Designing A Logo...

[Camilla and Darwin]

When I read about the DK logo competition I thought about trying my hand at it, then quickly dismissed it. I had never taken any kind of graphic design class, or even used Adobe Illustrator that often. The only thing I had going for me was that I enjoy using Photoshop CS5. Then, as the day wore on I started to think that maybe I did want to enter after all. Knowing that many of the entrants were professional designers kind of scared me, and I was worried that my entries would be totally juvenile in comparison. I put that aside and started on my entry, knowing that while I likely wouldn't win, it would still be a fun experience.

 

Now, I'm not sure how the real designers do it, but I just hand drew my first set of entries. I assume they do some fancy pants thing in illustrator to draw images digitally... but that was beyond me. I sketched my design, scanned it in then traced it in illustrator to make it smooth, and a vector image. 

 

 

 

I knew this was somewhat lackluster, so I started playing around with color and I couldn't choose! Doodles are so many colors and I had no idea which was the most common. I did one of each color I was considering, and changed the text to something more bold. ultimately I narrowed it down to two or three.

 

 

Then i saw Adina's statement that she was hoping for a dog image that could stand alone, and I created this.

After doing this, the polls started and people really didn't like my designs! I was embarrassed, and was suddenly glad for anonymity. LOL. I wasn't offended though, as I had the same concerns as everyone else. :-) Too cartoonish, my doodle looked slightly angry, etc. Adina asked that I do a version that seemed more cheerful so I edited and came up with these two...

 

Then the polls started, and I noticed that people were REALLY not liking the cartoon look. Honestly I thought I had no options because it's REALLY hard to make a detailed realistic drawing of a doodle. I'm sure many people can do it well, but absolutely not me! Everytime I tried to revise and make it more realistic, my dog ended up looking demented and scary. So I decided to go in a totally different direction. I started thinking of doing a doodle silhouette, which wouldn't be a photograph but would be realistic. This was all at midnight so I couldn't go take new pictures, I had to work with what I had. I started with this photo of Darwin, and slowly turned it into a doodle silhouette. By the way, if you notice the grass obscuring his paws in the photo... I had to Photoshop paws from a different image onto him, then blend them in. LOL

 

Out of which these two designs were born

I felt these were really crisp clean, modern, etc. Although they still didn't seem very successful in the polls and I do wonder if it's because the doodle silhouette really just wasn't fun or doodley enough. Obviously darwin is a doodle, but it doesn't come across super well in the outline.

 

After this, I ended up creating each design (modern and drawing) with and without the .com, and with and without the "Where Labradoodle and Goldendoodle owners connect" text. LOTS of versions. :-) 

 

I knew all along that I probably wouldn't win, there were just so many great designs from REALLY talented people. So I wasn't too shocked or disappointed when the final choice was selected. I did end up getting better ratings than I expected, which made me proud of my efforts. I applaud everyone who entered the contest, as I know first hand how challenging it was to come up with a design, revise, revise, receive negative feedback etc. And I'm so glad I did this because it really taught me that there are so many different opinions and styles when it comes to logos. I'm also glad that I learned how to use vector software and illustrator better, because I'm definitely going to try this again! 

 

Hopefully this wasn't extremely long and boring, I just thought you guys would like seeing my design experience, the revisions, etc. :-) 

 

[imacreative]

Camilla,

You did a great job! The process of logo design is exactly how you did it. And you execution was very good :)

[Leslie and Halas]

I like the circle with the doodle outline in the middle.  It would make a cool bumper sticker or car magnet.  It reminds me of the country stickers you see on cars all the time (white circle with a country code on it), but one with a doodle is way cuter.  It wouldn't even have to have words on it. Other doodle owners would know what it is.  Your designs are good.  Thanks for explaining how you went through the process and arrived at your designs.  I'm not creative at all, so your work is really impressive to me.

[Debbie]

Thanks, Camilla.  I appreciate your kind words.  It really was a lot of fun, wasn't it!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I love it too.  You are very talented.

[Angie, Hudson and Lily]

Wow.... I would say you are pretty talented!

[Bonnie and Kona]

I have never had a bumper sticker but I would certainly want a doodle one! I love the idea of note pads, post-its, stationery!!!

[Camilla and Darwin]

Thank you again everyone. Perhaps I will do a cafe press bumper sticker with the side view of Darwin. Thoughts?

 

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

 

I wish that very entry could be winner.  There was much thought and creative energy involved.  It also got many of us involved in either the voting or the more talented in the reative process.  There will alays be different opinions - that is what makes each one of us unique.

 

 

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

You did an awesome job! At least it was a learning experience and kudos for the effort!!

[Lindsey]

I LOVE your designs!!!!!! Awesome job!! I def. second you making notepads or stickers/decals out of your image!!!