Thursday, 13 October 2016

Studio Brief 01 - Logotype, Brand Research

After decided that my brand was going to be a jewellers/ watch shop for men I went out into Leeds and took pictures of the ones that exist here.


I like the loose kerning on this shop's sign (referring to image above) as it draws your attention directly to its name 'Berry's' however I think it is quite feminine which could be because of the ways the R's flick. I like the way 'Berry's' is bigger and consists of looser kerning so it is visible from far away, however if you are not familiar with this chain of shops then as you get closer you can see it is clearly labeled as a 'jewellers' which uses tighter kerning and makes the word quite compact so it doesn't take the focus away from the shop name.

 
I think the image above displays a very masculine looking watch shop, it's very simple and straight to the point with it's typeface. I like the fact that all of the letters sit perfectly on the baseline as well as them all having the same x height which allows this invisible straight line to form on the top of the word 'Breitling'. The colour use is also very interesting because most jewellers on this row of shops use black and white therefore this one stands out more, however I think it stands out for the wrong reasons. The yellow glow reminds me of something cheap and is commonly used on shops such as pound land in this case the shop front, particularly the window, reminds me of a betting shop which isn't something I would want to represent with my brand.

 
Again I think the shop has a very masculine look to it. I personally don't really like the way they have used bold capital letters agains a lower case roman typeface I think 'TAG' is too blocky and clunky to sit nicely with 'Heuer' I understand that it is a clever way of joining both words together but keeping them as separate sounds but I think this could've been done in a much subtler way. Having such a difference in stroke thickness is unnecessary

 

What I like about this logo is the symmetry between the O and the G and the M and the A, it makes it very nice to look at. The pointedness of both the A and the M looks quite harsh however it is balanced out by the symbol sitting between them both above the E. This symbol is a hallmark and fits well with the fact that it is a jewellers yet I cant help but find the design quite feminine, I think this is because it reminds me a bit of the pandora logo which is commonly associated with women.


 

The most iconic brand when you think of mens watches is rolex, as it is known for it's high quality watches which come with a huge price tag. Their superiority is acknowledge with the use of a crown above the L which connotes royalty. Their use of a serif typeface also further enforces this as it is more regal looking than a sans serif typeface. I like the fact they use muted tones such as brown, cream and gold on their shop frontage it is not too loud and in your face like the front of Breitling was, this reflects a much more luxurious and subdued shopping experience.


After this research I decided that a serif typeface would be most suitable for my luxury watch company as I think it reflects luxury as well as something that is trustworthy and well established. When you think of a company like Rolex you instantly think of something that's expensive, somewhere you would go not just to buy a watch but to make an investment because some of them are so expensive.


I then found an online company that specialised in luxury watches. I liked their use of Bodoni for their logo, it looks traditional and reputable for this kind of brand.  The loose kerning between the letters also adds to this brand being luxurious and high end as well as their minimalistic colour pallet which only features black and white with hints of gold.

After researching further into these companies I compiled a list of what my company has to represent and provide:
- Luxury
- Experience in the industry
- Customer service
- Classic & contemporary
- Quality
- Advice to clients
- Trustability
- Online and in preson


Bodoni:





Designed by Giambattisa Bodoni in 1789 and was highly influence by the work of John Baskerville, it features a centred tail on the 'Q' and a slight hook on the J. The main identifying characteristic of  typeface is that it is easy recognisable as a romantic typeface with a vertical stress and slight bracketing serifs. It is widely used for displays, posters, headlines and logos especially when it comes to fashion.







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