Improve Everyday, Even by 1%
When working on any project, if you ever feel that it still needs to be finished or something still needs to line up, listen to your gut. This gut feeling is like the cherry on top that finalises your work. It is like synchronisation that puts everything in place, like a water flow in the river. That little gut feeling tells you to remove more rubble in the water stream, so everything is in check and flowing effectively in the river. It’s like having a clear conscious at the end of the day, knowing you produced the best possible design without any regrets. I used to regret not taking action sooner, which is why I learned to improve and push my practice.
Recently I looked at a logo that sat for a few months in the back of my mind; that logo was in my portfolio.
The image on the top is before, and the bottom is the final result of that logo.
The whole issue I had with this logo was this gradience; it did not fit with the brand identity. I removed it and started from scratch, leaving only the base text and a few symbols. I initially designed gradience between the blue and the green since I knew I needed to incorporate these two colours in the logo, representing water and vegetation.
The whole context is that this EcoPlate was for a personal project, a project for building vegetation around buildings so it can improve air quality in the city, using these EcoPlates that have plants and all kinds of particular vegetation grow out from them.
What I did was I combined the EcoPlate shape + shape of an ordinary Leaf. I rounded off the bottom left corner of the EcoPlate, so it looks more like a leaf. That is how I got to the base shape of the logo.
Using this shape, I started experimenting with 3D perspective, using a darker tone behind the plate to make it look 3D rather than 2D. Then it clicked. I dragged a copy to the opposite bottom end, and there it was. It all clicked together perfectly. I changed each side to blue and green.
What this logo incorporates so well is the idea of energy, nature, vegetation, health, youth and contemporary logo style. The colours are saturated. The logo, therefore, looks more alive, like a plant essentially.
The green and blue lines outlining the logo’s shape represent the flow of growth and nature. It gives off this natural feel to the logo. The old logo felt artificial in comparison to this brand-new version.
I know it sounds woo-woo and artsy, but it is the emotions this type of logo triggers. As I mention, your design needs to fit with the visual language; it needs to be consistent with the style and message of your brand.
We several years of experience, I’ve experimented with several styles in my design path, especially during my profession for working in my family’s business. Every day I sat down, learning and improving from each design I produced.
It all started from amateur design, which matured to something more significant in the end, and it continues to grow to this day.
This is the progress I am talking about:
The top image is a very old 2016 thumbnail I designed for a product, below it is my current 2022 version. You can see how much more simpler, clean, structured and aesthetically pleasing the product thumbnail looks. This is what happens you focus and stay consistent with your work. We all start somewhere.
That’s all for now, from Maksim!