vectorize drawn images. I go to the Menu Path / Trace Bitmap (shift + alt + b).


What it does is translate every contour to a vector path. As the design is simple and colorless we make it easy.
I do not recommend leaving the path as it is out of that operation because there is usually an excess of nodes. But it is a good starting point to begin with so i clean the path 130 nodes are too much!
 


In this case I like the "organic" feeling . But I decide to try pure vector based on a square and draw some nodes. You can see the process from left to right. Using basic primitives and operations of union, subtraction, I can quickly get a result that seems more complex. but does it work? ... hmm.

 

No, it does not work because I lost the organic feeling, it seems very cold and does not convince me. I decide to discard this option and debug the previous design that keeps the organic feel of the sketch.



 
Later I'll see if I need to remove any other node without losing that feeling of "stain". Bringing the two ideas face to face this is the result

Phase 4. Typography

The choice of typography is as important as the design of the "logo" itself. Thanks to the sketches on paper, I know what I look for in typography. So I go to Dafont.com. I want something clean, modern, and very specific with certain defined strokes. Do I will find it? After seeing 55 pages in Dafont.com under the category of basic / sans serif, I have selected 10 having licenses to use them freely or under acceptable conditions.



After analyzing each stick, pole, x-height, spacing etc ... I have 5 passing to the next stage.



It's hard to leave behind such beautiful fonts but i have clear indication of why i do not choose them. Too much angles or spikes in its design, (peaks in M ​​and R) not rounded sticks, which produces optical kerning spaces that i do not like, too thick, my own taste or intuition ...


At the end the chosen one in the contest "Miss font RM 2016" is ...

The Chata!
Credit typography "la chata" for its creator. http://defharo.com/
Thanks Fernando for such a good job. If you seek sources for your personal or commercial projects, Fernando is a professional.


And with that I have set all my logo design. Sizes, sources relationships, kerning ... but what about color?


In the case of color I have not had many problems because I already knew it was going to be a warm tone. I want to introduce you # cc7722ff better known as ocher.

If we add the symbolic meaning,Since the beginning of mankind we have transmitted information through paintings. The pigment of the earth is stable, durable, and it has been with us throughout history and everywhere. From Egypt to the Renaissance and today. That is what this color means for me. illustration.


And after having the right color let’s check it out in real surfaces.

Phase 5. Test on clothes

With the already chosen typography and all defined details,i want to see how it looks on different media such as light backgrounds, dark backgrounds, and background image. This will give me information to know better if my design is versatile or presents a problem that so far has not been seen.

The first thing to try is a shirt. White and Black.


The following is trying a background image.
 

And that's all for today! if you liked the article do not forget to share so more people will see it, perhaps you will take away a headache to someone. Thanks .