Work Based Learning: Final

Here is my final design for The Fostering Company. I am extremely pleased with how this module came out, considering the time scale, and I feel I met all the clients needs, one of which was to create a positive identity in something that due to media coverage is viewed quite negatively. With the use of bright colours and lack of sharp lines, I think I've taken away the threatening quality. 

This is the first time I've created a shape / logo on Illustrator, and though there are a few things I would change such as the line of the arm which is slightly bent out of shape, I think it looks quite effective and truly communicates my ideas. I wanted the logo to continue to hold the idea of "cuddling" which is what the Fostering Company's current logo is, but instead of an aerial view, changed it to a front view. I then overlapped the circles which represent the heads, to show they are a family, are "one" together. It reminds me of a venn diagram, and slightly a play on the peace sign.

The colour scheme I used reminds me of mornings. I wanted to create Nostalgia in the image, and feel I have portrayed this well. It reminds me of the colours in dew on plants, or when the sun shines on bubbles blown with washing up liquid and a wand. I wanted them to be colourful, but not in the sense of bright, and so I used pastel colours and merged them together in a gradient created on photoshop. This is quite popular at the minute with Apple's ios 7 coming out, where a lot of wallpapers that are being created for the system featured blurs and gradients.

I wanted my typeface to have charisma and be bold, but also rounded to fit in with what the Fostering Company wrote in the brief, "we use lowercase in our name to appear less threatening." I felt VAG Rounded was visually appealing, and continuing to play on the idea of nostalgia, found it reminded me of a child's bubble writing, therefore keeping that childlike dynamic without being excessive.

In creating the website, I added the gradient to the top bar, which holds the logo and company name, alongside the navigation of the page. I also added a twitter feed, and a picture banner. After looking into other charity websites, I found that many used these to gain attention and create interest, and utilise it to show different headlines and areas of the website without bombarding with information. I felt the remaining white space was too much and so added the slogan, "Take the Step" with the colour scheme through the use of circles, overlapping each other to match the logo.

Similarly, I added the colour scheme to both the facebook and twitter pages. Social Media is important in this day and age, especially when trying to raise awareness and campaigns: therefore, I felt it was important to have a strong online presence.

After looking at the way others have approached business cards and created theirs, I wanted to keep the theme and gradient I created whilst also incorporating certain aspects from the others that I liked.
My business card is quite simple, with the front using the logo and the slogan rather than the company name, as I felt it created suspense and curiosity. I also added a white border, whilst the back used circles similar to bokeh with the colours from the gradient. I also felt it looked better with broader spacing. I added smaller circles around the back of the business card, which spreads the design across the edges. This breaks up the central column of colour, dispersing it across the page and adding interest. 

I created two different letterheads using the same theme, but placing the logo in different places and colours. When placed with an envelope with a similar design, I feel it looks more professional, and prefer the second letter head rather than the first. That being said, I prefer the logo being in the middle rather than to the top left.

 I also created a badge, 

coffee cup

 and tote bag to give out during the coffee mornings as they stated during the initial meeting that they often rally around supermarkets and community meetings to raise awareness, and feel this would be a nice touchpoint for others to take home as a reminder. 

Again playing with the idea of nostalgia, I came up with a leaflet in the shape of a home. When fostering, you are not only providing a nurturing family atmosphere, but also a stable home for a child, and therefore it seems important to stress this. As it’s one of the requirements of the fostering company to come and visit the home to make sure it is safe and provides everything for a child’s needs, it would be a nice idea to reinforce this through the leaflet, and also continue to have that interactive aspect. I felt it would be too much if it actually imitated or had a home drawn on the page, so I kept the shape so it was subtle rather than obvious. Where the black lines are diagonal, the rest will be cut away, and where the lines are horizontal is where the leaflet will be folded. The other side is the same shape, but with the colour scheme / pattern and with the logo overlaying. I thought the bubbles added a different dynamic when placed over the black and white images, blending them in to the page rather than standing out and looking out of place like the first image to the left. When the leaflet it folded it will look similar to an envelope, which will cause interest and curiosity to what is inside. I think having a small amount of writing on the page is better than the leaflet the fostering company currently uses, as I feel it is less bombarding and overwhelming, whilst still getting the message across. 

Finally, I created a few poster designs. I haven’t used black in my project yet as I feel it’s quite an overwhelming and threatening colour, and wanted the colour scheme to stay very pastel and pale. That being said, when experimenting with the colours, I felt the black background was bold and eye catching, allowing the colours to take a different dynamic on the page and appear more vibrant, which I want the posters to do. I think keeping the logo away from the posters was a good idea as it doesn’t take away the illustration on the page. I also felt that solely having the slogan taking up the page was the best direction to take as it draws attention to that. I added the company name to the bottom right of the corner very briefly, as I wanted a person to want to know what and who it is, rather than be obvious and lose curiosity.

Overall, I am extremely happy with my touchpoints and brand identity. I feel I have matched the clients needs whilst also applying my own creative flair to the project. My aim was to create a colourful, bright and positive atmosphere for the brand and I feel I managed that. I would have changed certain aspects in hindsight, such as the coffee cup, where the text should have been smaller so you can see the whole company name without having to rotate, but overall I feel the identity ties in well together and has a common theme, which is what I wanted to do.