Design Start to Finish: GSP

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Green Sceen Productions

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Why make a logo? Why spend hundreds and thousands on a design team? Can’t I just have my girlfriend’s nephew make me a business card and get back to work?!

Here’s a look into the creative process of making a successful brandmark.

Here’s a look at the creation of the Green Scene Productions identity from start to finish.

The first step is brainstorming. I pour my heart into my sketchbook, putting every idea no matter how absurd on paper.

Clippings from favorite magzines (Wired, Metropolis), shapes, and textures all get some space on the page. Also, know what the competition has done that way you know what to avoid.

Return to the past. Flip backwards in your sketchbook. Reenvision unused ideas from previous brainstorming sessions.

The single most important component is your designer gut. Trust it! Follow your thoughts down the rabbit hole. If you’re a great artist you’ll be able to tie it into your brief.

Next, you have to focus on your concept with everything you’ve got. If you think you’ve explored it enough — you haven’t!

Sketches aren’t enough. Map the color profile, and study dozens of typefaces. For about a month I used a gray and green scheme for GSP. When I tweaked the

bevel of the shield it hit me in the face like a ton of bricks: Why the hell am I using gray! This is 2010 not 1990!

Obviously I recomend journaling your mistakes and changes. I think it shows the client you’re great at what you do by being nimble, and it provides you with a sense of closure to all your avenues of thought.

You’re almost there. The mentally taxing and sleep-depriving part is over, now you just have to turn your revolutionary concept into pixels.

With GSP, six versions were sent out to a mix of about twenty people to examin which typeface was more desireable. This part will blow your mind every time.

Not once have I unvieled a mark to a client on a peice of paper. This is the final stretch, and it’s all about details. Plant some excitement in their heads. Show your client ways they can use their logo.

If you’ve got any friends at the local paper try and get some cheap ad space ahead of time and really knock those socks off!

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