Creating a Logo (week 04-05)

Creating a new 7 – eleven logo using gestalt principles

 

The assignment:

1. Look at the following 7-eleven logos and consider their shape, form and simplicity of design. The way they communicate and are recognizable.
   
2. Identify. In your own words explain what you consider 7-Eleven’s individual Gestalt principle to be. Describe the logo and put it into its own category.
3. Pick any 3 gestalt principles and recreate 3 versions of the 7-Eleven logo according to your chosen principle. Be creative and innovative with how you do it. Sketch, plan, do it by hand before digitally creating your favourite in a vector format.
4. You entire process including sketches and research need to be loaded on your blog as part of this learning activity.

 

The 7- Eleven logos have bright colors, its easy to recognize and it has some features that make it a little interesting to watch. Like the N at the end of eleven is written in a lowercase while the rest of the letters is written in uppercase. The two lines in orange and red are to compatible colors that make up the 7. Eleven and the back ground is in green.

The seven being big and in colors that  is in contrast to the smaller text eleven brings it to the foreground. The text eleven is green, like the background that help emphasize that the eleven is after seven making it 7 – eleven, and not eleven- 7. In the logo on the left the seven is followed by eleven, this design makes your eyes continue trough the text. Researching and reading about the 7- eleven logo, I found that some people say that its made in an lowercase letter to better fit in with the curb of the red seven (in the logo on the left). Others say its the wife of the founder who thought the writing looked to hard when all the letters where in caps lock, and therefor had them change it.

 

2. In the logo of seven eleven you find many gestalt principles present. The number 7 is cut in two by the text eleven, and the top line of the 7 is also placed away from the red line going downwards. This it both closure and proximity. Common fate and similarity is also there with the coloring and direction of the red lines. Figure/ground with the green background and eleven in green. This also gives the impression of the text eleven being part of the background, and also a figure in it self.

The main gestalt principle for the 7-eleven logos however, if I view them BOTH together I find is Continuation. How the orange line lead you to the red line that lead you to eleven. In the logo on the right your eyes are drawn from the 7 trough the text eleven. I feel that the orange line and the bend on the red line leads you to eleven and ends at that odd small letter n.

 

3. I chose the three gestalt principles proximity, continuation and figure/ground.

 

Proximity

First one out is proximity. I wanted to change the logo from the mix of text and number to only numbers. Placing the numbers close together I wanted to make one number that contained both numbers.

Sketches

 

 

 

Continuation

By creating lines and pointing parts on the letter E it would guyde the viewers eyes to the letter N which also is the number 11. I didn´t realise that it was the wrong way until I started making it in Illustrator, but it could have been a creative twist to get the logo noticed. However i thougth after creating it that it didn´t have a clear message, the n and the 11 got a little lost.

 

Figure/Ground

My favorite mostly was created in Illustrator. I did not make many of sketching of it before hand. Somehow skecthing figure ground was so difficult. When I was inside illustrator and could change the fill colors it was a lot easier.

 

 

Understanding positioning (week 04-05)

Task #1
Look at the following logos and explain in your own words what you consider their positioning to be (do this for each one).

 

Coca Cola

Coca colas logo is a word mark

Coca colas logo give me the impression that their positioning is the classical soft drink company, the most familiar drink in the world. Their family friendly and a part of tradition. The colour of the logo is bright and red and the typography is classical. Red as a color gives associations to love and the typhografy is classical. It tells me that they are the traditional, familiar favourite in soft drinks. Red is also bold and can give the sense of famous, red carpet.
You love cocacola and its been a part of your family and traditions for generations.

 

Volks Wagen

The Volks wagen logo is a monogram

Volks wagen metal circle with its initials in it gives me the sense that they want to be maskuline, a car for the people. Everyman car. The name also gives this association. Colorus are cold an masculine and they are a durable car. It is simple monogram, gives the impression to me that they wasn’t to be the durable car for the normal family. Where the man is the archetype.

Visa

 

Visas logo is a word mark.

Gives me the impression that they want the position in the customers mind as a company for everyone. The typography is simple, but the small details that the v has a small line going out of the v and the letter are in cursive leaning forward with two lines above and under, leaning forward gives a sense of speed. This is the fast way of payment. It is a company going forward, its the future. It is also a timeless logo because of its simplicity.

 

Task #2

Lets work backwards! Look at the logo on the Apple iPhone and, by doing your own research, investigate the history of the product and the company that manufactures it. Give an outline, in your own words, of what you consider the following to be:
Describe its brand identity – exactly as you see it
What do you think its positioning is currently?
What do you think the strategy for this specific product was?
What research do you think was done on this by the company who made it?

Appel´s brand identity

 

Innovative and creative. They push forward to create new and more user friendly technology, by thinking different. Intuitive. They know what the customer wants before the customer  knows themselves. Clear. Apple is complicated technology made simple to use. Connection. Apple is your friend, they change the way you communicate and connect. You are part of the apple family.

The stores

Their shops are all the same. They are modern and feel new.
They are open spaces where the customer can walk around exploring their products. They create an atmosphere, where customers can see what is possible, and imagine new possibilities.

The product packaging is consistent, it have a certain look and feel, year after year.

 

Customers

Their target customer is the creative, the ambitious, the young adult with enough money.

 

The Apple logo

 

Simple, recognizable. Not a typical logo for a technology company. Its an apple. A very organic thing. Which also makes it stand out, among its competitors. Samsung and Microsoft. The logo has gone trough some changes during the years and its first logo was very complicated and didn’t last for a long time. However the apple logo as it is today is a very simple and elegant design. With huge market value.

 

Positioning

Apple holds the position as the innovative technology company. It is well known for products that blow peoples mind, and changes the industry. Apple have not come up with very innovative products lately, but I believe people still have them as the nr. 1 company for innovation. Who knows what features their Apple watch will have in the future.

Technology is something that people are very passionate about. Apple have created a base of very loyal customers.

 

The Iphone

Strategy

The apple iPhone is a extremely complex product and I think the marketing strategy for it was exactly the opposite. The phone is simple to use, and intuitive, elegant, and innovative. They market it as a tool for self expression.

Research

When apple wanted to make the Iphone I think their research was focusing on what the customers wanted the most, in my research I found Steve Jobs talking about that people was saying they want to be able to be connect to the internet. Their research I believe was focused on how to make a device that could  connect  well to the internet, and display internet pages more like its displayed on a computer. I also believe they researched how to make the keyboard and functionality of the phone as user friendly as possible and therefore came up with the touch screen. Researching what movements feel  natural for humans to use when navigating the touch screen.