For the logo project, I wanted to create a minimalistic design for a publishing company. I came up with the name “Ivy Publishing” because I love plants and thought that the symbolism of ivy representing growth would be a good theme for the brand. I also love the color green and thought it would be interesting to use this to create a brand voice that was friendly and welcoming.
I went through a few versions of the design before landing on the final product. I knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to make my design too illustrative or detailed. I also thought that it would be interesting to create the appearance of the word “ivy” within the design as part of the shape of the leaf. I came up with another version before this one that incorporated this idea, but I felt that it was still too detailed. I also realized that since I would be adding typography to the design that this effect should be as subtle as possible. I came up with the current design on a whim and thought that it had potential. I worked with the text a bit to develop the logo as a whole. Since the leaf shape was very simple, I thought the typography needed a little more emphasis to make the design seem well-rounded.
Throughout this process, I learned that coming up with an idea is the hardest part. Many of the ideas that I thought would work on paper ended up not working out as well when I tried to create them in Illustrator. The brand guide was also something that I had a difficult time with at first. Because I was starting from scratch and had never done a brand guide before, I wasn’t sure how to structure it. Once I came up with an idea for how to theme it, putting the guide together became a lot easier. After completing this project, I feel I have learned more about InDesign and Illustrator than I knew previously. Having an idea, and then learning how to create it, was a difficult but rewarding process.