Designing a logo for this particular blog was surprisingly difficult. Any good logo must be simple and attractive. I found this to be especially difficult with my ground service work and travel theme. I first started with the images that I thought best encapsulates my job, and ability to fly. Some ideas that came to mind were a silhouette of the plane I work with, a person marshaling in a plane, and a passport. Though these concepts might lend themselves well to other endeavors, I wasn’t sure they were quite minimalistic enough for a logo. I ended up choosing a bag as the main focal point for my logo, because of how well it works with both concepts of my motif. I also thought an image of a bag would be a more natural vehicle for text. Following drivedigital.ca’s top 5 logo principles, I went with a generic suitcase design to create a sense of timelessness. I also see this as an appropriate choice because of how universally relatable an image of luggage can be.
After reading through some of my peer’s feedback I decided to simplify my logo even further (see previous “Logo Draft Project” post). Instead of a 3D element I flattened the image to have a more direct straight forward appearance. I accomplished this by creating a tan rounded rectangle shape with a brown stroke. For the handle I created another rounded rectangle without filling, and snipped it in half horizontally. Next I long rectangular straps with a white filling and brown stroke to match. Inside of these straps I included the text “Russell” and “Hustle”, which I think was an improvement on my previous travel sticker concept. Since the middle was open and rather blan I decided to add the silhouette of a plane. For this step I found an image of the plane’s blueprints and opened it under a new tab. Next I used the pen tool to trace around the plane and copy-pasted it on top of my suitcase. To give it more depth and contrast I placed it on top of a bright blue circle with a darker blue stroke. To tie the circles and plane to the suitcase I created a stitching effect by adding another brown circle and putting gaps in the circle’s stroke. The suitcase was still a little flat so I copy-pasted the bag and handle, and increased their size using shift. I colored it black to make the suitcase pop a little more. I’m much happier with how this final design turned out and I couldn’t have done it without the feedback from my instructor and peers!
RICHARD RUSSELL'S BLOG 