Padlet: https://isbeijing.padlet.org/maximilian_wong/ohkjqdfmyy8peg1r

The client of this project is La Cantina, a food truck that provides healthy Mexican-style food in Melbourne, Australia. The company serves food at public locations and private events. The target of the company is a health and flavor-conscious group around the area. The Company’s food is supposed to be affordable, fresh, flavourful, and healthy. The audience in Melbourne are typically interested in the following:

1. Outdoor lifestyle
2. Multiculturalism
3. Healthy Living
4. Fresh food
5. Sustainability

Potential audience:

This is what I think my potential audience will be like, my audience should have a healthy life-style, and is a fan of outdoor living. This person who is running outside would seem like a customer of the food truck.

The first task that was assigned in this project was to create many brainstorming ideas in a short time period. The theme behind this assignment is to generate a variety of different ideas that do not have to be perfect but can be improved further. If I could generate many ideas, then I would have many more approaches to my design idea.

Many of my initial brainstorming logos are really brief, only using pencil and forming basic shapes.

Here are some of my initial designs:

It is possible to see from these initial ideas, that I had ideas that sprout in different directions. I also did not focus on La Cantina only, I was able to create different brand names and icons, therefore, if La Cantina does not work I can pursue another idea. I had many different styles; icons, words, abstract shapes, etc. This would later develop into my next stage of logos that are on affinity.

The first time I started creating with affinity, I created logo drafts purely on food design and only using black and white colors, these general designs did not specify on Mexican food. However, it has the concept of fresh food, I used the plate element, which symbolizes “fresh off the plate”.

I also tried to incorporate utensils into the design, but Mr. Griffin suggested me to use the hand because the client is making Mexican food. Here are my initial drafts.

Design 1: Circle with L and A crossed together and Cantina at the side, this design uses the concept of folding together two letters and presenting them as one shape. The circle resembles the plate, this design presents the name of the company and also the food truck theme.

Design 2: Cantina inside two circles and L and A on the sides, This design further improves the plate design and achieves symmetry by placing L and A on either side of the plate. This design just emphasizes the food theme of La Cantina and creates a point of focus through increasing the size of certain letters and putting the plate in between

Design 3: La Cantina in different fonts and then placed on the fork, this design uses the idea of utensils and tweaking the fonts to achieve contrast and emphasis while maintaining a theme on food.

Design 4: This design is two circles with La Cantina written inside, it just has the restaurant element in it. This design just uses simple icons to emphasize the theme of food, which does not really fit all of the client’s requirements.

Design 5: This design has a hand carrying a taco with the logo on it, it is supposed to remind the audience about the Mexican Cuisine La Cantina serves.

Design 6: This logo is a rectangle with the name of the company inside, it is put in the shape so that it fits places such as the top of the food truck. This logo design is really simple but it does not have any of the themes set by the client.

Design 7: This is a rice bowl with the name of the company below it, it is supposed to resemble the food theme of the company. However, it contradicts the requirement for a logo that portrays Mexican style Cuisine

1. La means “the”, so don’t make it so dominant, not the best arrangement
2. Explore more fonts
3. Fill the fork in
4. Contrast colors
5. Trouble between letters and shapes
6. Try other outer rings
7. Placement, size, and font of letters
8. Keep same concept, swap font
9. Use cleaner fonts; since it is affordable food

After I received this feedback, I also went back to the themes required by my customer and Identified certain elements I could add to my design:

1. Try to show more Mexican style, for example, use the colors red, green, and white in the design.
2. Utilize some classic ingredients of Mexican cuisine, for example, spices, avocados, corn, and tomatoes
3. Try to use the theme of fresh food and healthy lifestyle while designing the logo
4. Try to include the theme of sustainability

Then, I created my refined logos

Design 1. This design uses the classic ingredient, avocados, and the core of the avocado is presented, symbolizing freshly cut. Then, the words La Cantina is put next to the Avocado with the Cantina being larger and bolder, which emphasizes that word. This design emphasizes the Mexican cuisine that is served by this food truck company, there are also themes of healthy living and freshly cut ingredients from the Avocado icon. Finally, it emphasizes the important word Cantina inside the logo.

The feedback that I used: emphasize the word Cantina instead of La

The concept I added: The icon of the Avocado fits more of the themes set by the client

Design 2: The second design is using a line to divide the words “La” and “Cantina” to emphasize the larger and more bold word “Cantina”. This design uses purely words and the element of lines to create a simple but effective logo, the only downside would be that there are no themes mentioned by the client

Feedback that I used: different fonts, contrast, and emphasis of Cantina

Concept I added: The use of a line to divide the two words and create a focus for the word Cantina

Design 3: This design utilizes the colors red, white, and green to emphasize the Mexican cuisine created by this company. Also, the lines divide the word “Cantina” to symbolize the theme of “freshly cut”. Furthermore, there is an emphasis of the word “Cantina” using bold characters and larger font. Also, the green color hints as the sustainability theme that is requested by the client; green symbolizes nature and the environment.

Feedback that I used: Use more colors, contrast, different fonts, the emphasis of Cantina

Concept I added: cutting the words up with lines to symbolize “freshly cut”

Then, I received more feedback for these logos from Mr. Griffin. This feedback then let me to design my final idea for the logo:

1. Choose less formal font and add more effects to make the restaurant seem more affordable
2. Continue the utilization of ingredients such as the avocado
3. Try to use colors and other tools to emphasize the theme

I also looked at design elements for the logo of a very famous Mexican restaurant based in the US called Guelaguetza and used that as an inspiration for my final design. some things I can take out of the logo design is the use of colors and design of shapes to present a Mexican cuisine style.

Here are some other logos that also inspired me on my way to the final logo:

I mainly used the first one because of the different colors they use on their logo. Element Fresh is known for its healthy food and it targets the people that value a healthy lifestyle.

Mcdonald’s on the other hand is a fast-food restaurant that offers casual dining. I mainly took the thickness of the fonts in the logo into consideration

This is my final draft:

In this design, I incorporated elements from all 3 of my refined designs and added some new designs such as the shadow offset. This effect creates a more casual style that will make the logo’s theme feel less like a fine-dining restaurant and more of an affordable casual food experience. The line between the two words create emphasis for the word Cantina that is created larger and with more colors on it. On the left side of the words, there is an avocado that only has its core painted yellow while the flesh area is still white, this leaves room for the imagination of the customers; they could picture it as an egg, avocado, or other ingredient. I left this blank for the audience to be creative and it shows the theme of multiculturalism because they could view the logo from their cultural perspective; what ingredient they often use. Then, the colors hint at the Mexican style Cuisine La Cantina is serving.

However, there are still refinements that can be made to this design, one of them is the following:

In an attempt to break the still quite formal tone of the letters, I decided to turn the words around so that it looks tilted. This breaks its base line and it will make the word look less formal and more joyful; which is my interpretation of the La Cantina food truck. However, I could still do some refinements.

Final Logo Design draft:

In this attempt, I increased the size of the avocado to fit the now sloped letters.

Feedback from Mr. Griffin:

1. Angle the words steeper or just leave them horizontal
2. Try to use horizontal lines and words to ground the angled word

Final Logo Design:

This is the final logo that I created, the word “La” and the line now grounds the sloped “cantina”

I turned the angle of the slope to 8 degrees to make sure that the audience does not think that this is a logo. Then, I refitted everything and this is my final logo. This logo portrays most of my client’s needs. However, there was an issue with the shape of the Avocado that could not be addressed

Self-Critique of the logo:

I think that I generally did a good job on my way of defining the needs, creating drafts, and then refining my final idea. I think that I did really well to demonstrate the food truck style dining, Mexican style cuisine, fresh ingredients, and the healthy lifestyle. I had an attempt on multiculturalism but it is hard to demonstrate and the client may not agree with me on how I presented that theme. One thing that I did that I think was really good was how I sloped my word to bring it from formal to casual; breaking the baseline of the words. Also, I did a good job putting on colors to elaborate on the theme of Mexican-style cuisine. Something I could have done better would be to elaborate on multiculturalism and the outdoor lifestyle theme mentioned by my client. If I was to do this project again, I would do more research on these themes and that would give me more inspiration. For example, I was really stuck on the words until I saw the logo of a Mexican restaurant that sloped their words on the logo. If I had more time to do the research, it would have been better for me. Also, I should seek more feedback from classmates and continue to refine my logo. It would also be beneficial for me to learn more skills so that I could refine my logo; for example the avocado.

In conclusion, the client La Cantina required a logo for a food truck. Their main theme hits healthy living, Mexican-style food, cheap cost, and fresh ingredients. Using techniques, I changed the once boring and formal logo into a joyful logo that seems less casual. Furthermore, using the avocado as a logo, it fits the healthy living and fresh ingredients part mentioned by the client. Overall, it is a successful logo but could’ve been done better with more time.

Final presentation:

my-visual_57241062

Songs I considered:

“枫” By Jay Chou, a song that has the element of autumn in it, which I thought was possible since it is the end of autumn.

“暗号” By Jay Chou, a song that has the element of signals and secret code

“夜的第七章” By Jay Chou, a song that has the element of crime

For this project, I decided to use a song created by Jay Chou called “暗号” which translates to secret code. The theme of this song is two people that live far away from each other and talk using signals on the telephone which are often secret, to prevent other people from knowing. The song itself is very good and I chose it because many people right now tend to talk on the phone more and I think the theme of the song fits the modern lifestyle (the song was created 20 years ago). I chose the part of the lyrics where the signals stop and the character in the story cannot find the signal anymore. This is part of the climax of the song which is why I chose it.

Technical Design and Skill:

These were initial designs I practiced with before the project

Initial Designs:

For my initial designs, I tried selecting different parts of the climax of the song and I tried to modify the words according to what they mean. For example, the word “暗号” is the secret code that was mentioned in the title. Therefore, for this word, I reshuffled the order of brushes to fit the theme of a secret code. I also tried some other techniques such as making the characters fade and adding colors. I was also modifying the sizes of certain characters and the placement of them, this can easily show contrast and create a center of focus within my poster, which is the effect I want to have. Furthermore, to match the theme of the song, I purposely made some of the characters translucent, it fits the lines “搜寻不到”  which means to not be able to find, in this case, I am making the characters harder to find. Another special thing I did to some characters was by symbolically representing some of the characters, for example, the line “停止收讯号“ means to stop receiving signals, and with this in mind, I replaced the last character with a Wi-Fi symbol. This is also demonstrated on my clock that I use to represent the character “十” which is ten in this case. However, the whole phrase is “十几点钟方向“ meaning what clockwise direction. Therefore, to connect with this symbol, I created the clock. My last design tweaks were the thick lettering that had some unpainted areas in them. The style looks very old and fits the old song I chose.

The use of the colors red, green, and yellow are supposed to represent the lyrics which has “停止“ and ”开始“, which means to stop and start, which I thought would be well represented with traffic lights.

Peer feedback:

My peer gave me feedback saying that I should focus on the stroke designs  of the characters and I should avoid using symbols  because it drives away from the theme of lettering and type. I could try to use the inking on procreate to create Chinese-style characters. Also, he thinks that the texture and contrast of the words are very good ideas and I should keep on using them.

With this feedback, I created a new set of lyrics that I am going to use for my final product

Product:

I formatted the product in a way such that the lines are read from left to right and then back, and then you go look at the large words on the bottom, and then to the words on the right at the very last. There is a line between the two verses to show a distance between the signals and it fits the theme of the song.

Feedback: My instructor says that I can do more with the background and that I should either put my lyrics on the side or in the very center

Final Product:

Typography document

My final product consists of two verses of lyrics that are put in the middle with a line separating the two verses, it symbolizes the distance between the two signals that are being sent. The lyrics I chose basically means that “you stopped receiving signals, I cannot find you anymore”. The line here is supposed also acts as a boundary for signals which they cannot cross. Also, I purposely blurred the lyrics below which is supposed to represent the blurring of signals and how it could not be found anymore. I also used colors and contrast to let the reader not focus on those words. The larger characters are “你停止” and “我开始” which means to you stop and I start, this is represented by the traffic light colors. The feedback that I got from my instructor let me rethink my design and create a better background. I also got the idea from my instructor to centralize the words, and that way I can add more to the sides.

Main skills used here:

1. The texture of the letters, some are faded and it presents an antique style; the words wearing off
2. Colors are used symbolically to present the theme of the song
3. Contrast is used to create a highlight and let the reader zoom in on certain words
4. The size of strokes, it is also a type of contrast since I painted some strokes thick and others thin; to present the unequal style of inking
5. Balance is used; the words are placed in the middle to create symmetry
6.  Negative space, there are large amounts of space without detail to emphasize the lyrics

Reflection: I think that my poster is quote well at representing the theme of the project, I think that my lyrics demonstrate a style of lettering. I put some thought into my design and poster to create a proper background and meaningful characters. Personally, if I had more time, I would learn more about how to write good Chinese characters and better designs of them. Also, I could use type in my poster if I had more time to search for fonts. In conclusion, I have a good representation of the theme of lyrics and type, but I could refine my lyrics if I had more skill and time.

Classical:

Classical music is a really old genre that uses the basic forms of music; instruments. Therefore, the design is kept basic and standard, with equal spacing and the same baseline.

Jazz:

For Jazz, I changed the baseline and capitalized some of the letters to emphasize some of the swings in jazz music.

Pop:

For pop music, I enlarged the size of the P to make it “Pop” out beside the O. The cap height is high, and extends far on top of the mean line

Synth-wave:

For Synth-wave, I emphasized on the wave and formed the baseline as a wave and increased the spacing between letters to stretch the wave.

Ambient:

Ambient is a really calm genre of music that lets the listener fade into a calm state, which is why I used a displacement from the baseline and made it more translucent

The role of elements and principles in graphic design is to guide the designer through the process of designing. The elements and principles are the fundamental building blocks of graphic design and every design will have its set of elements and principles within. A lot of these elements and principles are interconnected, for example, a series of dots makes lines and a series of lines create shapes.

The goal of this project is to elaborate on one design element or principle and create a poster that educates other people about this concept. The poster includes a definition of this concept and a visual example that helps people understand this concept better.

I constructed my design around the design principle of balance. All my shapes are somewhat reflected around one line. Or they had symmetry over a certain point. Here are my five original ideas

One is a circle separated by diameter, the two sides painted white and black to show contrast. The second one is a semicircle reflected diagonally based on a line, which shows symmetry around the midpoint. The third is a rectangle split by a line. The 4th one is two tetrahedrons split at a single point. Finally, the last one is a square split in the middle and painted black and white.

My peer’s feedback is that 3 and 5 are too simple and don’t give such a strong impression. The tetrahedron is too complex and it shows less of the idea of balance, more of color contrast. The 1st and 2nd ones are just right, giving off some impressions of this element.

Here are some of my finalized prototypes.

The two on the bottom are my first ideas, just refining the details of the two that were selected from the 5. I added more aspects of balance by placing symmetrical elements around the point of symmetry. Then, Mr. Griffin suggested that I add a square around my circle so that it will be easier later on. So I added a square around the circle, also symmetrical. Now, this is my final product. Also, with the pdf link below.

Maximilian Wong Educational Design Poster

I chose this style because I am not very good at drawing, so I used vector drawings and let the software do the curves for me. My style is quite normal and it is not abstract, it fits my style because I am more logical and rational. My design uses simple shapes that are visible in my photo, I didn’t really add any abstract things; I kept it simple so that I can have a finished product that looks good. In conclusion, I used this simple and practical style because it fits my own style, it has all the traits I wanted to include and is easy to make.