Type experimentation...

Some initial ideas for typography to accompany my logos in whatever format they are displayed. I particularly like the examples in perpetua, with the combination of bold and regular weight, which I think works really well. The colours of these could be altered according to the 

colours used on the logos

Software workshop 3 - indesign

99% of the time use a new 'document' book on indesign refers to something with hundreds of pages, isn't really necessary on the scale we're working.
Indesign books are very complex

Selecting size.
when opening a new document, choose the finished, trimmed size of whatever you are working on and printing. A4, A0 etc.

Bleed
- Compensates for cutting errors after printing.
- having bleed means there should be no white edges if it is slightly mis-aligned
- 3mm bleed is usually sufficient. 

 All other factors when opening a document really depend on what you're creating. 
(colums, gutters etc.)


Applying colour.
Shift - x
will switch between fill and outline in the picker.
Swatch palette is very similar to illustrator.

These images look at the application of colours using colour books to both type and created artwork.
Moving artwork from photoshop
- CMYK or grayscale.
- 300dpi
- actual size (don't resize in indesign)
- Format - TIFF > PSD > psd will maintain transparencies.

Moving artwork from illustrator
- CMYK
- Format - Ai > transparency is maintained
- Doesn't matter what size as vector artwork can be resized.

Placing images 
File > place
From PSD - swatched will be added to the documents palette. Can create border first to put image in or just place the image.

File > place > show import options
This allows detailed changing of file options like layers etc.

Links palette
- when placing an image into indesign, it simply establishes a link with the actual file.
- it's important to package everything and keep all your related files in one folder.
- packaging also means that if the original image is edited, it will automatically update.

An image of the links palette from my print top 10 booklet. As I have not yet packaged the document there are a few missing links, but I know where they are...obviously.

Alt + double clicking any image in the document will open it in the program it was created in.

Toning images
Has to be done from a grayscale image placed in indesign.
select the grayscale image > the image itself, not the frame
- then select a swatch from fills.

The image above was created using this technique of applying a spot colour to a grayscale image, it works much like toning in photoshop however it isn't quite as editable and can only be done with one colour.

Seperations window
this allows you to look at the colour seperations in the image

 the full colour image with all the seperations visible.

 Cyan removed.

 cyan and magenta removed.

 just black and the spot colour.

Yellow removed. I quite like this effect, especially on this image.
It is also possible to delete unused swatches using the seperations palette

Knockout & overprint.
Using seperations allows you to see colour 'knockouts'
this is where the colour is not overprinted as the colour printing on top is too light.

This is what the knockout looked like for the colour selection above. showing where the green is removed to allow the orange to print.

This is the seperations layers showing where the is too much ink, with the overprint preview, the red area refers to that where there'll be too much ink.

 

Here are the colours without knockout, so they are overprinting. The problem may arise in this situation that there is too much ink on the paper. 

This shows the colours cyan, yellow and magenta applied normally, so each will knockout the other in order for them all to print normally.

My finished indesign document with all the techniques from the workshop in one.

Digital logo development

Vectoring the shapes 
colour variations 
& composition. 

 From research I looked into the possibility of other impossible shapes and found this 'hexnut'. I like it because of the simplicity of the shape itself and also how it isn't straight away visible that it's not quite right. I thought about moving away from the triangle because although it's iconic and recognisable, it feels over used and that it may have been used for some 

rather more important and corporate applications.

 I think the nut shape shows a lot of promise as a logo and I particularly like the examples that sit straight up. Although I've tried it in a square, I much prefer those with a circle backdrop and I think they're just a combination of shapes that better on the eye despite the geometric shape of the nut and curvature of the circle backdrop. Still not quite sure on the colours, but I like a few of the blue ones particularly the combination of a teal like colour and a pale yellow. Also I like the red ones, 

'cos red is nice...

Developing chosen logo

 Looking at adding type, using different impossible shapes and changing the background shape to incorporate an i... impossible. I don't like adding type to the logo itself as I think it clutters it, and it's something I'm not sure it actually needs. Adding the 'i' into the background shape I think was a nice idea, but in practice I'm not sure about the shape that it creates and the awkwardness of the lines against the shape inside, I'd prefer a solid backdrop. 

 Simple developments of the above, looking at slightly different ways to fill the the shape and it's aesthetic on the page as a logo.

 Here I looked at different fills and placing the shape itself as a positive instead of reversing it out of a background shape. I also looked at another possible shape (top right) although I'm not sure this would translate into an effective logo, and also at combining a previous development with type, this is one that's just far too busy.

 Looking at the use of a square with similar characteristics to the impossible triangle, and also at linking them to see the effect it has on them as a logo. It looks Ok even though I got these linked squares slightly wrong when filling them in with black and covered some lines. I think this may be a bit much though and again I'm not sure of it's plausibility or relevance as a logo.

 A combination of two impossible triangle that I joined and then filled with lines. Although this complicates the logo quite considerably, I quite like the aesthetic it creates, and using different orientations of the symbol also gives a very different aesthetic and plausible shape 

to work with as a logo. Another look at the square impossible shape 

and the manor in which it is filled.

A combination of two of the squares which works Ok, but I think it is better when filled in black with white strokes as it just gives the symbol more weight and impact. Despite this I think the examples still showing the most promise are the original triangle that was chosen for me to develop.

More (cos the images wouldn't go in one post)