Logos

Development of my record label logo using Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator is quite technical and complicated to use for beginners, so my class and I completed a task (tutorial link here) where we had to recreate the Batman logo. This was to get us more familiar with the software so that we would be confident when using it to create our record label logos. I managed to overcome some of the difficulties that came with using software that I was unfamiliar with and discovered how to use the tools and effects that I would later use for my own design.




My record label name is Orion Records and so I wanted to have a logo that represented/conveyed the theme of space because of how Orion is the name of a constellation of stars. Originally, I wanted the logo to be a literal depiction of the name, and researched minimalist designs of the constellation such as the ones below to base the main image of my logo around.

The first draft of my logo depicted the constellation using white star shapes and thin lines on a faded blue background. I wanted the background to be blue to represent the sky and be dark enough to make the white stand out but not so dark as to merge into dark surfaces that the logo would be put onto (e.g. a digipak/album cover). However, I found that the logo was too plain and didn't look how I imagined it would. The positioning looked awkward in the circle and it was hard getting the proportions right in order to make it look professional.

First logo attempt



I then decided to branch out and that I wanted several elements to the logo such as different shapes or colours while still having an overall theme. I also wanted to have a clear way of incorporating the actual company name alongside the logo without it looking too separate from it (e.g. overlapping parts/shapes being used in the picture and the words). I liked the circular shape of my first logo and so kept that part of my idea but with a different image. I decided on the image of a cartoon and stylised Earth with countries that slightly extended out from the main circle to add visual interest and variation as well as an almost 3D look.

Instead of the classic blue and green colours that are usually used to depict the planet, I used different shades of blue. This kept with my original idea of using blue but kept with a colour scheme. I felt that using blue and green would make it look too busy and unoriginal and so made the 'countries' a lighter shade of blue than the 'ocean'.


I then added a black ring around the planet to encompass it and introduce the idea of atoms (the filled black circles). Having the Earth (an expansive structure) and atoms (extremely small but makes up everything) is symbolic of what the record label's ethos would be: recognising small artists and showing that they can be known around the world. The circular shapes of both parts of the image also work together to create a smooth and sleek look without too many different things happening and making it look too busy with too many different shapes.


I then added a fourth circle on the right side of the ring and filled it in with a white circle so as to make it look like an 'O'. This is the overlapping feature that ties the company name with the image. Both words are in block capitals and clear script with 'Orion' slightly bigger and above 'Records' to show that it is the most important of the two; the latter word is in line with the middle of the Earth image. The black colour also coincides with the black ring and atoms in order to have continuity.



Final logo design