Creative Enterprise Logo(s)

Cam Cargill: Freelance Creative
Creative Enterprise Logos

Logo Design 1

My first logo design for my creative enterprise "Cam Cargill: Freelance Creative" consisted solely of a vector of a camera with a detailed lens where the shutter for the camera is. I wanted to create a logo with a basic house style and colour theme of three bold colours (black, red and white) - colours that stand out but also keep an idea of professionalism and sensibility. With the lens and the colour coordination of it, I wanted to create the imagery of an eyeball - creating a double interpretation of looking through a camera lens but also the eye is seeing the world through the lens of the camera and vice versa. I chose the camera to be the main part of the logo so it would not limit my areas of work in the creative industry as a creative freelance but also give potential customers and business partners an idea of what I am primarily passionate about; cinematography (photography and film). I am confident in my choice for the text in regards to the font, as it is a sans serif font so it is easier to read. However, I will be altering the text in my feature designs as the text isn't as clear as I'd hoped so I will alter it to the extent where the it is clear and bold but also still legible. I will also be further developing the rest of my logo as I am unsure about the word placement of both my name and my CE title - this is because, despite them not being directly important with the logo design itself, they do not seem centralized or clear in the actual logo design, so it'll certainly be something for me to consider in my upcoming designs.

Logo Design 2

For my second design, I created a larger logo which proved to be, what I would say, a better layout for both the image(s) and the text. The camera-eye symbolism is still present but with a tripod-looking body given to the camera, creating a camera-head person with the iconography of a camera mounted tripod (again, displaying my passion for filming and photography). However, in this design, I decided to include film reel as part of the design to drive home the fact that I am primarily interested in the film and TV part of the creative world - it helps to create a bolder logo design and I feel that it more suitable rather than what would be perceived as a generic logo of a camera with text (see design 1). The text placement is much better than the previous design as the words are much more visibly clear to read and no longer in italics, with the use of black text against a white background to generate a stronger contrast the white text on a black background. As much as I prefer this design, I feel as it may be too detailed for a logo and may be seen as too "cartoon-like" for a brand logo (looking largely at the tripod-body hybrid) and would undermine the want for an appearance of professionalism in my brand and creative enterprise. I will, nevertheless, stick to my colour scheme as I am proud with the consistency of it as well as its striking look.

Logo Design 3

Despite my changes for my logo, I feel as this one is not as suitable as the two designs prior to the design of this logo. It does not creatively stand out as intuitive or as creatively unique as both design 1  and design 2. I have remained resilient and consistent in the use of the black, red and white colour scheme as well as the imagery of the camera itself. In this design, I have still kept the film reel as part of the design, but on a horizontal layout, with a hint of red on each slide on the reel to add more colour to the main design rather than keeping it primarily black and white. I have also removed the tripod/body of the camera so it still has the focus on the camera and the film reel rather than the "body" which didn't make much sense for the design. Unlike the previous designs, I have not included the camera lens for where the shutter is on the camera - removing the iconography of the "eye" in the camera. I wanted to focus largely on the centre of the design, hence my change on the eye/lens - however, I feel that with this design I again focused too largely on the surrounding imagery of the logo rather than the logo itself - so the detail is too much and too distracting from the actual design, making this design a lot weaker than its predecessors. The text does not stand-out as much as the previous designs and is also more difficult to read; a poor design choice on my behalf. For my next and hopefully final design, I will not use red text at all so the text is legible and so it still suits the design. I will also consider not using a horizontal design that will take up to much space on the actual logo design.

Logo Design 4

I have made greater changes to my logo design than the aforementioned designs. This current design is a lot simpler, with a two to three colour palette chosen. I have removed the symbolism of the camera within the design as I felt that the camera was taking up too much space and prevented more creative freedom; the lack of the camera imagery allows my freelance business to have access to not be limited solely to cinematography or photography. I also thought that orange and black contrasted better as they were bold and eye-catching but not too bold. With this logo variant, it uses the colours to create a shadow effect, so the C looks like it both has a shadow and a secondary C - with each C being my initials. On top of both Cs, I have the words "Freelance Creative" stamped onto the design; these are also matching the orange-black colour scheme with each word in opposite colours to help stand out and are legible. I also have an alternative design similar to this (see left) which would be applicable to a black polo as part of the uniform that I want to create for my creative enterprise; some of the colours are inverted to allow the design to be more visible and readable on a black background. I feel that the 'night' variant works successfully with the idea in mind for a black polo uniform, however for my next and final design of the logo I shall consider changing the colour and text to create a visually appealing and a sense of professionalism for my business and logo.

Logo Design 5

With my fifth design, I have settled on using a very similar layout to the previous concept, however I have chosen a light blue for the mid ground of the logo and used black for the background - the change of orange to blue gives the same visually enticing appearance but with a cooler tone of colour and still remains a reputable and professional concept. With the text, I have used the font Advent Pro Light in a black and colour scheme - creating a stronger suitable appearance and the foreground text is still central in the main design. There is a 'night' variant for this design also, which would applicable to a black polo for uniform and likely business cards should I need them.

Response to Feedback
After being peer assessed by my classmates, I have learnt that the most favourable designs are both logo design 4 and 5. From what I have been told, the colours are suitable and bold, but the text and backgrounds to both designs are largely an issue - especially when considering applying them to my creative enterprise website. The font choice for logo design 4 is suitable but needs to be rotated onto a 180° angle and the same was said about my two C's of which I used for my initials. The colours for logo design 5 were appealing to my peers when they assessed my designs but the feedback for my choice of font was my biggest critique on the design. This was due to its difficulty to read, both in the "day" and "night" variants of the logo designs. When it comes to acting on my feedback, I will take all feedback into consideration to create a more suitable design with a more legible text on my design.

Final Designs