Corporate ID: Project 2
History of Seattle:
Attractions/things to do:
What I’ve gathered: Although it’s nice to steer away from the obvious solutions, I still think the space needle provides some opportunity. It’s such a unique and distinct feature of Seattle that attracts many tourists, so I feel that possibly using it in some way might attract someone to choose Seattle to host the Olympics.
I think it’s interesting that Seattle had the very first Starbucks shop. Maybe I can do something coffee-related since one of the reviews made by a Seattle resident mentioned having an abundance of coffee shops (see below).
I don’t think I want to focus on things like libraries, aquariums, and the city’s first skyscraper because every city has those, and I want to focus on something that makes Seattle more unique. Such as the Seattle Great Wheel or Seattle Center Monorail.
I think the Museum of Pop Culture is interesting too only because of the shape. From an aerial view, it resembles a smashed guitar. However, I’m concerned with how to integrate that since it’s already such an abstract idea. I wouldn't know how to make it recognizable.
Statistics:
Reviews:
“Seattle is a great place to live for people working in the tech industry! There are plenty of tech companies in the surrounding area (Seattle, Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond), and the quality of life is generally very good. Unfortunately, the cost of living is quite high and increasing. Another good thing about Seattle is the many coffee shops — they are numerous and diverse. Lastly, the location is excellent. While Seattle offers plenty of city life, nature is just around the corner. We have beaches and mountains and forests all around. Good for swimming, hiking, skiing, climbing, etc.”
“I love the proximity to nature..in so many ways. Lovely parks like Greenlake, Discovery, Carkeek, Washington Park Arboretum. Also, something as simple as a neighborhood walk looking at people’s impressive gardens. Then of course, the mountains! Hikes as close as 30 mins away. I also love the coffee shops! There is every kind of coffee shop here. You can go with a friend, or alone! Farmers markets! The Ballard and Fremont ones are my favorite. The sense of community. Whatever your passion is, you can find your “people”. Foodies, bikers, parents, gamers, dancers, bibliophiles….everyone! We have mountains, beaches, rolling hills, water….a little bit of everything!”
“I love living in the PNW! Residing in Seattle, I get all the benefits of a big city (good food, entertainment, a variety of schools, public transportation, job opportunities, etc…) while maintaining easy access to the beautiful nature of Washington state. There are countless forests, mountains, volcanoes, lakes, waterfalls, parks, and rivers all in easy driving distance, and there’s outdoor fun year round if you enjoy skiing, snowboarding, or the like. Although some complain about the weather, it really isn’t as rainy as most people make it out to be. The winter occasionally yields snow, and the summer sees sunny days occasionally nearing even ninety degrees.”
What I’ve gathered: I think designing something for Seattle will be challenging because it seems like they have a little bit of everything. Also, it’s a city, but it has a lot of outdoor activities, so I’m torn on which direction to go. I’m leaning more outdoorsy just because of how the winter Olympics could take advantage of this feature of Seattle.
Other Facts:
Nickname: The Evergreen State
What I’ve gathered: I think the Seattle Flag has potential. I could use that blue to symbolize both the flag and the winter Olympics since winter uses cooler colors. I might be able to work with “the evergreen state” too because that could be used to display the city’s nickname and the plentiful outdoor activities it has. I also included a photo of the Olympic colors. I’d like to incorporate it somehow. The blue from the flag is greener and less intense than the Olympic colors, so if I use those colors in combination with the blue from the flag, my plan is to adjust the hue and saturation to match so they won't vibrate as much and will go nicely together. I think these colors will still be identifiable as the Olympic colors when used together.
Mindmap:
I went forward with more than 3 logos since I missed the first critique on the sketches.
I found this part a bit challenging since I’m using handwritten type. It’s hard to get variations. I did try script and adding serifs to my handwriting on the second page and used uppercase and lowercase. Overall, I’m just playing around with the placement of the type and deciding whether I want to have the word “winter”, “2032”, or just “32”.
I changed the year. rounded the mountains to match the handwritten font, and tried adding “34” into the top of the mountain. I decided to move forward with the year below the logo because I couldn’t get the “34” to fit in with the mountain the way I would like it to.
For all my colors, I tried to stay on the “cooler” side because I’m doing the winter Olympics. I tried applying greens since Seattle is outdoorsy and known as the “Evergreen State”. I color-picked the green directly from the Washington State flag. Then I used the same blue on the Seattle flag to represent the city instead of the entire state. The next set of colors uses a more blue-violet color to give it a more cold and wintery feeling. The last 4 trials have the blue from the Olympic colors. Lastly, I tried one that has all the Olympic colors in the year.
Rationale: Seattle is known for its outdoorsy activities, so I decided to emphasize that trait to convince people that it would be a great spot for the 2034 winter Olympics. I used a mountain top for this because although there are many geological features, the slope of a mountain represents winter sports best (snowboarding, skiing, etc.) I used a custom-made typeface because I predict graphic design trends will lean towards that style in the future. Although minimalist and clean designs are still very sought after, in 10 years, the world might see them as boring and overused. The solution could be to lean towards imperfect designs that hold more personality. Additionally, using my own handwriting for the type makes it feel artsier, which Seattle also has a lot of. The biggest example is their Museum of Pop Culture, which looks like a smashed guitar from a bird’s eye view (it can also be seen as an example of people being more attracted to imperfections). I used the same green on the Washington flag for Seattle, and the Mountain color and year is in blue to give off a more cool and wintery feeling.
The biggest thing I learned from this project is to dig up as much information as possible to find less obvious solutions.
