Future London Academy's team went meta and rebranded our Branding Now course — the ultimate Branding course for Senior Creatives.
Together with our Branding Now course curators Robyn and Campbell Butler – founders of Lovework Studio, and ex-Wolff Olins and DesignStudio experts – we worked on making the identity more up-to-date, provocative, and eye-catching. Campbell and Robyn shared their approach, process and tricks they use to make their branding work sparkle. We only had one month to work on the project and create all the assets.
Here is how we did it and what we learned.
Our previous identity served us well, at the time it was created it looked fresh, bold and catchy. It was based on principles of Swiss design, was very minimalist and built based on a block principle. But over the past year, branding changed so much with so many new technologies popping up that we decided it was time for something new.
We started our kick-off by discussing project objectives: Why are we doing this and what do we want to achieve? What did each one of us want to gain from the project? From there, we agreed on the channels of communication and booked all the review sessions on the calendar. It helped to plan the project and to make the process more smooth and enjoyable for everyone.
After agreeing on the process, we then brainstormed. We shared everything that came to mind and added all the ideas to the Miro board along with some visual references. It is crucial not to judge anything that is being said, to bounce ideas off of each other and to have as much fun as possible. In the end, this is what matters.
Afterwards, we narrowed ideas down and agreed on three concepts that we wanted to explore. We named them to define not just the visual direction but the whole idea behind it.
1. Branding Then: Future spaces, Web 3.0, Avatars, 3D objects, techy
2. Branding how it is: TikTok-inspired, short video bits, bite-sized, human
3. The sixth sense of Branding: complex multi-textured 3D objects, ecosystem, arty, sensory
Before the first review, we went wild with the sketches. It's the best time to try different approaches and tools. It's really important not to get stuck on just one thing, and explore different directions.
We quickly tested the idea with 3D shape with MidJourney saving the time we would have spent on making it in Blender or Cinema 4D. We made a few sketches with 3D heads of Campbell and Robyn. For the TikTok idea, we spent some time on the platform, exploring and identifying the most distinctive elements like the crazy typography, gifs, and videos divided into chapters. We purposefully tried not to look at any references not to repeat others' ideas.
We shared all the sketches with Campbell and Robyn via Loom recordings saving time on presenting it on Zoom and giving them more time to process and give feedback.
We all liked the coral images that we generated with the help of MidJourney and the idea with Campbell and Robyn’s avatars. The TikTok wasn’t that impressive, but we thought we’d give it a go and explore it further.
For the next step, Campbell and Robyn suggested we deconstruct each direction and break it down into small bits: typography, logo, colours, and graphic elements. That way we could refine each element separately and put them back together building a more complex visual identity.
During the next step, we explored typography to match the graphics and idea behind it. For example for the TikTok idea, we found a combination of four types to give the vibe of the videos on the platform. We paired the coral shape with a more technical font, going for Neue Machine first but then switching it to open source type Space Grotesk.
We also worked more with MidJourney to get more 3D shapes and tried Polycamp to scan Campbell and Robyn’s heads. We explored the colour, trying to find a less aggressive red.
For now, we kept all three concepts and wanted to see how they all work in digital. The next big step was to put the web pages together. Digital is our main platform, so this step was very important. We needed to marry business objectives with good design. We considered all the learnings and insights we had from the previous projects and pages and dove into it.
At this stage, we decided to drop the TikTok idea – even though it looked nice, it wasn’t eye-catching and quirky enough.
By this point, we were just working with the coral and the avatar versions. We tested both options on our friends, and the majority of them said the preferred the avatars option as it was more clear...
... But we wanted to make a bold turn and decided to make a drastic change to the coral models. It looked fresh, unexpected and even a bit weird for a branding course page, which was what we were going for. The identity has already been featured on Awwwards, Abduzeedo and World Brand Design.
The final step was to create all assets and test the identity on different mediums. We really enjoyed it! We elaborated the elements, creating more grids, finding the right contrast between the two fonts: our classic OnyFuture and new Space Grotesk, adding more coral objects, and improving the way they intersect with typography.
1. Have lots of fun with ideation. Share references, chat, listen carefully and let your imagination go free. Do not let rational thoughts stop you at this point. Share your wildest ideas.
2. Deconstruction is a great tool to refine the visual direction. Spend time working on each piece of a puzzle separately. You can even split the bits between the team members with someone working on the typography, another on colours, etc. This will make the final result much more complex and in-depth.
3. If you’re uncomfortable and think that something is too far out there… that’s a sign to go for it! This only means that it’s new and will definitely stand out. Embrace the weird!
4. Don't be afraid to use new technologies. The results can surprise and inspire you.
Number one, collaborate with interesting people who you don't know. It's super fun and amazing.
Insight two, whenever someone shares work with you, pick it up, roll with it, encourage them, push them to push it, make it go further, do something exciting. Try an AI, make it move. Put it in another programme. Just push them, encourage them, and they'll go further than probably they thought possible.
And number three, have fun!
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