9 Blog Exercise: Logo Design

Most commonly recognized by their three stripes, the Adidas logo above makes use of the basic elements of scale. As shown above the three varying diagonal stripes leads the viewers eye along the company name. Since we commonly read text from left to right, the scale of the three stripes also increases from left to right. Furthermore the slanting stripes and variation in sizes creates an abstract cubist form of an actual shoe facing the to the left causing our eye to also travel back and forth through the company name. In addition, the basic colors of black and white allow for a strong contrast emphasizing the negative and positive spaces of the logo. Also the simple colors establish a clean, crisp, and fresh logo design, which is representative of their shoe and clothing styles and designs. 

The above image is a logo design for a famous Russian Landscaping company. In the above logo the basic element that stood out to me was the use of color. When i think of a landscaping company i think of very earthy colors, like browns, and greens, however the colors for this logo are very bright and exotic. For one, the logos bright colors helps catch my attention, especially since there are a lot of bright and vibrant colors. Another thing that i found interesting about the logo was that the different colors and shades of colors creates a dimensionality for the logo, for example the back hind leg emphasizes darker shades of colors which tells me that that leg is in the background picture plane. In addition, what helps compliment the colors and how they express dimensionality is the shapes that are used, the polygonal forms help to represent the abstract forms of actual shadows or tonal shapes on an actual body, and emphasizing that idea with the use of different color shades allows the logo to "pop" and seem three dimensional.

Similar to how the Adidas logo creates movement through the scaling of shapes, the logo above creates movement through line. As stated previously, we are accustomed to reading from left to right, therefore our eyes are accustomed to travel in that direction, from left to right. The above logo emphasizes this through the use of a black line that is thick in the beginning and gradually narrows as you lide along the curvature of the line. Furthermore the path that the line draws mimics a stylized cursive "e" for the company name Elastic Software. In addition, the colored orbs help in assisting through the movement of the line from their color and size. Starting from the left most, lightest colored orb, if you travel along the line the orbs gradually get smaller and darker in shade of color. 

8 Blog Exercise: Visual Thinking

The above test was attempted by my girlfriend. She chose choice "E" because she believed that the order followed a square, triangle, square sequence. It took her about 2-3 minutes to answer.

The above test was taken by a classmate in one of my other classes and he chose option "C" because he felt the pattern followed a "line, shape, line, shape" pattern but he was unsure because even though option "C" is a line, it still forms the shape of a triangle. It took my friend about 5 minutes to decide on a final answer.

The above test was performed by my older brother, and he was able to find all 11 squares in the image. It took my older brother about 10 minutes to solve because he said that at first he didn't notice the larger squares, and he kept recounting.

The above test was performed by my younger brother and he was only able to find 7 squares. It took my younger brother about 5 minutes to solve because he said he tried to work fairly quickly, and that some of the colors would throw him off. He had failed to notice the 4 other squares because he said that he didn't think about them or pay attention to them.

6 Blog Exercise: Visual Perception

When searching for logos, I usually look for the designs that are simple, but at the same time clever and complex in concept. When i think about logos, i feel that they should represent and help the viewer to describe what it is that the company does, or helps the user remember the company's name.

In this sense I guess you can say that I focus and utilize top-down processing more. For example, I tend to focus more on logos that present a certain meaning, or i try to understand certain aspects of someone's logo, like the name of the company, and the image they have designed for their logo. A great example of this is the logo for the "Spartan Golf Club."

When I see the word "Spartan" I am already focused on seeing a spartan soldier or a helmet, and at first glance you can see that the logo is a Spartan helmet. However at the same time if you focus more on the details of the image, you will notice that there is a golfer in full swing creating the shape of the helmet.

This example helps to illustrate the constant linking and re-linking of the image of the helmet and the word spartan, and the golfer with the word golf club. 

I found this logo interesting because it had fit my search criteria for finding logos that i like. The design is simple, but complex in concept and very clever.

5 Blog Exercise: Design Success and Failure in Relation to Syntactical Guidelines

Above we have a logo that i feel is a clever and well designed logo that follows much of the syntactical guidelines. It combines the ideas of a chef's hat with the mushroom cloud from the aftermath of an atomic explosion, hence the name "Atomic Chef." The Idea of a mushroom cloud and chefs hat is a very symmetrical object, however the designer varies the each of the vertical axis sides to help create balance. Further more there are other aspects that also help to balance out the image such as the two variable sized rings. The design is simple in the aspect of colors and design, the eye easily flows and follows the lines of the designed image where the eye isn't draw too much to one area.

The next image that i chose for an example of a design that didn't work out so well is of an Hungarian reale state business. The image that they chose to reference was a cavernous hole. Due to the detail and variation of lines, color, size and shape to the logo, your eye is drawn directly into the center of the hole. This makes the viewer seem like they are trapped or confined within the hole. Which is not the type of persona that i would not be looking for, especially in a real estate agent. To further create a confined space the logo and text is again outlined by this gray brush stroke border. 

4 Blog Exercise: Visual and Symbolic Language

1. Long lines/Endless lines

2. Many different people of all races and color

3. Faces of anxiousness, concern, and sorrow/unhappiness

4. Sides walks filled with trash and people

5. People dressed up in business suits

6. Looking for work

7. Resumes in hand

8. Faces tired and hopeful

9. Black snake of trepidation slinking through the streets of the city’s business district.

10. Cellphones in hand

11. No conversation

12. Strong tension

Like a snake slithering through the streets of the city’s business district, unemployment lines filled with people of all shapes, sizes, and colors are dressed in what was now considered their finest clothes to sell themselves in hopes of being chosen for a job, if any. Black suits, ties, blazers, slacks, dress shoes, briefcases, and fake smiles cover the bodies of the people who fill the city street sidewalks like an oil spill contaminating the area with trepidation, concern, depression, sorrow, and very little if any, hope. Like cattle entering a slaughterhouse, the cattle are guided what to them could mean salvation, or death, as they walk a few steps and wait, walk a few steps, and wait, with their resumes in hand, as they slowly make their way to the interview room in hopes that they will be chosen.

Name: Luis Marcjay Pascual

School: San Francisco State University

Major: Visual Communications (DAI)

Level: Senior