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Over the last few days we've started work on a branding project for Daylight Solar Power, of which the first item to start with was the logo design.
To begin with, we sat down on the web and started researching a number of logos from the industry, seeing what sort of themes or colours and so on were prevalent amongst competitors, as well as what we were up against.
As in the picture above, it can be seen that the use of blue, green and then a blend of yellow, orange and red are used throughout as representations of the sky, environment and sunlight respectively; to be expected of an environmentally-friendly industry. Beyond this, the common themes seem to be around displaying the sun, with one or two solar panels to be found aswell. All of them have a modern-feeling, rounded font for a technologically developing feel.
The clients' brief was that, although there was one idea in mind, it was nothing concrete and that, beyond that, they were open to anything - a bit of a blank canvas, if you like. The idea touched upon was that of the sun curving above blue text, though the colours could be altered if it were felt to be necessary.
The first step is to sit down with a pen and paper and try and let the creative juices flow, to think laterally and just sketch. Ideally things will start to come together and you can spot patterns and so on that could make an idea of their own - for example, in the top right of the image above, we noticed that the negative space in between the solar panel grid could form a pattern and potential logo of its own.
From this jumble of sketches and scribbles we decided to narrow down the ideas to five or six, as seen in the bottom right corner of the sheet. These are the concepts that we will mock up digitally and go on to develop with feedback from the client. Of course, at this stage they may well reject all of the concepts and it would be back to the pen and paper to try and develop something fresh!
Eventually, we decided on five concepts to present to the client, the first of which is shown above. It is said that for a logo to work properly, it must also work with clarity in black and white, so all of the concepts are presented in both colour as well as black and white, along with any tweaks that came to mind to show as an alternative.
It seemed logical to begin with the concept given to us in the original brief. The yellow curve above the text is representative of the sunrise whilst using a blue colour for the main text can show the sky against the sun. The font used (ITC Avant Garde) has, to me, a technological feel to it due to the small gaps in the 'R' and the rounded feel. This feels appropriate for a business that deals in innovative power supply.
As an alternative idea, we twisted the sun round so that, although not obviously (and perhaps, predictably) a clear sun, it again has a modern feel and yet still has meaning and purpose using the same elements as from the original concept.
The second concept that we sent incorporated the use of solar panels and kept the same blue colour and text as before.
Although seemingly an obvious place to start for a solar power business, the research didn't throw up as many as you may have anticipated so it seems to be an area that remains largely untapped into. The concept features one row of three panels that feature the business' initials, with the text sat below.
As alternative concepts this time, we brought in the whole grid of panels to, perhaps, make it clearer. In doing so, it enabled me to reposition the text to the side as well as have a play with an alternative colour combination, bringing back the yellow from concept one to liven it up somewhat.
As touched upon earlier, it was from the solar panel grid that we introduced in concept two that gave us the idea of using the negative space from within to form a pattern of its own.
As well as this, the notion of sunlight and, more specifically, of the rays of sunlight, is something that we then decided to incorporate into the centre of the grid, almost as though that central area was a sun in itself.
This created something where we felt it wouldn't be immediately discernible what the idea behind it had been and that, to us at least, this would be a clever element to give the logo something different.
Again, as before, the shape of this area meant that the text could be repositioned alongside as the alternative.
For the fourth concept, we looked more towards an illustration where it would be completely clear what the business was, whilst also creating a warmth that we find comes with a friendly illustration.
The drawing simply tries to create a pleasant scene with the sun rising up behind the house where the solar panels are clearly on show. We were often reminded of the Nationwide logo whilst drawing it but ultimately pleased with how it came out, whilst it also gave scope for repositioning the text once again.
The fifth and final concept that we presented to the client looked to play off the 'light' element of the name, and so focused more on alternative light to just the 'daylight' that the previous concepts had been geared towards.
In doing so, we tried to keep the logo quite simple and minimalist, including the lightbulb as a subtlety around the 'I' to add effect but not in a garish manner.
As an alternative, we looked at a way of bringing in the first concept's sun by swooping it around the bottom to add some structure.
The feedback received was that they were all edging towards the alternative idea from concept one, with the sun angled around the bottom right corner.
However, it was also suggested that the lightbulb element from the final concept were to be included as well, whilst the 'Solar Power' text was to be slightly bolder and in a different colour - perhaps black.
In the end, we felt that the contrast between black and the blue was a bit too harsh and so provided a couple of alternatives in the darker navy and bringing back the green that had been so common in the initial research.
Ultimately, the lightbulb was changed to yellow and they opted for the green 'Solar Power' text. The final design is shown above and both the client and ourselves are very satisfied with how it has turned out (presumably!).
As can be seen, the design process can often be very lengthy and drawn out if revisions are needed and concepts continue to be developed. It is necessary, of course, in order to fulfil the job properly and so it is certainly no complaint, but hopefully this may be useful to those who aren't sure of what it is involved.
