We recently launched a new logo for Arts United, and more printed materials, a website and branding are in the works. I thought I'd share some of the design process behind the logo.

The shape:

The first idea for this logo came from the idea of chiseling the letters A and U out of a single block.  We started very square, and then began rounding off corners until it felt about right. Here's a look at key milestones in this process.

Once we had the shape where we wanted it to be, we started to fine tune some of the proportions. Something that came up in our critiques was that the backside of the U seemed to stick up too much. Geometrically it made sense since the U was coming up to meet the border of the original cube the logo was 'chiseled' from. Of course, now that the point of the A was rounded, the U seemed out of place. So we brought its tip down to fall in line with the curve of the A. You'll also notice that the curve of the U falls a little deeper as well. Both decisions were done to create a shape more balanced and pleasing to the eye, even if it does throw off the perspective a bit.

The colors:

Arts United's old color was a very 1980s reflex blue. What was it with that color back then? Everyone used it! Probably the worst part of reflex blue is that when it gets screened back, it turns purple really fast. From the start, we thought about injecting more color into the brand and moving away from the blue entirely. While we worked out the shape of the logo, you can see that we explored a lot of different palettes. We even considered removing the idea of a palette completely and giving the logo no specific color at all. After all, Arts United is a support organization and their logo is often placed as a sponsor on many other items. So could we create something that could change color but retain its identity in any circumstance?

Well, due to the business-of-the-arts nature of Arts United, and its role as a support organization, we decided that a drastically bright palette was not appropriate for Arts United. And while the idea of creating an any-color-goes palette seemed progressive and appealing, it seemed to lead to more questions and problems than solutions. And as bad as the old logo was, it still had some equity as our region was familiar with the blue block. So we decided to stick with the navy blue, but pull the red out of it and make it a little more neutral. We paired it with a mustardy, muted gold color and pitched these treatments to the client along with several other concepts.

The final edits:

At the end of a lengthy discussion and analysis, the above icon seemed to be the one that resonated most. Though the polygon shield wasn't favored as part of the logo , nor the mustard color. The color felt a little outdated, and the polygon was unnecessary (though that shape would return as the shape of the business cards). So we replaced the gold with a bright orange color and added a tertiary tan color to the palette as a nice neutral tone. The palette is fitting for this organization. They support the arts — specifically by providing bookkeeping, insurance and fundraising services for the arts. The color palette needed to have a little restraint to show the serious, trustworthy nature of a responsible, established organization that exists so that the creative organizations they support can take center stage. Also, by selecting a navy Pantone that screens back well, we were able to create a primary, most often used version of the logo that is one-color logo — saving big money on printing in the long run.

We also worked on several different type treatments, too. Neutraface ultimately won out, as we preferred the contrasting point of the A to the curve of the mark. This was a controversial decision, but after seeing different treatments stacked up, this one worked best. Here's where we ended up.

Stay tuned. With this logo out the door, we are embarking on the process of converting all of Arts United's printed materials, web site and signage. This has been an incredibly rewarding project. Arts United is an incredible organization — they enrich our community by helping artists and arts groups handle the "business of making art" so the artists can focus on honing their creativity and craft. With its technical, yet fluid form, we feel this logo represents this business-of-creativity quite well and gives a nice nod to the idea that arts truly are a uniting force in a community. 

Design is a disease, so I work on my own projects over the weekend. Throughout the year I make mixes of the latest tunes I've been listening to for my friends. We're halfway through 2010, so it's time for the Q2 mix. Here's the packaging I made for it.

Visit my other blog to have a closer look at the track list and download a wallpaper for your mobile phone.

This weekend is Riverfest at IPFW! RiverFest is a one-day festival celebrating our rivers with music, art, family, food, and fun along the St. Joseph River on the IPFW campus. Get the full scoop at the Riverfest website.

While you're there, keep your eyes peeled for the Friends of the Rivers, an advocacy group that's raising money and helping to organize massive river clean-up and future development. The Friends of the River asked us to design their logo, stationery suite and brochures for their endeavor. You'll see them in person at Riverfest, but if you can't make it, here are a few photos. 

That stationery suite is still in production. When we have paper-in-hand, we'll post a few photos for you to see. Have a great weekend everyone.

Last night six members of the OLG team, and about 1,100 other concerned community members from NE Indiana, attended the Vision 2020 Regional Economic Summit at the Grand Wayne Convention Center in downtown Fort Wayne. All around, it was an awesome night. Several foundations, including our good friends at The Regional Partnership and Northeast Indiana Fund, have been working hard with people all over the region to develop a solid plan for the future of our region. At the core of this initiative is to improve the quality of life that we enjoy here, including better education, better jobs, better wages, more culture and more stuff to do. 

Parallel to this Vision 2020 process, the YLNI (Young Leaders of Northeast Indiana) began to engage their network to find out what the emerging leaders of our region want their home to become. Their effort, which was based around a survey of the hopes, dreams, comments and concerns of 200 young leaders, was called 2020 Vision (notice the slight change in title). YLNI asked us to help them design a brochure to present their findings. The brochure contains infographics explaining the findings of YLNI's survey and many feature essays and photos of some of the region's leaders. Most of the photography was done by Kelly Lynch, who did a stellar job on the portraits.

We're thrilled to have share in telling this story, and lovin' being in the thick of these regional initiatives to make our home, as Matt Kelley says, "A jewel of the Midwest." Between the YLNI's 2020 Vision and the regional Vision 2020 findings, it's clear that we all have a lot of work to do. But there is optimism in the air. Many key players are aligning their efforts. The time is right.

For more info on YLNI's 2020 Vision, visit YLNI.org.

More info about the regional Vision 2020, visit www.northeastindianavision.com.

Also, in true OLG fashion, we had to design a T-Shirt to commemorate the event. If you were at the event you might have seen YLNI board members sporting this 2020 Vision Tee. Word has it YLNI may be producing more of these shirts for sale, so keep an eye out for updates on their site.

We're having a ton of fun working with Northeast Indiana Fund on the Talent Initiative. The Talent Initiative (TI) is an endeavor managed by the Northeast Indiana Fund to increase the professional skills of our region’s workforce by means of enhanced education or training — especially in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math. And Lilly Endowment Inc. has recently invested $20 million to make this happen in our area in a big way.

Recently, this grant money has helped fund the development of an advanced manufacturing laboratory at the new Ivy Tech facility in Fort Wayne. It's a really incredible lab, too, where students are trained to use world-class, state-of-the-art machines. This is sophisticated stuff — not your dad's manufacturing.

Here are a few images of a plaque we designed for the exterior of the lab. It's a small thing, really, but this represents the first of many more places you'll see the TI brand using Lilly's generosity to support education and talent growth throughout the region.