Project Objective and Purpose
My objective was to develop a visual identity system for a client’s freelance book editing business named Starmap Editorial. This included a logo, a color palette, typography, imagery, iconography, a website, and a brand guideline document to help the client in his future work.
The purpose behind this objective was to help my client communicate his message to his target audience, which consists of YA science fiction authors who are looking to self-publish. The message is my client’s promise to value the authors’ creative expression, stand against generative AI, and guide them through the publishing journey. All decisions made in designing this visual identity system were guided by that message.
The Project
1. The Brand Guideline Document
Below is the brand guideline document I created for the client.
The document summarizes many of the aspects of the visual identity system for the client’s business. While the document itself is simple, it is a culmination of many hours of research, designing elements in Adobe Illustrator, and many revisions of those elements to better convey the idea to the client’s target audience.
2. The Website
Below is a video of me scrolling through the Starmap Editorial website. A direct website link is not yet available as some bug fixes and other developments are needed before I can publish the site. When completed, the website will be viewable both on desktop and mobile browsers under the site http://www.starmapeditorial.com.
Challenges I Encountered
Most of the challenges I encountered involve the development of the Starmap Editorial website. For example, if I click on an item in the menu bar, the site is supposed to scroll down to the desired section. It does so, but it jumps to the top of the page first, creating a jarring transition. Efforts to resolve the issue have led to no success so far. I will continue to work on it until I can find a solution.
Another challenge was the fact that I had to shrink the logo considerably for it to fit in the website heading. To resolve this, I created an alternative horizontal version of the logo that can be at full-size while not creating this conflict.
The Process
1. Brainstorming and Research
To begin the process, I sat down with the client and discussed his target audience. A document with more comprehensive notes is given below. To summarize, we determined that the target audience is strongly opposed to generative AI, somewhat daunted by the publishing process, and frustrated with the traditional publishing process’ prioritization of marketability sometimes coming at the expense of creative exploration
With these notes in mind, we decided that the brand’s promise would be to prioritize their creative expression and guide them through the publishing journey.
2. Logo Development
To begin the logo process, I began with some sketches. Below are just a few of these sketches. Initially, I had the idea to use steps to symbolize upward progress. Several sketches involve books or pages being used as steps.
The client and I didn’t feel like these ideas were going in the right direction. We realized we wanted to convey a message that incorporates both the forward thinking nature of science fiction as well as the traditional creative process that rejects AI. We decided to use the idea of star navigation, an ancient and reliable method, combined with futuristic elements. One such futuristic element was the constellation Cepheus, because the point on the constellation will become the north star in about two thousand years from now due to the slow shift in the earth’s precession.
The logo was designed in Adobe Illustrator. It went through several iterations. The text in the first couple of attempts were difficult to read at small scales, and the visual hierarchy was poor. I decided to use gold on dark blue background, a more obvious compass element, and a better typeface.
Below is all the variants of the finalized logo. The black and white version is for print. The simplified horizontal variants are for website headers.
3. Other Visual Elements
The color palette consists of colors that combine space travel with traditional methods of creativity. The space colors are dark blue, light blue, and purple. The colors for creativity are mostly white, which calls to mind white paper. We also included gold to represent the prestige and honor we give to the authors’ creative vision.
The iconography is modeled after many of the features in the logo. This creates consistency and reminds the target audience of the message.
The typography is also connected to the brand message. I chose Minion Pro Regular for headings because the serifs call to mind the old traditional methods of writing and are consistent with the pointy elements in the logo and icons. The body text is Bai Jamjuree Medium, which I chose for its modern and clean look, which calls to mind the forward thinking element of the client’s brand message.
The website was made incorporating the elements above. I decided to use Wix for the web builder because it is a relatively affordable option for domain hosting and has many options and resources for building the website and SEO.
Overview of My Experiences
Creating a visual identity system for this business has taught me how complex and in-depth the process truly is. There are lots of aspects of the process that I had learned about previously such as brand messaging and visual hierarchy, but this work helped me to see how it all fits together. I was fortunate to receive excellent feedback throughout the process from a graphic design professional who has decades of experience. He was able to help me consider things I hadn’t thought of or noticed.
Key Takeaways
The main lesson I learned from this project was to always remember the target audience and brand message. At several points through the process, I would create something that didn’t look right along side the other elements. Each time, it was because I didn’t do it with the brand message and guidelines I had created. When I did keep those in mind, the designs felt much more cohesive.