Community Logo Design
I was approached to design an identity for the city of London for use in a web and print-based newsletter for an ongoing project in the neighborhood I live in.
The project focused on revitalizing the area that had gained an undesirable reputation throughout the city for crime and poverty. Programs developed for youth and young parents hope to create a more positive environment and lose the stigma.
Through surveys conducted of residents, two major traits were found common; the Thames river and the parks and trails surrounding the community.
Initially I focused on the parks and nature element, ignoring the river completely while sketching. I came up with a leaf shape, based on the White Elm, Hackberry, Manitoba Maple and Linden common in the area. Then added a building group that worked with the ideas I wanted to present. It also worked nicely in tandem with the cities logo which happened to be a tree. The leaf can be seen as an extension of the cities logo, representing it being part of the overall community, a branch of the family tree if you will. Once I decided on this concept I put it into Corel Draw and made a rough comp of the idea. This is where I started exploring the concept of the river and water as an element.
From there I played with different arrangements, different shapes, and different ideas before arriving on the final mark. Water wasn’t literally represented in the final choice, but the curved line through the leaf is meant to suggest the river and water. For the typography I decided on old helvetica as it’s conveys openness and transparency and is favorite of governments looking to portray just that. In the end this logo will be used on newsletters published by the city giving updates to residents on programs and initiatives to better their community.
Andy MacDonald | March 1st, 2008 at 4:20 pm #
Love this logo design mate. You have done brilliant with this. Although i didnt notice the representation of the water until i read your post, i think its a great logo.
Well done!
JamieO | March 1st, 2008 at 6:28 pm #
Good summary of the design process. How many of the design variations did you show to client(s) for feedback as far as potentials? I tend to feel like I put so much creative energy into that step.
John Leschinski (Post Author) | March 1st, 2008 at 6:39 pm #
Thanks Andy.
@ JamieO: I didn’t show anything but the final to the client. I don’t normally show clients multiple options unless they ask.
Living Infinitely | March 1st, 2008 at 7:20 pm #
Great logo, It seems green (the craze among businesses these days) and industrial. Nice
Zac Johnson | March 2nd, 2008 at 9:56 am #
Very cool! I find logo design and branding so interesting. I try to have a unique logo designed for each of my main sites.
Fred McCoy | July 30th, 2008 at 9:58 am #
I agree that this was an excellent use of the proper design process. You even went out of your way to get involved in the community to ensure a successful design. Is there a reason you don’t show the client multiple options? I tend to do so to ease the decision making process, but that’s me.
John Leschinski (Post Author) | July 30th, 2008 at 10:22 am #
@ Fred: Clients when given a choice, will chose the option you like the least.
Fred McCoy | August 8th, 2008 at 9:19 am #
Funny story. I had been asked to design the logo for the Singapore Government’s Tourism Board and I came up with 30 or something logo/branding designs for them and they chose the ones that I liked the least, and they were the ones that had absolutely nothing to do with anything they said they wanted in their logo. They were just logos for my own personal creativity.