Before
With the shift toward online-only interactions due to the coronavirus, and civil unrest due to the unjust killing of George Floyd, the improv community took a major hit. Theaters closed their doors, and many artists had troubles finding their motivation to create. But no matter what 2020 throws at us, we all need a small dose of entertainment and togetherness to bring balance to our lives.
A group of improvisors—myself included—decided to form Homemade Improv Jam. We sought to replace Face Jam with a more inclusive, more interactive (and digital) open jam; to release tension through play; to provide a stage for the performers who lost theirs.
The idea was phenomenal! The logo… not so much.
Fonts and Colors
Finding the right font is one of my favorite parts of the whole process. As usual, I opened Adobe Illustrator and combed through hundreds of fonts to find a starting place. Though I didn’t mind the serif typewriter feel, I felt like this group needed something more modern. Something custom. Something fun, but not too messy.
Thankfully, Google has a humongous selection of royalty free fonts. The combination of Freckleface and Frijole worked great for the title, and Courier for additional details kept the initial typewriter feel.
I grew fond of the purple in the original design, so I started my color scheme from there. Paletton has always been my go-to resource for finding colors that work well together, so I used “adjacent colors” to find the red and pink, and envisioned that they could be used as a “splat” of color in the final product.
Mockups
I could have stopped there, but… well, to be honest: I can’t let myself be that lazy with my logos. Each individual letter was resized, rotated, and spaced apart in its own unique way until I finally found my favorite combination.
Here’s a tip for anyone designing their first logo: you have to have variations—especially if the logo uses multiple words.
- You need a horizontal version where all of the words are in line.
- You need a stacked version where the words are on top of each other.
- You might need one with a tagline, and one without.
- If you have a symbol, you’ll need one where the symbol is above the stacked logo, and another where the symbol is beside the horizontal logo.
- For this one, I even have variations that include the splat symbol in different ways.
The reason for all these different mockups is because you want your brand to be able to stand out wherever it’s displayed. A stacked logo looks great on a T-shirt, but it takes up way too much space for a letterhead. The horizontal logo with the splat works as a great header, but it’s hard to read if it’s printed too small. Having a well-defined set of variations not only makes your brand more versatile, but also prepares you for any future needs. Though you may only focus on using one or two, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Raspberry Splat
With the black-and-white logo mockups looking great, all I had to do was add colors and rearrange the content to fit the social media platforms where it would be used: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Forms, video frames, posters, and so on.
You can see elements from the original design—like the Courier type and the picnic blanket pattern—but it stands out as something new, something modern, and it can be used in so many different ways.
Not bad for a volunteer project! What do you think? Did the logo improve, or do you prefer the original? Need help with logo design and branding? Message me, and I’ll help you bring it all together.