Logo Design: CAMP@50

This year will be the University of the Philippines Manila College of Allied Medical Profession’s (UPM-CAMP) 50th Anniversary. CAMP has undergone dramatic changes from the time of its establishment in 1962 to what it is today. After 50 years since its founding, its pursuit of academic excellence and its dedication to serve the Filipino people have been the guiding pillars of the School. These goals shaped the School as one of the premier institutions in the country that offers degree programs in the professions of Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT), and Speech Pathology (SP) and post-graduate programs like MRS, MRS-SP, MClinAud and MPT. And just recently, the college has finally found a new home in its own building.

As a graduate and having been a faculty member for 10 years, CAMP has been a very important part of my life. I am so indebted for the all the wonderful memories, uplifting knowledge, skills and experiences. One cannot deny that the most amazing people of the country belong and were produced by this college. Sure it is something to be called a graduate of CAMP (considering how tough it is to graduate) but where else can find a college that respects each of its constituent for everything you are, molding you not only to become the best OT, PT or SP, but allowing you to grow with your other talents as well (singer, writer or artist, or whatever unconventional skill you might have). So it was with great pleasure for me to create the seal of CAMP, and this time, to design the commemorative logo of CAMP’s golden anniversary.

Dean Cabatan sent me all the necessary information I need to work with. The theme is: “CAMP @50: Aiming Higher -- toward greater relevance and stronger leadership”. The seal and the whole text should be included in the whole logo set. One of the informal guidelines I have when creating a commemorative logo is that it should look good enough for you to wear it. And of course, when you wear a logo, it should be flashy enough for people to notice you and easy enough to identify with the message.

I wanted “50” to be the main highlight of the whole design, incorporating the graphical elements within its outline. Celebration was what I have in mind, and though the drawing looks random, each swirl and swoosh represents an aspect of the chosen theme. I had to keep it simple as well to facilitate printing in all forms.

The CAMP seal will be conveniently placed inside the “0” and the text are placed around in simple but elegant NeueHelvetica font.

Of course, gold is the theme color, so I used different shades of yellow and orange in the logo. Good enough to wear?

Here is how the logo might look like in shirt form (I soooo hope CAMP has the budget to make these shirts):

Happy 50 years CAMP!

Logo Design: 6th APOTC (Philippine Bid)

The Occupational Therapy Association of the Philippines, Inc. (OTAP, Inc.) will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015 and to commemorate this milestone, the OTAP would like to have the honor of hosting the 2015 Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Conference and the Asia Pacific Occupational Therapy Regional Group Meeting. In their words, “It would be a fitting way, not only for the OTAP to celebrate with the world, but more importantly, to share with the world the unique brand of Filipino occupational therapy." I was asked by the organization to create a logo to accompany their bid for the 6^th APOTC Congress.

“Moving Forward with the World” is the slogan they chose and wanted to focus on the Bayanihan spirit that Filipinos are known for. They came up with an idea to use a stylized bahay kubo with four people at each corner carrying the bahay kubo. Bandaritas need to be used in the logo since we will be using this in our booth in Chiangmai. They sent me a sketch to explain further how they want the logo to look like.

Now, this was a rush job since they were pressed with time to come up with the necessary documents and media for the event, so any form of direction is truly appreciated. However, the theme is in a way difficult to execute, without making it look too traditional. And since the instructions were pretty focused, I am required to include specific graphical elements in the logo: bahay kubo, 4 people and bandaritas. The challenge is how to keep the logo look uncluttered even if it will be full of details.

I worked on developing their concept, but instead of approaching it in 3D (as their sketch suggested), I invested on fitting all the elements within a tile. This will be the main graphical tile where the other elements of the logo will be based on.

I used this tile within "15" (which was a mistake, since I thought then it was the 15^th Congress. It was the 6^th to be held on year 2015) and played around with some text.

I still had enough time to enhance the logo, so I added highlights and effects (such as the basket weave background, drop shadows and gradients), and framed this within a stamp. I imagined it would be cool to have the logo packaged in a vintage looking stamp, where all merchandise bearing this stamp. Old Manila style.

Here is the final logo.

Unfortunately, the organization’s bid didn’t make it. But I heard that the Philippine delegation put up quite a fight against the winning country. It’s just a matter of time when APOTC will realize this: “Occupational Therapy. It’s more fun in the Philippines!”

Logo Design: Radiate Inc.

Radiate Inc. is an upcoming media company that will focus on film production and photography. Still in its beginning stages, the company needed a preliminary logo that they can work with. I was given much freedom with regards to its design, but basically they wanted it to be simple and relevant.

The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of the word “RADIATE” is light. Sources of light, such as the sun, a light bulb, a candle, a firefly are all examples of what could be ideal graphical themes for the company’s logo. However, almost every company that has a name with references to light has a logo with different variations of these, tucked within a convenient frame or cleverly positioned over a letter. I wanted to offer something unique for this company. I came up with three initial concepts, after selecting a unique font which I think represents creativity and modern innovation. The first is a play on the negative spaces of the letters. Luckily, the central letter of the word RADIATE is the letter I, a very dynamic letter which can be modified to form a graphic. Since, I wanted to avoid using the cliché, I represented light in an indirect manner. Imagine, you’re inside a dark room and you came upon this door (Concept 2), and slowly you open it up, and bright light rushes in! (Concept 3).

They instantly like the idea, so I developed the concept further, adding shadow effects. I even suggested that the logo could be animated (ala movie opening credits where they show the production company’s logos). So simple, it can work on its own in monochrome. Colors and other special effects can be added should they decide to expand and diversify.

The final design

Logo Design: LazyBob

LazyBob is a company that sells and installs swimming pools and automatic lawn movers. The name of the company is a bit unusual, and the owners chose it because it sounds fun, easy to remember and is also a bit "provocative". The word "lazy" have two meanings in the company name. According to the owners, the name stands for:

“The first and most obvious one is that we provide products and services to people who prefer to have a nice time at the pool rather than spending time working with their garden, i.e. they can be seen as a bit lazy. The second meaning of the word "lazy" is that we as a company will use the best possible products and methods when performing our services in order to do it as fast as possible - in order for us to work as little as possible, i.e. we can be seen as lazy. In the end this is of course a positive thing for the customer since the cost for the service will be low. The name Bob also has two meanings, it can either be the staff that performs the services (building pool, cleaning roof etc) or customer himself who enjoys a nice moment at the pool while the automatic lawn movers takes care of the grass and a worker (Bob) cleans his roof.”

There are numerous approaches to creating this logo. One of the things I thought of was creating a mascot which will also act as their main logo. However, research shows that in their business, most companies are already using characters to represent their company. Generally, character design is complicated and time-consuming, and may be beyond their budget. I settled for creating a simple crest or text-based design with minimal graphical elements. The crest works very well in different media. These were the studies for the logo:

The owner opted for the rectangular emblem (to my relief) to be developed further. To highlight each word of the company’s name, and to add more character to the text, I used different fonts. The background features their two main services, pool and grass services.

And the final design, in a dark background.

Logo Design: Wolfe Landing LLC

Usual logo depictions of a wolf more often than not exude fierceness, aggression and dominance. These themes are very appropriate for sports teams and tattoos. But sometimes, the wolf image is required in a logo without necessarily portraying these themes. For instance, a logo for a real estate company or a home community, which would focus on tranquility, carefree living and comfort. In a project I recently did, I was required to develop a logo for Wolfe Landing. The specifications were very simple: I only needed to have an image of a wolf, and the name "Wolfe" and that it should have a similar feel to earlier logos I made for them (Eden Park Homes and Fairfax Park). Pressed for time, they wanted me to come up with my own design and proceed immediately with vector work. Cool! The challenge I faced in creating this logo was how to portray the wolf in a manner that focuses on the positive aspects that is appropriate for such a company: privilege, freedom, dignity and respect. I knew that I can avoid the ferocity of the wolf by entirely using curves in the graphic (notice that most other wolf logos utilizes sharp lines). I had to select a dignified posture for the head of the wolf and work the curves from there. For the text, I chose Optima as the preferred font, simple yet elegant. I provided them with variations of the same logo. And luckily, they immediately accepted this design with no revision at all!

Logo Design: Maluka Produce

Maluka Produce is a wholesale/retail business dedicated to delivering fresh local fruit and vegetables. They are located in Noosaville, QLD (Australia) and the owners wanted a logo that was clean and industrial, matching the industrial area in which their headquarters is located. As part of my creative pitch for them, I mentioned that the logo they will be needing would look best as an icon, either simple, minimalist or detailed but nature-based. Researching on the word "MALUKA", I discovered that it meant "Queen" and/or "Flower" in some cultures and "Work of God" in others. I thought of combining these key words and infusing these in the graphic, something that evokes cornucopia (bounty) and royalty. It turned out that the name Maluka is a combination of Matt and Luke, the names of the owners (but they did appreciate the research, and it turned out, these were the things they wanted in their logo as well!). As for the text, the themes would be minimalism – evoking cleanliness, freshness and health… thin, clean lines; or whimsy – evoking bountiful, freshness, wealth… thick, curvy, nature, wavy lines and modernism – evoking relevance, cleanliness, modern… thick, power, industrial lines. I provided them with these initial sketches:

Among these, they wanted to go with the minimalist stamp approach. I then proceeded with vector work, providing them with numerous options for the icon, among which they selected to develop the "leaf" concept.

As can be seen above, the developments included revisions in design elements (removing unnecessary embellishments and maintaining simplicity and minimalism in the icon) and color. Ultimately, the final design was reached and packaged to fit their needs. Maluka Produce is in www.malukaproduce.com and Facebook: Maluka Produce . All the fresh and healthy fruits in their store now has made me hungry…

Logo Design: The Cheer-Up Squad

I love creating logos that just by looking at them, you can't help but smile. I recently made this logo for an organization, and this logo literally has a smile in it. The organization is called 'The Cheer up Squad' and they are a professional team of dedicated members that go around visiting the sick and elderly, cheering them up in all kinds of amazing ways. They wanted something colorful and playful with character but it should remain classy and very professional. Based on experience, the look of a logo like this can either look creative or silly, and there's a fine thin line between the two.

As I often do when I start creative projects like this, I presented the client with at least three initial concepts (colored versions using marker pens). The image below shows the sketches on the left, and the corresponding digital version on the right. It is quite evident in all versions that I have become fixated with the use of the smile, conveniently converting the letter "u" into a graphic of a smile.

The client was very happy with all versions but decided to go with the top orange version (which I personally liked as well). She suggested creating variations of the graphic by playing a bit with the smiling face, perhaps adding a hat or face element; or creating some flourishes with the text elements.

They all looked good, but compared to the original version, they all looked overly designed (and perhaps, as I said before, silly). The smile and the eyes seemed enough to convey the cheerful attitude they aim to portray, and the professionalism and respect they wanted as well.

Logo Design: Activiteens

I made this logo for an exclusive upper class after school club for teenage girls. They organize activities ranging from drama, music, IT and many more. They wanted a new logo that was colorful but very professional. It must be very classical to reflect their clientele yet still have an element of excitement. The logo should have character to it, something different and attractive so they could use this as a powerful marketing tool. They specifically did not want any figures of girls in the logo but don't mind abstract vector faces.

These were my initial drafts, and for some of these drawings, I actually did not follow the specifications of the client (no figures of girls) but thought of presenting what it would look like if it did have these figures. Sometimes, if I feel strong about an idea even if the client was very specific, I would go ahead and present these as exploratory ideas.

It turned out they liked the versions with the figures. The design process involved combining elements from each draft concepts until we reached the final design.

For logo concepts and designs, illustration and other graphic design needs, you may contact me at revcruz@yahoo.com .

Logo Design: Zengu

Tengus are mythical creatures found in Japanese culture and are believed to be protective spirits or deities according to recent Buddhist lore. In one of my recent projects, the tengu served as reference for the logo of Zengu. The name of the company is actually a wordplay on tengu and Zen, and for my initial drafts, concepts started from literal representations of the tengu, which by the way are often depicted as a combination of bird and man, to abstract icons, leaning more on the minimalist zen aspect of their image.

The client was initially attracted to the icon versions, and revisions were made until the following image was reached.

Sometimes, the design process turns around in an entirely new direction, especially when dealing with clients which involves a committee deciding on the approval of the logo. My concept was entirely rejected and I ended up developing and refining a concept they developed on their own. Apparently, they chose a more classical direction for their logo. In the end, I basically enhanced their logo by sharpening their crane image and cleaning up the font to make it more legible.

It may be a little disappointing to have my proposals rejected, but thinking about it, the client knows what's best for their company and how they should be represented. But as an artist, I think was still able to infuse something of my own in the final work. In designing a logo, there is always balance between what you and the client wants. Some clients are more controlling of the process, while others would give free rein to the designer. It's part of the job to find that balance point, and simply flow wherever the design process takes you for optimum results.

For logo concepts and designs, illustration and other graphic design needs, you may contact me at revcruz@yahoo.com .

Logo Design: Cassiopeiae Sweets

It's the season again for joy and merriment and what better way is there to make hearts happy but through gift-giving. And you're always sure to win through a box of delectable fudge cake… or some zesty lemon cashew… or some sweetly intoxicating fruit cake… I better stop there, because there's more ways than these that Cassiopeiae Sweets can offer.

Coming home from a 2-year stint as pastry chefs in the world's first seven-star hotel, the Burj Al Arab of Dubai, my sister, Gelyn and her friend Marge decided to venture into creating their own cake and pastry business. They invested on my mom's sought after and time-tested recipes (my mom's Solita's Kitchen), and actually improving on it by perfecting its taste and presentation using the skills and experience they gained from abroad. Looking at their first batch of sweets, one couldn't deny the effort put into the presentation (how often do you find authentic gold leaf as garnish?) and more so to its rich flavor. I couldn't prevent myself from helping out in the best way I can… by creating their logo brand.

They chose the name "Cassiopeiae" because it creates an image of stars shining in the night sky, something that they aim to emulate through their creations. After some brainstorming about the name (and we did have some interesting debates), I sat down to draw some working concepts. I started selecting fonts, and worked on the graphic around it.

And after some deliberations, the final design was chosen. It wouldn't be a surprise though that I would also be tasked to create their label design. Simple and homegrown.

Highly recommended and it doesn't matter whether you have a sweet tooth or not. Great gifts especially for the holiday season. Scroll down on the pdf viewer below for their products.

For inquiries and orders, call Gelyn at 09166438963 or Marge at 09178250705.

Logo Design: MMA Headquarters (MMA HQ)

It's interesting when my clients ask me about my other interests, because it opens a whole lot of creative avenues. Most probably, after seeing my online photos about my passion for BodyCombat®, which is a Martial-arts inspired workout designed by Les Mills International, and being an instructor myself, a regular client of mine asked me if I was into "martial arts, karate, MMA (mixed martial arts) ?" I never received any formal training in any martial arts, but in BodyCombat® you get exposed to various disciplines despite being a non-contact activity, mixing everything into one dynamic cardio workout. I said "in a way, yes…" and this inadvertently plunged me into another creative project: I have to create a logo for an MMA website.

The brief was pretty straightforward. MMA Headquarters (or MMAHQ) is a website that obviously caters to MMA enthusiasts with a demographic of 15-35 years old individuals. They intend to sell MMA-related products and feature a blog discussing product deals and events. They were open to several ideas: "fighting related elements, icons, silhouettes, other metaphors." The logo needed to have an icon or a scalable element that can be used independently of the words but still maintain the brand Identity. In their words: "what the Nike Swoosh accomplishes on its own." (a request, almost every client I had always remarked ;-P) Having been involved in MMA inspired artwork, I somehow have an idea of what they wanted. A quick Google search of MMA-inspired logos will show you what I mean.

I focused on creating an icon, this time working on a clever graphical way of combining "H" and "Q" since it is these two letters that set MMAHQ apart from other competing websites. Drawing inspiration from a logo I made for my old BodyCombat® team, I made the following sketches:

The client provided a very informative feedback:

Maybe like a clean grunge, if that's not a total contradiction. Like discipline amidst the grunge, if that makes sense. Like more jagged edges than sloppy, messy ones. I'd almost want to say there's a bit of military influence; I've seen so many board shorts and t-shirts that have camo or camo-like patterns. There's also a bit of a hip hop element; not too much but a bit of graf influence I think… but if you look at the fonts they use they are always super durable... Like you put all the fonts together and let them fight it out and the really strong one emerged victorious. Tempered by steel/tested by fire. It's still sort of Gladiator-esque in a way, but still trying to gain legitimacy as a new sport, so that's why I'd say it's not quite as grungey...grunge being sorta not caring about anything, MMA being more hyperfocused on a goal and defying human odds to get there

The client was very excited with these previews and almost immediately, we decided to develop the ideas to their vectorized format:

With almost little editing, the logos were finalized as what you will see in their website. On a side note, not entirely unrelated to this post, and with the fact that my birthday is nearing, I would just like to say that if anyone gift me with this or this, I would love you forever…

Logo Design: Baker’s Confetti

One of my recent logo creations involved one of my favorite things: baking! Well, not really. I'm not that much of an expert in baking, my skills limited to simple cookies and cupcakes, but I can say, I'm very good in eating what other people has baked! Anyway, the challenge of creating this logo is to capture the magic of baking, and with a very enticing company name, the logo should be as well.

Baker's Confetti carries the sweetest, best-tasting bottled sprinkles around. Their products are formulated with the finest ingredients, and were created with even the most discriminating consumer in mind. They wanted a logo with business professional style, but must be trendy and memorable as well. Their target audience is the typical home baker/candy maker, small bake shop/ice cream shop owner and the run-of-the-mill sprinkle aficionado (anyone with a sweet tooth!) The logo should represent quality, be memorable and visually attractive.

Sometimes, before I set myself into creating a logo, I select keywords to guide me through the process. And for this one, I specifically chose "magic" as the name of the company pretty sets it up… "baker" and "confetti". The confetti part is easy. I can create a logo with sprinkles about it, but that would be too common. So I had to illustrate the baker and confetti in a sort of magical way… After a few swings using simple geometric shapes in my vector program (I didn't go through pencil sketches for this one), and choosing a "delicious" font (which I edited slightly to balance it out) to go with it, I came up with this.

And on light background.

It was an instant favorite, and a personal one for me as well. Definitely one of my most memorable creations. Baker's Confetti is yet to launch their website and release their products, but they have a blog which features some recipes, and a facebook account as well.

Logo Design: Riley Seaplane Company

It's wonderful when clients seek you out because a previous work impressed them and somehow fit the particular style they needed for their logo. Cam McCulloch saw the Art Deco style I did for Savoy Special, a rock and roll band based in Houston, Texas. Cam wanted to have a similar illustration and text for their seaplane company called "Flying Fish Aircraft Company". She shared ideas on how it could look like would like, one of which would have a flying fish with propellers on its back "like an airplane " coming out of the water. Cam provided me with reference pictures.

Another thought would be to use two F's in flying fish back to back some how to make wings. I did some research again about art deco design particularly how it represented aircrafts and fishes, and similar themes. I promised her 3 initial drafts for the logos and I came up with the following conceptual sketches.

The first one utilizes the two F's, forming the outline of the seaplane. It is a very simple design and can be framed in a numerous ways as shown in the variations. The second one invests on the idea of a flying fish-plane hybrid, and basing much from the reference pictures provided, the illustration was executed in art deco style, combining the dynamism of the fish and the sophistication of the plane. Again it can be framed in many ways, and various options for embellishments such as waves or splashes may be added. The final concept is again a flying fish-plane hybrid, but this time, executed in a simpler manner, flat from the lateral perspective.

Promptly after submission, Cam commented that the "Flying Fish" name of the company seems not to be working as a text in the initial drafts, and requested to use "Riley Seaplane Company" instead, executed in a more art deco inspired font. She liked the hybrid concepts and decided to steer the design development process towards that direction. The name "Flying Fish" would then be redundant, if an illustration using a flying fish would be use. Cam reminded me about the rejected design concepts I did for Savoy Special, particularly the wing concept and asked if it can somehow be incorporated in the design. It was of course possible, and presented an interesting opportunity. Before doing vector work, I made another sketch for final approval:

Cam really liked the design, and provided me with more reference pictures to incorporate in the design, specifically making the fish more detailed and framing options. After a suggestion of adding waves in the frame, the design so far was this:

And after much deliberation, we decided to tone down on the waves and settle with this final design:

This design was truly a collaborative work, and as a designer, I was very glad to have been able to realize the design the client wanted. Designers sometimes are frustrated with clients who seems too controlling of the creative process, while at the same time failing to communicate what they truly want, and sometimes, changing their mind incessantly. Not with Cam, whom I enjoyed working with. It is very rewarding to conclude projects with very satisfied clients.

Logo Design: UnoNovè

What do you see in this logo?

UnoNovè, is a small company based in Los Angeles and they manufacture and sell woman's active sportswear apparel. They were looking for a logo that would represent fitness and style, can be artsy but not overly masculine (as most sportswear apparel logo tends to be). Since the name of the company literally means "19", the logo should somehow draw inspiration from it.

My first concept utilized the Roman version of the number, "XIX" which is a very interesting symbol to work with as it is inherently symmetric and allows itself to a variety of design executions. I came up and submitted this version, which evokes elegance. I was not exactly confident in the design as it particularly fails to represent "fitness" and more of the "style". Looking at it, it works better as a high fashion apparel logo, rather than a sportsline.

I worked on another concept, this time focusing on the original "19" and executing it in a simple iconic design. Looking at the numbers, I felt the key would be the head of the number "9". I worked on numerous sketches, and finally executed it in the version first shown at the top of this blog.

And on a dark background:

I tested it by showing the design to people, and obviously they see a flower, particularly a rose, as most of you did. Only then when they see the name of the company or they are told outright do they realize the rose is actually the number "19". I felt immediately that I hit it confidently with this design, and I was genuinely excited with it, and I really hoped UnoNovè pick this one. It can be executed in a variety of colors and will work well with embroidery and print. And they did pick this design!