Archive for the ‘Portfolio’ Category
Designing the Winter 08/09 WBR World Beach Rugby Clothing Range
As we have previously mentioned (WBR World Beach Rugby Summer 08 T-shirt Design and Development) we have been involved for the last 2 years in designing clothing for a rugby brand called World Beach Rugby (or WBR). In the post above we discuss how we developed the Summer 08 clothing range. After completion of the Summer 2008 range we started work straight away on the Winter 2008/09 additions. We completed these back in May and the items are now available for purchase through the Lovell Rugby online store. In this post we show you the design and development process we went through to create the garments which were added to the WBR range.
Back in April 2008 we met with the guys at Lovell Rugby and discussed their direction for the Winter collection of WBR. They wanted to extend their range of rugby shirts and wanted these to be branded with an imaginary team and crest. We decided upon four team names. We also discussed the sort of colour scheme required which was to feature washed out and distressed charcoals, maroons and browns. They also wanted the patching and neck labels to be slightly different to the summer range to reflect a more vintage and traditional style. We then set to work creating the crests.
In our initial meetings, we had discussed the use of traditional heraldry crests with full decoration. Initially we sketched out four different crest designs ensuring that the overall shape of each of the designs were quite different, allowing them to be distinctive at a glance.
After re-drawing the crests into Illustrator to create ultra crisp vectors we then started on the neck and side patches. They were to have a vintage, yet heraldry feel to them and include the WBR logo design. Including the WBR logo posed quite a problem as it is quite modern and curved which is quite removed from the vintage feel we were going for. So instead of trying to disguise or hide the logo we put it center stage and decorated around it. This branding was then applied to a new set of swing tickets which were to be attached to the garments.
The next step in the design process was to create various colour options. We chose dark tones due to the season and teamed this up with the vintage colours that had been requested. A month later the designs were revealed to the client as well as the clothing manufacturer. They were both happy with the designs. However, some of the crests were too detailed for mass embroidery so some minor amendments were made to the artwork to make the designs slightly bolder.
Once we had received the final pre-production samples we paid another visit to our favourite photographer Mike Evans who produced some beautiful shots for the website and brochure.
Although we were only adding a few extra garment designs to the existing WBR World Beach Rugby Range, this was still quite an involved design process. These sort of classic rugby club crest designs were something we had not put our hand to before. This combined with adding a new ‘vintage style’ to the existing range really took us out of the comfort zone which we had built over the previous 3 ranges. We had all new base garments to work with which meant new fabrics, new finishes and new textures to work around.
Despite this, we are very pleased with the final products. But what do you think of the designs? Is there a project where you have had to try to create something a little out of your comfort zone?
Tags: clothing design, Logo Design, Portfolio, T-shirt / Clothing design
Posted in Portfolio, T-shirt / Clothing design | No Comments »
Design development for Wakeham Asbestos
Back in February we were approached by Wakeham, a new company in the asbestos industry who offers training and consultancy. The company required a full set of branding as well as brochure and website.
As with every design project, we start at the beginning - the logo. They felt that their industry was particularly male dominated and wanted a logo which was strong and bold yet quite simple. After an initial discussion we concluded that the logo could center around these themes:
- Utilise the “W” of the company name
- Focus on the “A” in the company name highlighting Asbestos
- Use the three strands of the business (training, management and surveying)
- Focus on some imagery or representation of asbestos
Other than requiring a strong, bold logo, Wakeham didn’t have any other specific requirements in mind. The logo was to be used online as well as brochures, stationary, invoices etc, therefore it had to work on all types of media.
Stage 1 - Sketching
We started by utilising the “W” of the company name combining it with shapes representative of the three strands of the business (training, management and surveying). A lot of time was spent sketching “W” type shapes. We wanted the logo to look contemporary as our research had shown that competitor logos were very dated, we therefore needed something different, something fresh and alive. However, we were also aware that the logo had to appeal to a B2B market as well as B2C so therefore had to look somewhat corporate.
Once again we combined the three strands of the business concept when focussing on the “A” in the company name. As Wakeham are a consultancy we liked the idea that they can handle all aspects of your project and so developed several umbrella type designs.
It’s easy to get carried away when you are designing and creating a logo and once we looked over the logo’s we decided to present the following concepts:
The client immediately liked one of the logos. They did have a few minor adjustments to the tracking of the text and the corporate blue colour so we experimented with both these aspects.
From the logo the stationary was then developed. This was quite a seamless leap and the logo transfered well to the letterheads, compliment slips and business cards.
We then started work on the brochure, Wakeham supplied all textual content as well as a rough layout. They wanted the brochure to be simple and easy to read and as there was a lot of textual content we decided to break the layout into sections. We ensured the contact information was repeated on the brochure so people could find it without too much trouble.
Wakeham had few minor text adjustments with the brochure, but overall they were happy with the design and the corporate branding that was emerging.
Using the style of the brochure we created a simple, clean website. Again the contact information is repeated on every page, allowing users to get in contact easily.
This was a great project as the client had some initial guidelines and ideas and knew a lot about their market and who they were trying to target. However, they also gave us enough free rein to explore other possibilities and ideas.
So what does everyone think? Did Wakeham Asbestos choose the right branding? We would love to hear your thoughts.
Tags: branding, brochure design, Graphic Design, identity, Logo Design, Web Design
Posted in Graphic Design, Logo Design, Portfolio, Web Design, branding | 11 Comments »