Hi, I'm Billy Sawyer, a 21 year old Graphic Design & Multimedia graduate looking to break into the industry.
During my time at university I experimented with a few logos to use as a personal identity but never settled on any for a length of time. I struggled to create an identity that represented myself and my work, that was suited to graphic design and illustration projects. For this reason, the logos were minimalistic to aid their transfer between genres, with a focus on my initials, but I felt that they were too dull and conservative to help me stand out in such a competitive industry.
I love creating typography, and felt that it was important for every facet of my logo to have been made myself, and set about making a vintage-looking typeface.
I liked the style of the type but again felt that it wasn't really 'me', and looked very rigid and corporate which I was trying to move away from. Until this point I thought I wanted a purely typographic mark, using my initials, but I began to look at companies like Lacoste that use a pictorial image as part of their identity. One of my favourite pieces of work in my career is a picture book I wrote and illustrated called 'Go Home Phil' about a lost fox, and I began working on the character of Phil as a possible alternative to the logotype.
I feel that this is now a much better demonstration of my style as a designer and illustrator, showcasing both facets of my work. At the least I hope that this logo will be memorable, which my previous efforts certainly weren't, and has provided me with a fun and unique mascot! While I am commited to this career and passionate about my work I don't take myself too seriously and that is what I hoped to reflect in this logo, which also draws on my background growing up in the British countryside.
Inspired by Google Doodles, by changing my character's hats he can promote seasonal events and hopefully maintain people's interest. Above I have adapted him for graduation, Hallowe'en and Christmas but there are hundreds of possibilities!
