Type: University Project
Role: Symbol design
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
Year of completion: 2021
Role: Symbol design
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
Year of completion: 2021
The Challenge
In this project, we were asked to create a symbol to represent a cherished personal belonging. The symbol was meant to represent not just the object itself, but the themes I associated with the object and emotions that the object evoked.
As my object, I chose my guitar, affectionately nicknamed "Rosalin".
The PROCESS
I started the process by putting pen to paper - I did many different hand sketches to explore possible directions for the symbol:
Initial sketches for the symbol.
Next, I came up with a few different logos, each associated with a theme. I decided to develop the first logo below further based on feedback from my lecturer. What was interesting about this one was that I actually sat down with the object (my guitar) and simply spent some time playing it. The inspiration for the logo came from the song I was playing.
What followed were several iterations of refinements, where I tried to really drill down to the essence of what the item represented:
Iteration 1
Iteration 2
Iteration 3
FINAL RESULT
Given the story of the object and the inspiration behind the symbol itself, and its association with 60s music, I decided to go with a psychedelic colour scheme, taking inspiration from sun iconography in concert posters of that era. The symbol represents the themes of music and stress relief, radiating out of the sun and creating the form of the guitar, so that the sun and its rays became the soundhole and the guitar body, respectively.
I created negative and positive variants of the symbol, as well as one in full colour.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed this project. Even though it wasn't strictly the type of design I wished to specialise in, it was fascinating to engage in the process and understand how the outcome was achieved. If I ever need to create similar work in the future, I know that at least I would be able to make a start.
I liked how the iterative design process helped me to drill down from a more literal representation of the object to the essence of what the object represented to me. This is a learning that has proved useful to me when I do visual research, even when the subject is a digital experience that have no physical form.