Step-by-step Case Studies - how our designers develop logos.

Papa's Sports Lounge & Casino.

It's hard to believe, but the Papa's Sports Lounge casino logo started with the designs at top right (as per the original client project submission) but through a serious of rigorous design phases, morphed into the 'Pirate' version shown. Sometimes it's interesting to see how the design process evolved, and how a logo design changes from being just a part of of company, to being the theme of the company itself.

The logo for this company wasn't for a new venture. Far from it. Papa's has been around for years and they wanted to 're-brand' in order to take their establishment to a new level. They wanted a simple 'shield type' logo and one that contained the essential ingredients of the business - sports betting and casino. Fair enough. Our designers worked up a series of preliminary designs (some of which are shown top right) with the typical sports logos and icons. After we suggested that the client broaden the logo somewhat, we developed a 'Papa' character - little bald dude with one of those huge 'Number 1' foam gloves that are so popular with sports fans. After a few minor revisions, we began to add a wider range of color (the original brief called for a spot color treatment). Once color was added the client decided that we needed more elements that portrayed their lounge - a bag of cash, a drink and a card table. The logo now risked being cluttered and 'trite'. How many more elements can you fit into a design after all?

That's when the project came to a shuddering halt. After consultation with some small business marketing types, it had been decided that the entire theme of the lounge was going to be changed. No little bald dude. No foam gloves allowed. No sir. The theme of the lounge (and the enclosed restaurant) was going to be that of a Pirate's Cove. Yikes. Now the logo we had developed didn't work at all - on any level. A completely new project was started, this time zeroing in on the character himself - Papa - who had now morphed from a fairly nondescript fellah, to a very specific type of character - a Pirate. The new project brief was much descriptive - the character was not to appear menacing, nor 'too friendly' or 'cartoony'. Other than the rapidly approaching deadline, not a big deal. After a series of character illustrations and sketches, the client settled on the character seen here. Once that stage of the design process was completed, all that was left was the additional of appropriate font work (inside a Pirate's flag, natch) and a nice background to wrap it all together. That would be the final logo shown here.

See here for more Entertainment logos.

Pick a Pizza.
From concepts to final -
a case study.

Pick a Pizza restaurant wanted to begin their marketing campaign with a bang and as such, contracted The Logo Factory to develop a new brand, logo and 'look and feel' for their new pizzeria service. Pick a Pizza only accept orders via their online ordering system, and choices - while varied - are limited to a number of popular topping combos. While Pick a Pizza had their delivery and concept down pat, they had no creative direction and left that to TLF in-house designers to develop.
As many of our projects do, the logo development for Pick a Pizza began with a series of doodles, sketches and very rough conceptual drawings - all in an attempt to nail down the creative direction.

Our designers worked with the usual pizza artwork - characters, cartoons, stylized pizza slices and (shudder) a pizza logo blasting out of a computer monitor (hey - even we come up with cliches once in a while). None of the preliminary designs (some shown) grabbed the client - until it was decided that the logo needed to be location focused. We created a seal-type design and added a graphic of the Golden State Bridge and surrounding skyline. Now, we were on to something. After selecting an appropriate font and typography, we began to experiment with some color combinations. Pizza ingredient icons were illustrated and added, and the colors were finessed until we achieved the logo featured above.

As the company was in full-blown startup, we also needed to develop Yellow Pages ads (which could later be used as brochure designs) similarly themed graphic design sell sheets and presentation folders. As deadlines were critical - stock photography wasn't available (and there wasn't enough time to shoot specific material) our designers created a series of food themed icons which were also appropriate for Pick a Pizza's web site.

See here for more Restaurant logos.

GTA Exotics.
We started with a car. Then we got another car. Then we lost the car again...

The Bean ice cream & coffee shop. A case study.

Rather than starting with the high-tech tools, most character designs begin the old fashioned way - with a pencil and paper illustration. Our designers generally begin with pencil, or pen and ink, doodles, which are sent to the client for initial approval and then through a series of design steps, are 'tightened up' until the desired character is created. These sketches are critical, as they allow both the designer and the client to decide which direction the project will take, as well as allow the creation of a character that resembles a traditional cartoon character, as opposed to those created on a computer.

In the case of The Bean, our designers went through several rounds of character development before settling on the final mascot that would form the main component of the logo. The Bean started off life as a 'cute' little fellah, and it wasn't until later versions did he develop his 'hip style'. In a few versions, our designers even placed a Mohawk hairdo but that was nixed by the client as being too 'out there'.

Then came the glasses and in the final version, a trendy goatee. His smug expression added to the overall 'coolness' and 'attitude' of the character. What has started as a fairly benign character finally had enough style to be incorporated into a logo. Complimentary fonts were selected, as well as a bright color scheme (to illustrate coffee and orange sherbet ice cream).

Once The Bean character was finalized, it was then scanned and turned into vector based artwork. (necessary for most modern applications and traditional reproduction methods). The remaining sketches were archived should the client require images of The Bean mascot in various positions and/or activities. In the final stages of the project, the logo was set up for use on a host of marketing and promotion items (mouse pad artwork above).

See here for more examples of Restaurant logos.