*The colour scheme is very important to be outgoing, yet approachable for all.
I began playing with colour palettes on Photoshop and was immediately very drawn to the use of orange as the main recognisable colour. I used it within my personal identity because of its vibrance and energy - so started building in some colour psychologies of how it could work as the main colour for a brand identity..
- Orange is a combination of yellow and red and is considered an energetic colour.
- Orange calls to mind feelings of excitement, enthusiasm, and warmth.
- Orange is often used to draw attention, such as in traffic signs and advertising.
- Orange is energetic, which is perhaps why many sports teams use orange in their uniforms, mascots, and branding.
- Orange is also the colour of bright sunsets and fruits such as oranges and tangerines, so many people might associate the colour with the beauty of a setting sun or the refreshing taste of citrus - invokes positive user experience
A main focus for what I want to achieve with the brand identity for the scheme is to portray this feeling of movement, eagerness and the need to be efficient. Thus reflecting the service I am trying to offer, whilst at the same time giving off this clean and modernised feel showing how it aims to better the city (to make it greener and the people healthier!). I imagine this to go perfectly with quite an italic typeface being very bold and contrasted to catch a persons attention.
I built up some complimenting shadowing colours, thinking about how I could layer these to infer movement and motion blur within the typography perhaps!? I needed a different colour to go hand in hand with the orange but create that contrast and for me a nice pastel-y green partners with it perfectly. This could be for the colour of the bike or accents on the app perhaps.
Happy with my initial colour selection I wanted to now start actually experimenting with the colours to see how it would work. I scrapped the whole symbol logo thought process and started to think more simply as to how I could have a simple logotype which would be bold, yet very individual and recognisable - making a statement about the Bike Scheme - especially with the immediate tongue and cheek that you are exposed to with the name 'OnYerBike' !!
To achieve this slanted, motion inspired feel I began trying out various typefaces focusing around them being Medium-Italic.
I knew the typeface had to be sans-serif - ensuring it is legible, universal and matches this modern, vectorised design style.
I sat and analysed the options with some course mates and we all agreed on narrowing it down to Futura and then Akzidenz-Grotesk Next. Gill Sans felt to condensed, making the type not feel as broad and eye-catching as it needs to be for the representing logotype of the whole scheme. Helvetica for me is too go-to in the graphic design industry now and just feels too basic and recognisable to other brands to feel original for a new one. Although you could argue the same for Akzidenz its form to me, does appear perfectly in proportion and would fit any modern design style. Futura on the other hand brings something different to the table. It's recognisable and has some character about it especially when in Medium Italic - it feels streamlined and its form is very consistent being the most legible in my opinion alongside Akzidenz. As a group we picked up on how it almost feels like it is taking iconic inspiration from now super-brand/sub-culture 'Supreme' - which is very relevant to my target audience of quite art/fashion inspired students within Leeds; but I do need to be able to make it my own and portray how it is something new and not infringing anything copyright related (although it is a different custom typeface used for the Supreme logotype).
It was suggested that I do maybe try a couple of serif typefaces too, just to see how it stands up against the final two. This is where I began putting the other colours from the palette into good use experimenting with that colour trail / motion blur on the type.
As you can see above, the top option in Futura does stand out by a mile. The Akzidenz-Grotesk not really suiting that trailing style now, as the form of the letters (especially upper case) feel too broad now and not streamlined enough for the fast past, efficiency of what I want my app to provide.
The serif typefaces to do not infer that motion inspired feeling and don't really provide that hard-hitting user experience which will match the whole clean, modernised style within the app. It does feel characteristic, but not in the right way and as you can see on the arms of the Y it can be problematic with the thin stroke widths when in conjunction with the layered coloured trail - therefore I am going to take forward into my designs and see where I can go with it.
Beneath you can see the logotype in all its glory, displaying the typeface beneath. As the main focus for what I want to achieve with the brand identity is to portray this feeling of movement, eagerness, speed and the need to be efficient. Thus reflecting the service I am trying to offer, whilst at the same time giving off this clean and modernised feel showing how it aims to better the city (to make it greener and the people healthier!)
I have also selected Open Sans to sit alongside this typeface - more for use in the app. This is a much more simple, very consistent and legible typeface free by Google which will fit the role of the main body typeface for the app perfectly. It comes in various weights within the family as well so I can have some variation with use in headings and menus, etc...
I knew the typeface had to be sans-serif - ensuring it is legible, universal and matches this modern, vectorised design style.
I sat and analysed the options with some course mates and we all agreed on narrowing it down to Futura and then Akzidenz-Grotesk Next. Gill Sans felt to condensed, making the type not feel as broad and eye-catching as it needs to be for the representing logotype of the whole scheme. Helvetica for me is too go-to in the graphic design industry now and just feels too basic and recognisable to other brands to feel original for a new one. Although you could argue the same for Akzidenz its form to me, does appear perfectly in proportion and would fit any modern design style. Futura on the other hand brings something different to the table. It's recognisable and has some character about it especially when in Medium Italic - it feels streamlined and its form is very consistent being the most legible in my opinion alongside Akzidenz. As a group we picked up on how it almost feels like it is taking iconic inspiration from now super-brand/sub-culture 'Supreme' - which is very relevant to my target audience of quite art/fashion inspired students within Leeds; but I do need to be able to make it my own and portray how it is something new and not infringing anything copyright related (although it is a different custom typeface used for the Supreme logotype).
It was suggested that I do maybe try a couple of serif typefaces too, just to see how it stands up against the final two. This is where I began putting the other colours from the palette into good use experimenting with that colour trail / motion blur on the type.
As you can see above, the top option in Futura does stand out by a mile. The Akzidenz-Grotesk not really suiting that trailing style now, as the form of the letters (especially upper case) feel too broad now and not streamlined enough for the fast past, efficiency of what I want my app to provide.
The serif typefaces to do not infer that motion inspired feeling and don't really provide that hard-hitting user experience which will match the whole clean, modernised style within the app. It does feel characteristic, but not in the right way and as you can see on the arms of the Y it can be problematic with the thin stroke widths when in conjunction with the layered coloured trail - therefore I am going to take forward into my designs and see where I can go with it.
Beneath you can see the logotype in all its glory, displaying the typeface beneath. As the main focus for what I want to achieve with the brand identity is to portray this feeling of movement, eagerness, speed and the need to be efficient. Thus reflecting the service I am trying to offer, whilst at the same time giving off this clean and modernised feel showing how it aims to better the city (to make it greener and the people healthier!)
I have also selected Open Sans to sit alongside this typeface - more for use in the app. This is a much more simple, very consistent and legible typeface free by Google which will fit the role of the main body typeface for the app perfectly. It comes in various weights within the family as well so I can have some variation with use in headings and menus, etc...
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