I approached this class wanting to learn from Mackey and his experience with branding and logo design. The knowledge shared during the class gave me insights that I put into practice with a recent client commision. Here is a description of the project and the work created.

Client: Ultimos

Industry: Sports, news, social media.

Project Duties: Hand lettering, logotype design, icon design and color exploration.

Ultimos is a collective of all things Ultimate Frisbee focused on providing curated content, news, events, videos and selling products online.

While discussing the goals of the logo, positivity, passion and uniqueness were a few of the main characteristics to express. My client wanted to develop an identity that would be strong, memorable and stand out. Stylistically, he was interested in a brush style script and to convey a sense of movement. My general idea was to strike a balance amongst three concepts: playful, sophisticated and organic.

Sketch Development

After creating several concepts I decided to go with the option that felt more natural. My sketch was still rough so I took some time to refine the design using tracing paper. This technique allowed me to focus on creating smooth curves and emphasize the dynamic movement introduced by the hand crafted script renderings made with the brush pen.

 

Digital Version

When working in Illustrator, each individual letter was traced using the pen tool to emphasize the personalized, custom drawn logo, this is also the secret to achieving smooth curves. Close attention was given to promoting consistency and a natural rhythm throughout the design. The contrast and spacing between the letters ensure that it continues to work well at small sizes. Bezier curves and anchor point placement was taken in consideration to keep the design as clean as possible, also ideal for keeping the smallest file possible.

Icon Design

It was important that the letter U from the logotype could function as an icon and ultimately grow into a memorable mark. This character was specially designed to work as a stand-alone element. Perfect as a social media icon, watermark for branding collateral, and usage on merch & apparel and the semi-pro team uniform.

I recommend ths class to anyone who is looking for a solid foundation in learning how to design simple and effective logotypes. Mackey Saturday is a very talented and skillful designer. It was a pleasure to take this class, learn from him and create an unique design.

Leo