BRIEF 10: WATER SUPPLIERS — CREATE

After the interim crit and my researching into defining what a water suppliers was and the direction I  was going in. I felt that I should start focusing on how I could develop the brand of my water suppliers. I then moved onto the next stage of creating, again as mentions previously following the 3 steps of creating a brand through the DSM brief. In this post I will be exploring colour, typography, brand details and more.

Name

I started this process by thinking of a potential name for the company. I started by looking into words associated with water and the services that the company proposes to provide to create a connection.

I looked into words that were associated with water and supplying as an initial avenue and also activities that were related to water to get a vast list of ideas.


From the list of ideas I decided to choose the name Flux which means — 

1. A flowing or flow of water.

2. The flowing in of the tide.

3. Physics

    A. The rate of flow of fluid, particles, or energy.
    B. A quantity expressing the strength of a field of force in a given area.

I felt this name was most appropriate due to it representing the flow of a fluid, i.e in this case water which is what this company is about. Also the name is quite bespoke and different from excising companies out there, which is what I wanted to achieve with it being a event specialised water suppliers.

Logo Research

With the name established I then moved forward onto creating a logo. I started this by researching into excising designs as a source of influence.

The crafted logo has a connected element through it's use of typography which would really work for a water suppliers and could represent the pipes. I like how it's so simplistic but has a literal meaning of it being crafted through how it visually looks.

I then collated some logo's that work with negative space, again I really like how a element of a letter form or vector could be used to represent water and this is something I could consider the in the development of my logo.

I then started to look at some more vector style logo's and from this selection I really liked how using lines and shapes could potentially represent the pipes used in a water suppliers, this is something more simplistic that would be easy to use across a range of materials as well as using something typographic.

Again looking at typographic logo's this design works really well for connecting type in a simplistic way and refers to a visual style of pipes.

Visual Research

I then started created a small mood board of different water supplying materials to get some influence of how I could draw out my logo. 

Looking at this imagery will work as a reference on how I can shape my letter forms and execute a design that was similar to my visual research.

Thumbnails

I progressed with some thumbnail ideas of what I could create keeping in mind the idea of using negative space and a structured style of type to reinforce the companies ethos.

From the designs I liked the idea of creating some sort of tube type that was extremely subtle or the introduction of water symbols to reinforce the function of this company. 

Digital Developments

I started off with the concept of dissecting the type to represent the different pipes and then water forming from these to reinforce the companies services. I initially experimented with a light san serif typeface, but on reflection it didn't replicate the actual structure of the pipes as these were much bigger as referenced in my intial inspiration board. I then experimented with a bolder type face to create this and I felt it was much more effective but could possibly be experimented with further with a more rounded font which is, shown below.

I decided to move forward with using a rounded font due to it having a friendly and approachable aesthetic which also relates to the companies ethos. It also represents the structure of the water pipes more accurately but was still very subtle. I then decided to introduce the water drop and experimented with it in a multitude of ways in which it could work within the logo.

From these developments, these two designs were the ones that stood out to me the most. On considering what design I should choose for my final design I decided to go ahead with the bottom design as it would be most legible when considering it working across a multitude of platforms I think the simplicity if the design works the best at any scale.

Typography Pallet

With the logo established I then looked into what typography I could use.  

When experimenting with the pervious logo's I had used theses following fonts and together I think the work really well for body copy or other printed material.  I decided to choose these font's because not only are the legible but they are distinctly different from the logo and I wanted there to be a clear distinction between body copy and the logo itself.

Tag Line

Although the logo has been created I wanted to create a tag line, to give consumers an idea on what the brand is about. A tag line is used in a lot of brands and the ones in my research are very generic, which is something I would want to avoid. I also want to keep the tagline short and punchy so that it can be memorable.

— Providing a flow to your event.

— Refresh. Refine. Replenish.

— Adding a flow to your event.

— Water supplying solutions.

— Hydrating your events.

— Refreshing your event.

— Hydrate and host.

— Run your event smoothly.

Out of the tag lines I chose "run your event smoothly." as it connotes the running of water and the smooth service that flux provides. It's simple, straight to the point and I think works really well.

I then applied it to the existing logo to see how it would work and it does effectively with the design.

Colour Pallet

On my initial thoughts and research, some companies used blue, to concede with the colour of water which links, really well. I decided to experiment with some blue colours as a initial start using some mineral colour pallets which I found from design seeds. I experimented with these colours with my final logo to see how they would work together.

 

However when branding this water suppliers, I had to consider other competitors and the idea of changing a water suppliers from being mundane and generic. If I use a bold colour that would stand out from other competitors this would be a step to making it more interesting.

I then thought of using colours that fit in with the companies tone of voice, which is friendly, fun and reliable. I also considered the companies location. I experimented with the colour "red, white and blue' as its the same colours as the british flag, the red stands out and engages the audience the blue is clean and inviting and represents the water. I would also incorporate the white / black for type and legibility.

However when experimenting with these colours, I felt that the red really stood out to me, and physiologically red represents passion and excitement and with my water suppliers being exclusive to events and festivals I thought that this colour would be more suitable to the context of the brand.

I then experimented with different tones of red and yellows but from the chart I felt that the brightest red was most visually exciting.

Although this colour strays away from the colour blue and what other water suppliers usually use I felt that having something a little different would benefit the brand from it's potential competitors and stand out visually! Also the connotations of the brand work really well and are distinctive. With the red I decided to use a monochromatic pallet with the rest of the design to keep to using a 3 colour pallet so the design wouldn't be over powered.

Imagery

For the imagery for this project I think using event imagery or mock ups of the branded materials for the water suppliers would be used for this project to fit in with the context of the brand.

With keeping my colour pallet to 3 colours I though the imagery should follow this to keep it's consistency. For imagery I will be using black and white photo's with red overlays if it's used in interactive settings, e.g for a website hover link.

Overview

In this create post I feel like I have considered a range of visual and contextual factors in developing the brand from the information I found out about a water suppliers initially. Breaking down my work in 3 factors have been really beneficial so far and I have enjoyed moving from one idea to another in one format. From my work so far I really want to make this brand different and engaging and with the design decisions so far and the visual research it is being achieved.