RainOnMe - Luxury umbrella
About the project
During my 3rd year of Bachelor Digital Creation at My Digital School Annecy, I was able to participate in a workshop of a fictitious branding project for a fake luxury umbrella brand: RainOnMe. The brand owner is very demanding. She wanted an identity that recalls elegance, sobriety and high-end. We first had to propose 3 moodboards in order to propose 3 identity posibilities for this brand. After choosing one of these 3 identities, we had to design a logo and a graphic charter to explain how to use this logo.
Step 1 : Competitive monitoring
Before anything else, I did a competitive watch which allowed me to better understand the luxury umbrella sales service, to get to know the different competitors and to analyze their branding and communication in order to look for a way to stand out. I also look for RainOnMe’s target to create a visual identity that will speak to customers of a brand that markets luxury umbrellas.
Step 2 : Moodboard and logo design
Then I created 3 moodboards and 3 logo proposals each associated with the 3 different universes I created :
1st moodboard : In this moodboard, we find images and sketches with fine lines. We also find sober and pure colors to recall the refinement and femininity. The typography chosen is characterized by its serif, which also recalls the elegance that the brand wants to give to its customers.
2nd moodboard : In this moodboard, the colours used are the flagship of the luxury world: red for feminity, black for elegance and gold for refinement. In my logo proposal, I was inspired by the ornaments and gilding present on the logos of luxury brands because they represent royalty and prestige. I also used a typography with wheelbase to recall the typographic logos of the big luxury brands.
3rd moodboard : For this moodboard, I used colors present in the 2nd moodboard: gold for refinement and red for femininity. But I also added another color, a petroleum blue. This blue symbolizes nature, and therefore rain, which characterizes the very essence of the use of the umbrella. To realize my logo proposals, I was inspired by round golden ornamental forms reminiscent of royal decorations.
1st moodboard 2nd moodboard 3rd moodboard
After a phase of reflection and choice with the organizers of the workshop, I chose to start on the 2nd moodboard. Indeed, the latter was the most representative in terms of colors, shapes and logo, codes and expectations of the world of luxury.
Step 3 : Creation of visual identity
At first, I decided to rework the logo I had made for this moodboard to make it simpler and more balanced. Indeed, I decided to remove the shape below the brand name because the brand was losing strength and was not really the key point of the logo to recognize the brand. I set up a baseline that I created for the brand: "Umbrella maker since 1989". In terms of colors, I decided to use color gradients to bring touches of light to the logo. Indeed, the logos with the gradients will be used on advertising signs, store fronts to attract the eye of customers.
In addition, the variation of the initial logo (gold) corresponds to the symbolic colors of autumn and winter to consider collections of umbrellas by season. The use of a degraded background behind the logos does not hinder the readability of the latter. Indeed, on media with an image, it is preferable to use the logo with a gradient background. In addition, the monochrome black, white and grey versions allow for use on media that require black and white printing.
The first font I used is EB Garamond. It is a modern and elegant wheelbase font. This typography brings a calligraphic style to the title. It recalls the elements of the logo by referring to the world of luxury and haute couture. The 2nd font I used is Barlow Condensed. It is a slightly rounded and low contrast sans serif font. This typography contrasts with the font for the titles. It is perfectly adapted to the brand baseline.
Step 4 : Usage rules
Generally, the application on a photographic background is allowed if no element disturbs the legibility of the logo. It is necessary to use in priority the declinations of the logo with a gradient background of an opacity of 75% to guarantee an optimal reading.
Logos must be reproduced as is, and must not be colored, distorted or returned. On plain, degraded and photographic backgrounds, the logo must not be too light or too dark in relation to the background. Nor should it be of the same color as the latter and the background should not be too heavy.
Step 5 : Situational setting
So that the owner of RainOnMe can get an idea of what the visual identity of her brand might look like, I decided to make mockups by incorporating the logos I created. As a result, I was able to present the logos on store windows, or directly on umbrellas.
