Project Evaluation

Overall, I am satisfied with the outcomes I have produced for the Mutton Quad brief. I think my links between typography & the theme of the restaurant is fairly strong, although I admit I could have done a couple of things in addition to emphasize these links even more, perhaps having the history of the Trajan Pro typeface & it's links to Trajans Column & Trajan himself written on items within the restaurant. I also wanted to create something visual to decorate the interior of the restaurant, but couldn't really think of anything typographic to feature, other than what was already on my menus, stationery etc. If I had designed something for the interior, it would have been very imagery-driven, similar to a wall mural, and therefore would have gained me no extra points as this is a Typographically-based brief. In terms of the imagery I opted to use, I am happy with how I decided to feature Latin text from the foot of Trajans Column, as I think this shows even more links to my chosen typeface, as it is set in a very similar way. Regarding final outcomes, I feel I could have done something more in addition to the outcomes shown. I would have liked to have created some form of Wine label, although due to the amount of times I decided to change my idea for this brief, I was left with little time to create such items. While my time was not necessarily badly managed, as I was constantly developing ideas, it would have been better to have come up with an idea early on & pursued that throughout, although I think I benefited in the long run as my previous ideas were not particularly typographically-driven & showed no links between the restaurant theme & typography. In summary, I am happy with my project outcome. I think the links to typography are visible, although I do wish looking back, that I had put more emphasis on type as a theme.

Final Outcomes: Drinks Menu

Here is my final outcome for my Drinks menu. This follows a similar theme & appearance to my food menu, although I have reduced the size of the menu itself, mainly due to this appearing to be the norm in most restaurants. I have also central aligned the type on the menu itself, as this also seems to be done in a lot of restaurants. The appearance of the drinks menu is virtually identical to the food menu, but since these are both double-sided menus, and one is smaller than the other, it shouldn't be too hard to tell the two apart in the restaurant.

Final Outcomes: Food Menu

Here is my final outcome for the Trajans food menu. As seen on my business card for the restaurant, imagery used on the menu & it's cover is very central to the Roman theme, and to reinforce this, the imagery is taken from the sculptures around Trajans Column in Rome, Italy. On the cover, I have decided to place a lightened strip behind the Trajans logo so that it does not become hidden amongst the very fussy imagery, with the menu itself, I have toned down the levels of the imagery in the background so that the copy becomes more central to the design. The typeface "Trajan Pro" has been used throughout this design to show the links between the restaurant & it's themes, and typography. I have also added Latin text from the foot of Trajans Column to the menu cover, as the typeface it is set in is virtually identical to the "Trajan Pro" typeface I have used throughout my items for the restaurant.

Final Outcomes: Company Stationery

Here is the first of my final outcomes for the restaurant, "Trajans." I have kept the business card very similar to the menus you would find inside the restaurant itself, in order to maintain a brand identity. I'm fairly confident about the balance of imagery & type on the business card, being named after the Roman Emperor, I wanted Trajan's head to be fairly prominent on the business card, but not so much so that it too focus away from the type, which is what this project is all about. With the letterhead, I have strayed away from the very Roman sculpture theme of the menus & business card, as you wouldn't really have a full colour image like the ones on the menus & business card. Not only do I think it would have looked unprofessional, but it would also have been slightly difficult to read the letter. Instead, I opted to use a watermark on the page, of the Trajan helmet. As said in previous blog posts, this marque is iconic enough to stand on it's own without typography to accompany it, and also adds something to the letterhead without it looking to crowded or untidy.

Done & Dusted.

Ok, so I've finally finished my outcomes for the ISTD brief. I'm fairly confident with how these turned out, I'm just hoping the links are strong enough to be recognised. I'll begin posting my outcomes on my blog over the next couple of days as it's deadline day on Friday, and I have my D&AD work to finish off first before I make the final additions to my blog, but up to now I have completed company stationery & food/drink menus for the restaurant, all with a corporate image, which I'm pretty pleased with overall.

What Else?

Just so I know what I'm doing for the upcoming week (and this is for personal use more than anything else), I've jotted down a list of items I need to apply my logo to & design things for. 

• Company Stationery
• Food/Drink Menus
• Napkins
• Uniforms
• Cutlery(?)
• Wine Labels
  

Developing Menu Concepts

Getting familiar with my menu concepts, I've come up with this rough idea. It's not finished yet, still needs things cleaning up & adding to it, but you get the basic idea. I've featured the logo on the front of the menu in a dark shade of grey, as opposed to bold black, just to add a bit of subtlety to the logo. I think this works much better. The typeface, Trajan Pro is used throughout the menu to reinforce the Roman/Latin theme. Imagery/Colour wise, I've opted for a very stoney, reddish-brown colour to reflect the stone that Trajan's Column is made from, with subtle images of the sculptures from the column included. I'm pretty happy with what I've come up with for the menu so far, and am looking forward to developing this idea further. I'll be using a similar theme on other items in the restaurant, such as Wine labels, Drinks menus etc. I'm on the fence about creating a simple back-to-back menu, and create a seperate drinks menu, or to do them all as one as a multi-page menu. Leaning towards the idea of a back-to-back menu, as I'd like to create a seperate drinks menu, thus widening my design opportunities.

Utensils

To once again get a feel for how the logo is going to look on restaurant items, I've placed the logo on a napkin this time. I'm really, really pleased with how this looks. I think it looks really professional (not to blow my own trumpet) and the logo itself flows really nicely, the marque doesn't look out of place & I'm finally happy with the way everything is positioned. Even though the logo itself is solid black, I think it works nicely on the napkin in an almost lighter grey colour. Not entirely sure if this will happen when printed, but it certainly works. I've finally found my restaurant logo!

In Situ.

In order to get a feel of how the logos look when in situation, and also to help me decide which looks better, I've quickly added the Trajans logo to a T-Shirt, which would eventually become a uniform. Initially, I have decided to add the logo using a solid black marque & in all honesty, I'm starting to feel better about this design. I think it works. It looks more like a marque & in my opinion has the potential to look recognisable as a stand alone marque as well. I'm going to place my logos in other situations, which will hopefully finalise my decision, although at the moment, it seems like I've chosen my design. These last few posts have focused pretty heavily on the marque aspect of the logo, so now I think it's time to get back to the typography!

Developing the Logo

I've narrowed my logo designs down to four concepts. Since I was having problems deciding on a style & position for the marque, I've placed my four final designs on a sheet in hopes of getting a bit of insight into which one looks better. Personally, the first & second logos look most appealing to me, I wasn't too keen on the solid black helmet at first, but in this position I think it looks ok, flipped horizontally it almost finishes off the logo, but on the other hand, I really like the stenciled marque which uses a simple outline. I've lost a bit of enthusiasm for the last two designs, as I don't think the marque looks as effective above the type. I'm leaning towards keeping it at the side as it appears to flow better as part of the logo. I'm confident about position, just not about style. I'm really finding it hard to pick between solid black & outline. Solid black looks good as it is a more prominent marque, but also looks a little too bold, while the outline marque looks cleaner & more polished, yet perhaps too simple & not eye catching enough to have as a marque. Things can go either way now.

Second Attempt

Here is my second attempt at positioning the marque aside my type. This time I've opted to place it at the side of the text, almost as an emphatic full stop. I've also given it a more outlined look, as opposed to being solid black, as I think solid black looked a little too bold. I like what I've done to change the marque, but I think I will probably go with my initial idea & place the marque above the type, as it looks more prominent, however I must admit that using the marque at the side of the type makes the helmet look more like part of the logo. Regardless, I still think it works better above the type.

Mythical & Hoplite Noogies

Just out of curiosity, I decided to have a look at "Dingbat" typefaces to see what kind of imagery pops up to do with Roman warriors, emperors & such. While browsing the "Ancient Dingbats" on dafont.com, I came across this particular typeface, entitled "Mythical & Hoplite Noogies." Some of these dingbats are pretty cool looking, and would work well as a marque. Whether or not I actually use one of these, or just take inspiration from them, I'm not sure, but I'm really liking the vector style shapes of all these images, they look very elegant & regal & really nicely reflect the whole "Roman Empire" theme.

Positioning the Helmet... Ooh Err!

Here is my first version of the logo with the added Spartan Helmet marque. I'm currently playing around with the positioning of the marque alongside the type & my first idea was to use it as a prominent image above the type, but also (as cliche as it is) to use it as almost a dot on top of the "J." I quite like this version, but I'll continue to reposition it until I decide on a final position. Whether or not the helmet needs to be reduced in size also remains to be seen, as I want the type & the marque to be equal in terms of what catches the eye first.

Spicing up my Logo

Going back to my logo design, I'm a little underwhelmed with what I have come up with so far. Although the theme is typographical, I think a marque will make the logo look even more recognisable & effective. The imagery I had in mind was something similar to what is pictured here, the famous Spartan helmet. A simple vector design will work effectively in my opinion as the shape of the helmet is instantly recognisable. Combined with the "Trajan" typeface already established in my logo, I think this will make for an effective looking marque that can be applied to menus, uniforms, cups & other items.