FLORIST BRANDING.
PLAYING WITH A LOGO.
I knew that I wanted to use the full name of the Florists as a mark for the brands, as I feel like this is something that is timeless throughout Luxury brands. When the brand is such good quality, It is important that the name is clearly placed alongside such. I am also wanting to keep it simple as previously discussed Luxury brands don't need to hide behind heavy and distracting design.
I did however want to create some kind of monogram or symbol that I could use alongside or instead of the full brand name.
Before I started trying to develop a monogram I looked for a typeface that I thought would be appropriate for the brand. I began my search looking at only serif style fonts as these mirror an aesthetic of tradition, and portray a more formal effect. I wanted a font that communicated this, had power and boldness, but also easy to read and be recognisable.
I found that the above typeface was the most simple, classic and easy to read out of the selection, it lacks ornamentation which I think is appropriate for the brand, but portrays elegance with its very simple swashes as seen on the 'R'. I also feel that it has the right balance of boldness and formality I want from the typeface.
With this in place I began working on playing with a symbol that I could incorporate into the logo. I mostly wanted to experiment with the combination of two B's as it incorporates both family names, and acts as a shortened version towards the full logo mark 'BECKETT BECCARI'.
I started with simple ideas such as the B's linking, followed by the idea of two B's standing back to back.
When I sketched this up, I noticed that in some way the counters and bowls of the B's had began to and could look like flower petals.
I worked with this idea further trying to improve the shape, however I was finding it hard to get my visual across and was annoyed that the formation also had the appearance of a butterfly.
I went into illustrator where I used circle forms to create the look of two B's standing back to back, I felt that now they were much more geometrically circular, they looked much more like a floral simple and much less like a butterfly. I started playing around with a few different formations, and in the end had about 8 different motifs in the end to choose from. In creating them I tried to keep them very simple and minimalist.
After creating the first set of four, I then started to play with the idea of the flower being separated into two through the simple use of line, to represent the two families and two halves of the company.
I incorporated each of the symbols made into the long logo and used it as a character to split up both family names in the middle. I wanted to see which one I thought would work best.
After playing with the combinations I actually felt that it was the last that was most appropriate for the brand. Whilst others were also successful, I felt that the simpler the combination of shapes the better. I also thought that the symbol above also represented the combination of two names best as the flower petals are made up of simply two B's reflected.
Final logo idea:
After creating a logo I was happy with, I decided to go back and test the idea of also working with a sans serif typeface. I had totally dismissed this idea before as I felt that it would take away from the tradition of the company, and reduce formality. However I felt that the symbol I had created to be incorporated into the logo, being so simple would work well in combination with a sans serif typeface. I have also found that looking at other brands such as Saint Laurent that using a sans serif typeface doesn't lower the luxury of a brand, but can help to promote it.
When looking at sans serif type I found that it can make just as must of a statement, and hold as much power as its serif counterparts. I did however feel that the above typeface I found was too stylised and that something less trend based is needed.
To counteract the previous typeface, I found the above which I felt is slightly more classic and easier to read due to the increase in kerning. I didn't however think the condensed type worked well visually, I liked the emphasis on the circle in the first typeface, as I built the symbol using circles, however it draws too much upon the art deco style and something much more neutral, void of distinct style is needed.
The next typeface I found I felt was exactly what i'm looking for, It has the same circular aesthetic I liked from the first typeface, is heavily reduced in style and Is easier to read due to its proportions and kerning. I feel that being void of such stylised elements and ornaments like the first one, represents what I have learnt about Luxury branding. When the product is such high quality, only simplicity is needed to support this, I feel that this typeface does exactly that job.
Having found a sans typeface I think would work well for the brand, I combined it with the monogram to see how it worked as a full logo.
Im really happy with how the combination works together, I think it works equally as well for the brand as the serif typeface. With this being said I was quite undecided with which one to pick and so I called on my peers for some feedback. In order to get more accurate feedback, I reversed the colours of the logo, as due to the research I had carried out about Luxury and dark colours, this will be similar, or the colours of my end product.
I found that getting feedback from 5 of my peers that they felt the most appropriate was the first choice with the sans serif typeface. The general consensus was that the sans serif type helped to bring a traditional company into the current era. There was also a lot of comments on how the symbol was much more fluid in combination with the sans serif type.
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