To start my research on wordmarks I decided to create a Pinterest board filled with a variety of san serif fonts. This includes fonts of all width, size, character, etc. Collecting all these different types of typography has inspired me and give me a better visualization of the style I want my wordmark to be.
Brand Wordmarks:
To get a better understanding of other brand’s wordmarks I complied a mood board of brands that I think are visually appealing and related to the wordmark that I want.
I wanted to see how brands create unique wordmarks to communicate their values/meaning through visual type.
What do these brands wordmarks convey at first glance?
Google has a simplistic geometric design which contains a sense of uniformity even when the stroke of the ‘G’ and ‘e’ does not align. Their simplistic choice of type and more formal flat edged caps create a sense of ‘to the point’. This is exactly what they want to convey such as their famous catchphrase being, “Google it”.
Luco has a more bubbly, cartoony and dense visual presentation to it as the company specializes in wooden building blocks for children which makes it a perfect style for children. Another feature is the negative space inside the ‘c’ which represents block placement.
Duolingo is a mobile language learning application which uses a fun and friendly artistic style, they keep this consistent with their wordmark as we can see its bubbly, partially rounded and uniform, this gives off a very friendly and playful appearance.
Nestle is a healthy food brand that encourages ‘growth’ not just physically but mentally too. We can see representation on this with their flair of their ‘N’. Looking at the typeface it is partially curved with no jagged edges and is a consistent thickness stroke throughout. This makes the brand appear more gentle and giving.
FedEx is an American courier service which in their wordmark give off a more formal presentation with their extreme edges and flat caps. The ‘d’ stretches beyond the X-height creating a sense of balance with the ‘E’. FedEx uses very close kerning and non-existence letter spacing in their wordmark which represents a sense of safety with their packages.
Oliver Grant is an insurance company which uses thin front with close kerning. Along with the simple flat capped font we can see this company presents as a modern, elegant, sophisticated and formal brand through its wordmark.
The next step…
I want a typeface that represents me (my brand) and my values. Going back to week one for my values along with previous research on wordmarks I can now visually represent the type style I want to go for.
Style
- Modern
- Professional
- Innovative
- Simplistic
- Clear
- Systematic
- Bold
- Consistent
- Quality
- Structured
Tone of Voice
- Professional
- Knowledgeable
- Trustworthy
- Friendly
- Creative
- Imaginative
Values
- Trustworthy
- Creative
- Unique
- Premium
What I want my typeface to consist of
- Uniformity
- Semi-Formal
- Rounded/soft caps
- Consistent medium stroke
- Not obtrusive
Selecting my Typeface:
Now that I have a better understanding of what typeface I want I will start to select and pickoff each typeface:
Caps:
Further visualizing the typeface I want, I decided to make a ‘C’ and play with different end caps. This small change makes a big difference in the overall appearance and presentation of the letter/typeface. While sticking with my values, I will pick 1. & 2. as the roundness creates a more friendly and soothing presence while 1. creates a more formal and structured presence similar to Googles typeface.
Refining my Selection:
After eliminating the majority of typefaces on the list, I decided to leave just 9 typefaces which I felt like were the most visually pleasing and representative of my brand.
Final Typeface:
Font – Arbotek Rounded
I feel like this is a perfect pick for my wordmark to represent my brand. Even on the first list with over 25 typefaces I noticed this font the most. I love this typeface as it’s not obtrusive as the letter are thinner and less detailed. The roundness creates a sense of friendliness and the letters are visually repetitive creating a pattern and uniformity within the typeface making it feel premium and structured. All values which are connected back to the personality of me and my brand.
One of the things that stood out to me the most was the ‘C’ and ‘J’ which the ‘J’ creates a perfect ‘warp’ which I could wrap around the ‘C’ for my monogram geometrically and proportionately. This would fit perfect for the monogram I have sketched. This gives me an idea to intertwine my monogram and typeface.
Kerning & Developing Wordmark
After slight kerning and editing down to my wordmark I added my surname to it.
Feedback + Revision
After our presentation critiques Daniel explained the problems with my wordmark such as the improper and uneven kerning beside the lowercase ‘c’.
I decided to drop my last name as it added to much weight to the wordmark and kept just ‘Cormac James’
After a few revisions I finally got something that I am happy with and that I feel looks proportional.
