Good is...? Logo case study

Lorraine e-mailed out some thought-provoking logo case-studies from various companies. The following, by Danzk, is particular insightful.

Danzk

DANZK is an upcoming blog that seeks to explore the lifestyle aspect of Denmark, including culture, food, art and design. It intends to educate the Danish customs to locals a well as tourists from abroad.

Pete Lacey aka 'Chopeh' was the designer who was sought to devise their logo. He states the brief was simple; "Create a stylish and modern identity that had a relationship to Danish design, but one that didn’t use cliché elements."

Process

He wanted to make sure there was a subtle connection between the logo and Denmark therefore he began by looking at Danish design and in particular, furniture. The simplicity and functionalism of these designs became the start point to his logo design process.

Using these two key words, he decided to break the word DANZK down into its most functional and simple parts. Using minimal sketches with little refinement, he started to generate various design ideas.

Using grid paper, he was able to incorporate some sort of structure to a chosen design concept, making the lines more accurate etc. He states this a long process as it usually requires a lot of refinement and tweaking before getting near towards the final outcome.

Once he settled on a final design, he started to focus on the letterforms in more depth and started to form the logotype. He states, "I wasn’t particularly happy with the right-hand cap of the N and the left-hand cap of the Z sitting so close together. Technically they were correct, but I didn’t like the repetition. I set about working on a way to bring the N & Z together neatly."

During the digital stage, he says "I find it helpful to look at the semi-final logo on different media. I print it off, look at it at the standard ‘web’ size logo and I even send it to my iPhone. This way I get to look at the logo at different sizes, light conditions and distances. It really helps you get a feel for the logo, to make sure that the rhythmn is right. It’s also worth at this stage to get some critque from other professionals."

After a few small adjustments, he has his final logotype.