- Having a set of goals provides
the framework for evaluation.
Is the redesigned logo better?
Is the new color palette successful?
Which typeface is better,
Garamond or Franklin Gothic?
These questions can only be answered
in the context of the goals you determined
with the client.
Let's play with a scenario that I encountered.
My client, a photography foundation,
wanted a redesign of their logo and all materials.
I collected all previous material to get a sense
of the breadth of the project
and what had happened previously.
Now, before putting pencil to paper,
or even working on the concept,
I needed to find out what I was doing.
What were the project's goals?
Simply, the new work needed to portray
the foundation as stable and well-organized
to appeal to the gallery audience and donors.
I worked with my client and his staff
to formulate a simple list of ideas
we need to communicate.
From the discussion, I created a list of attributes.
Mature, sophisticated, urban,
risk-taking, and modern.
Only then did I start working on the logo
and overall visual system.
I started by studying the typographic options.
Silly, corporate, or stuffy were wrong.
I wanted sophisticated and modern.
Eventually, I decided on a neutral typeface
that wouldn't compete with the photography.
The color pallette of gray, black, light pink,
and soft yellow communicated mature, urban,
and since it was unlike the standard navy blue
of other foundations, risk-taking.
While the identity, typeface and color pallette
stayed out of the way of the photography,
I designed the layout and composition
to be unexpected.
Some information ran vertically.
Images were either small or larger than expected.
And the choice of images reinforced
the quiet but dynamic energy.
When I initially presented the redesign,
I started with mash-up of previous materials.
Then I remind the client about
the goals and attributes.
Now she could judge every aesthetic decision
against those ideas.
In fact, she hated pink,
but agreed it was 180 degrees from the
competition and expected color.
During the process, I continued to check back
with my client.
There are multiple ways to communicate
sophisticated or urban.
We talked often about the themes of each exhibition
and how to work with the images.
Frequent presentations of options helped her
feel involved and made the process much easier.
And if at any point I had the sense that
the client was backtracking out of fear,
I reminded her of the big goals
and sent a photo of the confused mess
of materials we started with.