Study Task 01

Collaborative Branding - Day Two

As detailed at the end of yesterday's post, today the rest of the group and I started the session pitching our ideas to each other for how to approach the new visual identity for Global. We unanimously decided from the outset of the discussion that we felt a sans-serif type face would be most appropriate in communicating the brand identity, as the business sector is one that is constantly abundant with new models, "face lifts" and new technology being featured in the cars, especially in the company's specialism "premium" manufacturers cars'. We also felt a serif type would give a dated aesthetic, instead of the dynamic, sleek and contemporary visual language that would give a true representation of the market, target audience and context of the sector. 

Our preference for a sans-serif type supplied us with two options from Massimo Vignelli's basic 6 - these being Helvetica and Futura. Our initial look at both typefaces led us to an immediate favour towards Futura. It was the groups interpretation of this typeface as a  clean, sharp and contemporary aesthetic that is clear to read, and easily adaptable in terms of scale. It’s legibility will maintain regardless of scale, important in terms of logo design as it would have to be applied to a range of points of delivery in varying sizes - from large signage to letter heads. We preferred the look not only of the typeface as a whole, but felt the individual characters of the font featured cleaner straight lines which would more successfully portray and enhance the simple, contemporary visual we desired. 

Considering our findings from yesterday, we quickly agreed a complete rebrand, including a change in name, was crucial to the success of Global's new identity. Initially ideas for the new name were lacking, that was until I suggested an option that I had been contemplating the night prior to the session. It was my idea for the name of the company to become "auto one." I felt this new name was clear, succinct and provided an immediate implication of the companies sector of business (auto-mobiles) and range of services available (one place for all). Listed below are the supporting factors of why I believed “auto one” would make for a more successful, relevant and appropriate visual identity for Global:

• Sounds more current, relevant and sector-specific.

• Instantly establishes connection to business sector through semantic language.

• The name is memorable, directly identifiable with the company.

• “auto one” signifies the company’s available services for automobiles that can all be provided from their one base.

• a total visual overhaul would create more impact in the community -  potentially creating a more successful rebrand.

• The new name takes from and enhances the company's business sector and existing slogan: "Your one stop fleet solution."

The other members of the group were all in favour of the new name, and like myself believed in its potential and supporting factors. It was time to put all of our research and ideas into the process of producing the new "auto one" visual language.

The above image exhibits our initial exploration of the auto one Futura-set typeface's tracking.We decided a more tight, close together visual would be most successful in communicating the complete range of available services available from the company, enhancing the idea of wholeness and the business being a “one” stop location for auto solutions. Although we favoured the unified aesthetic of the logo at this point, we all felt individual kerning solutions were required to perfect the company's new typographic identity.

With the overall tracking established, we then further altered the logo via individual character kerning, adding extra space in between the u, t and o of auto. We also reduced the kerning of the word "one" to enhance the concept of the company still being a "one stop solution" and appropriately stylise the word to represent its meaning. Further refinement included the decision to alter the finial of the letter e to create a more rounded, whole character creating cohesion with the other visual information exhibited through the Futura type as well as enhancing the idea of the company as a well-rounded service provider. This process is depicted below:

As a group we now believed we had perfected the type-setting and visual language of the new logo, which so far successfully communicates the market, target audience and business sector. Tomorrow we plan to research and explore colour to take our design treatment to the next level. Below is the final type-setting for the auto one logo.