OUGD403 - Study Task 1

For Study Task 1 we were allocated into small groups and given the task of re-branding the company 'Crosswater' which is a modern bathroom design and instillation company. The task is to create a 5-8 page slide presentation and explore how we have worked collaboratively as a group and how i as an individual has helped the group as a whole. The group has had to select one from six of Vignellis six basic Typefaces which include:

• Garamond 
• Bodoni 
• Century Expanded 
• Futura 
• Times Roman
• Helvetica 

which will be the base font for our finished Typeface/Logo. 

To start this group study task we decided to start mapping simple ideas and concepts out in a spider diagram format. As a group we wanted to examine previous logos of the company and research into what the company does, when it was established, what the main feel and emotions of the company are, and why the company has been chosen to be re-branded. My job as a graphic designer is to create brands which can last forever, because of this we were driven to research and study successful and unsuccessful re-brands and look into why the decision has been made to change it. Company's in recent years have started going 'flat' this is because of the digital explosion and flat 2D design is easier to be scaled up and sown digitally with better resolution. This movement in the digital age has inspired the groups early stages of our typeface heavily. The spider diagram below is the first stages of what was planned at the end of today

As a group we decided to link the font we choose with aspects of the company which already exist. After some research into the company we found that it is very modern and was only founded very recently, because of this we looked at the fonts Helvetica and Futura as the other fonts seemed quite old and too formal. At the moment the group is swaying towards Futura as the design is more curved and wavy than Helvetica which can relate to the concept of water in the lettering and personally, Helvetica seems too overused and the project needs a more fresh and modern perspective. To get some insight on modern sleek designs we researched some of the following logo designs for inspiration.

After the lecture on Typefaces, Fonts and Lettering i was quite inspired to use some of the anatomy of type components in the lettering for Crosswater. For example one of the ideas which i have plotted onto the spider diagram is to use some subscript, ideally changing the word water into its element counterpart H20 and having the 2 as subscript. Another idea which has stemmed from my new found knowledge on type anatomy is to create a wide kerning between the letters to symbolize the free flowing water in the Crosswater company. I also like the idea of adding a Diacritic to the lettering as the company's partner company is Bauhaus which i believe is a German company and Diacritics are often found in German words however, i will research this more tomorrow and see how this can fit into the typeface design.