What is an adaptive logo? An adaptive logo has specific versions to respond to the platform or medium being used.
Case Study | The Adaptive Logo for Simmos Heavy Diesel
T
he logo is dead, long live the adaptive logo! Even if it is just a small part of your brand identity, the logo is getting a useful upgrade that you might want to embrace.
Where is this trend coming from?
In this digital age, we ask more and more from a logo. No more 1-size-fits-all! Your logo has to be carefully designed to fit the square or round shape of your social media handles, to be wide enough for the side of your car, bright enough to be recognisable on a flyer or a shirt, small enough to conserve space on your packaging and clever enough for people to remember it.
As a result the traditional fixed, stable brand mark is being shook up.
A trend that makes branding more flexible, more fun for designers and that -you guessed it!- we embraced with creative eagerness.
The Story Of Simmos Heavy Diesel
Simmos Heavy Diesel is a service based company specialising in fixing and maintaining industrial diesel vehicles, especially in the mining industry.
Erin & Simon came to us through social media. They chose to work with us because of the several referrals we had on their initial post.
They needed a logo for their business that could be used on different mediums. They already had a sketch of what they would like and asked us to create the logo from there.
Our objectives were:
- to create a logo that connects to its very specific target market
- to enhance Erin & Simon’s sketch
- to create a logo that catches the eye
- to create an adaptive logo that would cater Erin & Simon’s business needs
“a logo for their business that could be used on different mediums”
The Challenges and Opportunities
When a client comes to us already with a pretty clear idea of what they want, it can potentially be much faster to create and more affordable.
The sketch was actually quite clever and inspired. They took the shape of a cog -which is associated with this type of field and used often in their everyday job- and slightly changed the lines to include the ’S’ from ‘Simmos’.
1- The sketch:
They nailed their target market with this logo. Straight away, any potential customer would be attracted to this type of design just because it features a physical object they see and use everyday. It has more impact on them because it belongs in their life.
What we did:
We retraced the sketch to give it more depth. We chose to enlarge the contour of the outside shape and uncut line to really showcase the cog.
2 – The colours:
The colour palette for a logo is important to imprint a feeling on your brand. Here, we had to be mindful of the product, the target market and the fact that the logo needed to be recognisable on the bright orange, high-visibility shirt Simon wears to work.
What we did:
Initially, both cooler colours -like blue and black- and warmer colours -like yellow and orange- were explored. But, as diesel fuel has a yellow to amber colour, the warmer colours were seen as more relevant.
We also decided on black as a high contrast colour, easily visible when reproduced on Simon’s shirt.
With both a warm colour and black decided, various proportions of the two colours were explored in the resulting logo design process.
3- The grainy filter:
Erin & Simon wanted to give the logo an edgy, rough feel. This look is usually more complicated to attain without loosing the legibility of the illustration and the brand name. This could be just fine for a digital use only but once it’s printed – especially on high visibility shirts like they wanted- the logo needs to be clear enough to be recognisable and readable.
What we did:
There is no secret! We tried several options that could work on the font and the logo and offered them to Erin and Simon. We had some constructive back and forth during the edits and found the winning look.
4- Adaptability:
Targeted markets like the one Erin and Simon operate in can be a real creative pleasure to work on for us designers. Here, we decided to jump on the adaptive logo trend by making one version of the logo in 3D.
We identified that using 3D opens up more opportunities to display the sturdiness and solidness of an object, which is attractive to the eyes of customers in their industry.
What we did:
The whole point of an adaptive logo is to have several slightly different versions of the same logo that can be adapted to each medium. We thought horizontal, vertical, 2D, 3D, with grime, without grime for high visibility shirts, black and yellow and white and yellow.
We also made sure the logo had some moving parts that could be creatively used. In some cases the logo’s typeface could be normal or compressed to fit certain proportions.
This allows the visual identity to be used on the square or circular proportion of a social media profile icon or the wide proportion of the side of a truck. Not to mention, the array of possibilities available to the kind of printing used. A 3D rendition would look great on digital or anything in multi-coloured paper print form (like flyers and business cards), whereas the 2D version is adapted for printed items with a limited colour range or shades (like the shirts).
The Results
The 3D look adds an impression of solidity to the overall design. It makes the cog look more chunky and gives some extra depth to the design. The metal, solid finish is relevant to the type of metallic machinery used in their industry, and attracts the eye of potential customers who may also use that machinery. And the clever ’S’ shape inside makes the logo memorable.
Erin & Simon were very pleased with the result. They are currently in the process of printing their items and creating their digital presence with the visual identity we designed for them.
We’re sure they’ll establish themselves as a company with a strong brand identity and brand presence on their market.
Get in contact with Simmos Heavy Diesel here: Erin Rayner
At Visual Targets, we are experts in creating strong brand identities and we would love to help you achieve success in your business. Whether it is new business or rebranding an old one, just chat with us, we can help!
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