This is the process that concieved the brand guidelines for the Office of Tourism for Germany in the US. Said process consists all the way from of ideation, discovery, sketching to executing mocking up the work.
Mindmap
The first step was to lay out as many ideas as possible, every path possible within the categories of brand, layout, market, logo, intent...etc. All of these routes, thematically and design wise, were considered having in mind the aesthetic elements of germany: its artistic periods, its colors, its history, etc... Intent was also very important, specifically knowing what could make this project unique and apt for the persona that I was going to create.
Persona
Since the intent behind the project was to be beautiful and inspiring, I needed to find what type of person could be influenced by this kind of sympathies. "The engineer with a hidden passion for art" seemed like a great fit, someone that needs to be inspired and brought out of his/her comfort zone. A deep dive into the characters psyche only proved to be helpful into understanding what kind of deisng approach would be necessary, eliminating those deisgns that would miss the mark.
Moodboard (L-R, D-B) - Layout, Illustration, Logo, People, Architecture, Type
TMoodboards where utilized to construct the best idea of what the proyect woul look like, now with the visual considerations of the Persona.
Sketches
The first set of sketches were made to reflect GERMANY, as a country. These, however, later proved to not be as what the brand needed.
Sketches for the intended layout were created as well. These, however, later proved to not be as what the brand needed.
Palette
The color palettes were kept on four simple colors (blue, red, yellow and green) with its variations.
Vectorized Sketches
The first set of sketches tranformed into vectors that later turned out to be not what the brand or the persona needded. They were to aggresive, this was bad for Germany as a brand since it was reflective of its morally deviant past. Also, this was not the most comfortable design for the intended persona.
New Sketches
Going back to the drawing board was paramount, and coming up with designs more fitted to the persona was the goal
New Vectorized Sketches
These were the different sketches that this re-exploration process created. Ones more fitted for the persona.
Selected Sketches
This was the sketch that was selected to develop. Two main flaws with this design: typeface location and color.
The Schnappviecher (logo figure)
Every winter, in very remote parts of Germany’s, strange figures like the kid punishing, chain whipper Krampus and the very racist Zwarte Piet appear. And while that seems something Germany shouldn’t celebrate, the inspiration for this logo comes from a much more pure and joyful place I’m taking here about a tradition that holds a lot of meaning, something every German and American alike should be conscious of :Progress!! The Schnappviecher is one of the oldest traditions in Germany, and it consisting responsibility of your faith and choosing a better path to progress.
One of the weakpoints of the logo design was the location of the typeface on the design, however, I thought thay instead of letting this be a weakpoint it could be its main feature: a strong feature. I thought the movement could reflect the main purpose behind the desing: a reflection of movement and progress.
I turned to the Bauhaus school for inspiration. This school was famous for rationalizing beauty and art, understanding it from different angles: a school about progress.
The position of the lletters could sometimes take meaning. On the country shape, the letters fall where the most important cities of germany are, On the gothic letters, the letters are the most distortioned, showing were giving a new angle to their old traditions.
Rationalizing the Movement
A grid was cretaed (and modified) to fit the logo and its typeface, to allow for its cordinated and rationalized movement. The grid was based on a grid intended to rationalize the space in a canvas and the value of the objects within the painting.
Test Footage
This was created to see if the concept was viable as conceptualized.
Getting Closer
The first step was taken into establishing a more defined color palette for the logo, bu there were some changes to be made.
Final Logo
The color of the logo was re-evaluated and changes were made appropriately, a more chromatic color palette.
First Layout
This was the layouts first sketches brought to life, however, these were too crowded and unresolved, so going back to the drawing board was important.
First Layout
Some elements were kept, but most of the layou changend into a more cohesive design
Fnal Layout
Colorful, cohesive, fun, reflective of movement
Presentation Board
