Archive | Graphic Design

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Logo Design: Sarcarrogance Music Blog

Posted on 07 January 2010 by Melody


Happy Belated New Year to everyone, I’m happy to have come back with some new posts for awalkinmyshoes.

Client/Site Background

George, aka Molo Yueng is the author of “sarcarrogance.blogspot.com” where he discusses the latest news, controversy, and hits in music. Sarcarrogance is a lifestyle with a distinct attitude, the definition reads:

Sarcarrogance (sär’kār’ə-gəns) -A display of superior wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule.

In an effort to make “the sarcarrogance movement” a recognizable brand, George enlisted my help for the new logo design. George wanted a clean logo that could be seen as a literal interpretation of the musical niche for the blog.

Research, Brainstorming, and Logo Sketches

Research began with an analysis of common musical notes and symbols. George also communicated his logo ideals which included a logo utilizing specifically a treble clef in its design. A treble clef is the most common clef used today. The treble clef symbol is synonymous with music, making it a good concept choice to represent a music blog.

I took an alternative route for the design because of time restraints. For this particular logo I made my initial sketches as clean as possible. This step helped to bypass the prototyping process to essentially go from sketch to final design.
If you notice in the sketches, I first drew a reference picture of what a traditional treble clef looks like. Following the reference are five treble clef inspired logo designs.

Logo Concept Options

George was given 5 possible logo concept options to choose from. Below are the details with and images for each concept.

First Logo Concept: Treble Clef Music Sheet

The first sketch (#1) is a treble clef made up of a music sheet with music notes included. The music sheet wraps around the treble clef smoothly and couldn’t be a more direct reflection of music. The style of the logo reflects the more traditional design of the treble clef, altered with a little flair to stand out. As a designer, I also take into consideration future uses of the logo for promotion (business cards, posters, etc), and with this particular logo you have to be a little conscious of the size because details maybe be harder to see at a smaller print size.

Second Logo Concept: Backwards Treble Clef “S”

The second sketch (#2) is of a backwards treble clef. The purpose of flipping the clef was to make the logo look more like an “S” for “Sarcarrogance.” The style, again, is along the more traditional design of the clef, however, it is made to look like an outline of the clef. Since this is a preliminary sketch, the reason for this style is to allow you to add any color you choose within the lines of the logo.

Third Logo Concept: Treble Clef “S” Silhouette

The third sketch (#3) utilizes the backwards treble clef concept again. This time the clef is within a dark circle with the clef symbol the color white to appear like a reversed silhouette. The top and bottom parts of the clef are omitted to keep a clean circle shape while also abstracting the clef slightly. A possible alternative to this design would be to make the clef a little wider in the circle so that four areas of the circle (top,bottom, left and right sides) have a little missing for where the clef’s design would continue.

Fourth Logo Concept: Treble Clef “S”

By the fourth sketch (#4) you can see that the use of the treble clef as an “S” became a favored alternative design. This particular logo differs in that the actual clef is fattened a little to pull away from the traditional elegant design of the clef and to appear more as an “S.” However, omitted from the clef is the major line which connects the top to the bottom of the clef. Omitting the line makes the design more unique allowing for better branding although questions about what it’s influenced by (backwards treble clef) may arise. No need to worry though, not every major brand’s logo is a direct reflection of the product off of first glance (i.e. Nike logo), all that is important is that the logo is powerful/unique enough as your personal brand.

Fifth Logo Concept: Treble Clef w/ Headphones

The fifth sketch (#5) goes back to the direction where the treble clef traditionally faces. The design of the actual clef is a little bit more fattened to appear more urban. Atop the clef is a set of abstract headphones to add more personality to the logo. The headphones also allow another connection to the topic “music” as the genre for your blog.

Final Logo

After much deliberation, George went with the second design as his final logo concept. I cleaned up the design in the respective design software and here is the final result. I initially produced a choice of two styles of the design, an outline and a filled in design. His final choice was the original black outline.

Final Comments

Upon review of his final logo George had these words to say:

“I like the logo, it fits me…it’s versatile and that’s what I need, I appreciate it and I love it. Thanks…Sarcarrogance is global!” – George, aka Molo Yueng, sarcarogance.blogspot.com

Congratulations again to George, I’m so happy you liked your final logo. Be sure to follow his blog at: http://www.sarcarrogance.blogspot.com, and follow him on Twitter @Molo_Yueng.

Stay tuned for the next post on George’s additional site graphics…

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Minute Monday: 5 Inspiring Deviantart.com Artists!

Posted on 21 September 2009 by Melody

Minute Monday for September 21, 2009

This week’s Minute Monday is about one of my favorite art websites of all time, deviantart.com. Every time I visit the site I find myself overwhelmed with the amount of talent exhibited by some awesome artists.
I must say, with this post, I do have a soft spot for digital artists because it’s something I continue to work towards getting better at, but you must check out these artists and continue to support their work!

5. fstarno

4.Opium01

3. CtrlZzzzz

2. indi1288

1. BikerScout

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<3 Love Ya!
-Mel
Melody Nieves

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Pirate Map Twitter Background

Posted on 04 September 2009 by Melody

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posts, I just recently got back from the Party at the Playboy Mansion weekend, and I’ve fallen a little under the weather *sniff sniff*…ya know, the kind that makes you not wanna get out of bed..

Anywho, as you may know I recently created a new set of business cards for myself, inspired by a pirate treasure map. Well I decided to take this same concept and apply it to my Twitter background.

Old Twitter Background

old twitter background
My old Twitter background was technically a place holder until I could come up with something better. It incorporated a piece from a painting I was working on at the time of myself in a nude pose (however the pose is referenced and not actually of me).

New Twitter Background

old paper map twitter background
My new twitter background is influenced by my recent business card design. In fact, I recycled the graphics from my business cards and just moved them around a bit to fit into the space for my twitter background.

You can view my featured background and vote on it at Twitter Background Gallery, a site that I think is pretty damn biased considering the fact of which designs get chosen popular each day, but oh what the hell–perhaps that’s my fever talking…

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<3 Love Ya!
-Mel
Melody Nieves

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Pirate Treasure Map Inspired Business Cards

Posted on 26 August 2009 by Melody

pirate treasure map business cards
For this week’s trip to LA I decided to make a whole new batch of business cards for myself. I wanted cards that would be totally unique, yet fun and able to demonstrate my talents as a graphics designer.

So I very randomly came up with this idea of making a pirate treasure map inspired business card design.

Front

pirate treasure map business cards
On the front of the card is an illustration of me as a pirate with an eye patch, with two crossed paint brushes and a banner displaying my name and profession.

Back

pirate map business cards
The back of the card displays a treasure map with my contact information spread about the map. I’m not much of a phone person so my number isn’t displayed, but I have included my e-mail, blog address, and twitter name. Both the front and back of the card have a look to them of old worn paper.

Additional Pictures

pirate treasure map business cards
pirate treasure map business cards

I can’t wait to give these cards out this weekend, and I love how they totally match my gold business card holder. But it’s funny how making a pirate inspired business card had such an effect on me that I started speaking in pirate tongue lol..arggghhh me matey!
I had a lot of fun creating these cards, and I’m considering doing a tutorial on exactly how I made them in Photoshop. Let me know if a tutorial is something you guys would be interested in!

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<3 Love Ya!
-Mel
Melody Nieves

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Minute Monday: 8 Inspiring Website Header Images

Posted on 17 August 2009 by Melody

Minute Monday for August 17th, 2009

60 Seconds to marketing and design inspiration…and go! :D

Since I am currently in the process of redesigning the look of AWalkInMyShoes.com, I thought it would be cool to include some header images from around the web that I have adored. Hopefully my redesign will be finished prior to my upcoming trip to LA on the 28th…I look forward to launching it as well as some new tutorials..

And now…

8 Inspiring Website Header Images

8. www.20jours.be

20jours website header

7. www.bluemoonduelingpianobar.com

website header

6. www.lukelarsen.com

 luke larson website header

5. www.aditshukla.com

aditshukla website header

4. www.snopp.no

snopp website header

3. www.acko.net

acko.net website header

2. www.sourcebits.com/tangleddecals/

tangled decals website header

1. http://ma.tt/ (the coolest link name ever! lol)

matt website header

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<3 Love Ya!
-Mel
Melody Nieves

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