Feb 7/14

Ok, here we go!

This example of a vintage packaging (below) is for an eraser company called Eberhard Faber. Many examples that I looked at appeared to be clearly centered. This one didn't. After laying the grid on top, you can see that the circle/seal and rectangle together, are centered under Eberhard Faber. Interesting!

This is a beer label for East India Pale Ale. It is very symmetrical. I especially liked the monogram and the feel that the overprinting (where the red and blue overlap) gives.

This is the front of an old Jello box. Not very many surprises here, but interesting to see how the curved type lines up with everything else. 

Another beer label, this one for Seattle Brewing and Malting Co's Rainier Beer. This one was a bit more complex - there is a lot going on. I find the diagonals really interesting. 

Something else I put together was this timeline. These are my general observations about each decade, and are by no means 'the rule', or from a text book etc. Just my two cents.

I think we all have a general idea of what the 50s look like, or the 30s etc., but as I started to collect images of ads over a large period of time, putting them in order helped me to more easily see the transition of style through the time.

Feb 9/14

I've moved on to my 'rectangles'. This has been a good process so far. By just quickly drawing shapes and then moving on to another layout I have covered a lot more exploration than I normally would have (actually drawing things out, figuring out details and stopping after 'a few')

So before that, here is the content I am working with...

And what I have come up so far

Thunder Bay Nordic Trail is a mouthful but I think it should read all as one thought. For that reason, layouts like 1, 7, and 9 might not be the best.

I'd like to explore 2 , 3 and 6 a bit more.  

Feb 10/14

I started to redraw the three layouts I liked best from yesterday. Since a cross country ski club is a bit vague it will work with my styles. I wanted to draw each layout in a slightly different style to see if that made any thing more clear on where I wanted to go.

So starting with #2 (see previous update)

I like it. Sort of. But it is a bit more 80s than I had in mind. I like the idea of a woodcut type illustration incorporated with the lettering as long as it isn't too busy.

Next, #3...

I like this as well. Maybe more than the first one. There is a hole between 'skate' and the 'T' of trails that needs dealing with.

Last, #6...

I think this one is my favourite. Working with the same elements as the others, left this layout feeling unbalanced. I added the 'This winter Visit'... Don't know if that is cheating, but I actually like it. If I pursue this one, I would also like to turn the banner into a scarf, fringes at the end etc.

To recap, here are the three:
(I've switched to labeling with letters since the numbers are going to get confusing)

One thing that I am having a hard time with is that I have a typeface in my head, rather than letters. I feel like all of them still need that customization that means the difference between a hand drawn logo and lettering. As it sit, they are pretty straight up. I'll work on that next round...

In the mean time, thoughts on which idea to move forward with?

Feb 12/14

After putting my drawings aside for the night and coming back to it yesterday, B seemed to be, all around, the most appropriate to move forward with. There were elements from each that I liked and worked some of them into B. But B was the winner.

Some experimentation:

I’ve redrawn it and tweaked it with each round. At this point I am mostly happy with the layout. And on to refining. 

I’m not entirely happy with the ‘100km of...’

Here it where I am:

I played with lettering styles, but ultimately felt comfortable with this Scandinavian Viking inspired route.

It felt a little top heavy. This version, the scarf is reversed, and no shadow (around Nordic Trails):

Like I said, I'd still like to change '100km of...' as well as SKATE and CLASSIC. 

I've also played with the idea of the snow capped letter again, but I'm not sure if its too illustrative or not.

Feb 13/14

I looked at Nordic Trails this moring and thougt, I have to re-do it. I came to terms with the fact that it just wasn't working. 

Here is this morning's thought process:

Feb 14/14

Today's progress!

Feb 20/14

Haven't updated in a few days, but I'm working on it! 

Mar 3/14

The image I was working with leaves a fairly centered and symmetrical place for the lettering to go. Here she is...

But then I thought, you know that point when you've gone way too far down a road... Is turning back the right thing to do, or should you just keep going?? Yea. I'm there.

I think I've redrawn the last concept just a few too many times and it's missing the character that it had at one point along the way. So, taking a few steps back... I'm liking these more now that I did at the beginning.

I'm stuck...