logo
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It was my first time creating a logo. The first thing I had in mind was what should I name my company because I have never been good at naming and even words. Soon as I thought through every beautiful word I had come across, a song’s title caught my attention. Since I was listening to random songs while thinking, Mikrokosmos by BTS (방탄소년단) sort of caught me off guard at that time. I have always loved the song. With the beautiful and meaningful lyrics from the song, it keeps on radiating positive energy. From Mikrokosmos, I became fascinated with the word Cosmos. Based on what I have always known, Cosmos is a word that has something to do with the universe, but little did I know then that there is a flower out there with the name. Looking through Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, ‘cosmos’ is defined as the universe, which is thought of as an ordered and harmonious system. The next thing I realized was I needed a flower company by using this name, which I purposely wanted to elucidate as a beautiful bouquet with a very pleasing arrangement of flowers aside from the warmth it gives to the hearts.
Later, I started designing my logo roughly without using any template or existing logo. By reflecting on the lessons that I've learned in class, I got to create a color palette that would suit perfectly with the flower theme. However, again, I was stuck at whether to emphasize the logo with the company name or a sketched flower. I took some time scrolling down, googling whatever I could to help in deciding for the best. Frankly said, I never really wished to create something so extravagant knowing my ability, but preferably a simple yet attractive one with a hint of modernity. Consequently, I found a logo maker website, Tailor Brands, and so I tried my luck there, wondering how my logo would come out by only giving a few descriptions and the company name. It turned out rather disappointing because it was too simple and lacked creativity, but at least I got the answer to my conflict and decided to emphasize ‘Cosmos’ more, together with the insertion of a small tagline. Thanks to the logo which was made by the website, it fairly gave me ideas on how to design on my own. I decided to add a slogan, ‘A Soul Blossoming’ which popped into my mind so suddenly at that time, plus, ratherish because the phrase is short and sweet that needless to say will be easy to linger in mind.
https://www.tailorbrands.com/logo-maker
Based on what I’ve learned, I applied the basic elements of graphic design principles in designing this logo. For the contrast element, I used it in the typefaces and the color. As for the typeface, the use of a decorative font for the brand name, while san serif for the tagline can be seen as the visual attraction for customers to be eager to learn about the business better. As per the theme, I tried to choose pastel colors that will radiate softness and tenderness. Therefore, I chose a perfect dull purple, pink, grey, and other similar color tones in pastel which I know will pop attention among minimalist lovers because of the soft vibes as well as the trace of novelty in it. Meanwhile, for the repetition element, I could not ignore the need to include flowers in the logo, hence I applied different sizes and types of elements of flowers here and there to match the theme of the brand. I believe that the use of this element in a way lets off a unified and somehow strengthened the main purpose of my brand.
In terms of alignment, I placed the tagline slightly to the top-left of Cosmos to give a seamless composition that gives a good sense of balance, at the same time creates a connection between elements by which the flower elements are located somewhere near the typefaces. Also, while designing the logo, I intended to use the proximity element as I set the brand name and the tagline together to emit the precision of the brand name to make it more appealing to the eyes. Overall, it can be assumed that I did a good job in designing this logo since I successfully included all the five principles of effective logo design which are simple, memorable, timeless, versatile, and appropriate with the application of the basic elements of graphic design in it. For a first-timer in graphic designing, I believe that this would most probably be added as my new passion because it was fun designing logos, though I'm not sure when else would I get the chance to do this again.
On a side note, I created another two logos with almost the same alignment and all after finishing one design, but the difference is the element of flowers that I used and the position in the logo. Here I attached the link to my Canva folder for these other two logos.
poster
I was clueless before I started doing this poster. We were given varied options to choose for a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project that our company will organize and we were instructed to create a poster for the project. While creating a poster was already one thing, the other one thing was when I had to choose a project which made my indecisive mind compelled to work thoroughly. With only the hint of the project and no other additional instruction, I was puzzled as to where I should pace in this poster-making process. Hence I decided to pick a project first which I made a fault for choosing a charity run program. Truth be told, I only read the list once, and thought it was enough to set my eyes on the project.
Yes, while designing, I was continuously facing problems on how to match my company with flower themes and the charity run program. It was the biggest problem I admitted I ever had which led me to come up with different poster designings that I casually filled with unconvincing information that related to Cosmos. I made about four posters, but none of them seemed to fit my taste, and so I was contemplating creating another without knowing that the main problem was the project. Then a friend of mine whom I believe to be an angel in disguise, came at the right moment to save me from the miserable. I was stunned when she asked to take a look at her poster only for me to find out that there was another choice that would suit my company. I couldn’t breathe well knowing that I had wasted my precious time and never even bothered to take a look at the instruction before.
Not even dared to spare another second wasting, I started outlining a new poster by using a ready-made template in Canva. By applying the basic elements of graphic design principles, I could finally create a much better poster than the other four. Beginning with the contrast element, I did apply it in the typefaces and the colors. For the typeface, I applied san serif for the header to make it look passably contrast with the main title that I just happened to come up with. Plus, the details such as contact, venue, date, and time were all written in san serif to foreground the important part of the poster as well as to make it readable to the viewers. As for the decorative typeface, I used it in the main title of the poster, ‘Shine, Dream, Smile’, while also sizing it a bit bigger than other information and applying a curve effect on it to make it more appealing to the eyes. Other than that, I also used a decorative typeface for a short description of this poster which I deliberately wrote by referring to the title. For this part, I didn’t use a san serif instead because I wanted the description to give off a playful vibe yet still highlighting the main goal of the project.
Moving on to the color, I chose to apply dull and soft green to express the suppleness of the message that my company tried to convey. In contrast with the background color, I tried out off-white for all of the typefaces while also highlighting them using shadowy effects to make the words much visible to the eyes and enticing altogether. Next, the repetition element. In this poster, I could say that I used this element if pictures of flowers did count. With the placing of four different pictures of bouquets, yet of the same genre, it pointed out the focal purpose of the poster which meaningfully to show off the pretty bouquet from Cosmos in addition as the gift for the bedridden patients. On top of that, I certainly did put in the alignment element whereby I centralized the title, descriptions, and the pictures in the middle, whilst the contact at the top-right together with an email address and the information regarding the event at the bottom right. In addition, I couldn’t miss inserting the company logo which I placed at the top-left corner of the poster to let people know the organizer of this event. I was quite convinced that the alignment was just right where wholly it did look harmonious and legible.
Finally, the element of proximity. For this element, I believe that I did use it in designing this poster though I was not sure if it was good enough. What I mean is the basic information, which I separated my company’s contact and the venue of the event. I didn't put the two details together because I thought they weren’t necessarily related to one another. As for the rest of the details, I organized them quite well where the title and the descriptions were positioned together, though one of the descriptions I placed in between the pictures so that the look would be more intriguing. Thus as a whole, the poster looks pleasing wherein it radiates the softness in the message together with the inviting feeling it offers to the audience.
All in all, I found myself struggling a lot while creating this poster, not because of the design but more to the information aside from the mistake I made in choosing the project. It took me quite some time to think of what information should be included in the poster and what should not. Thankfully things turned out well and I couldn’t be more grateful than knowing I was on the right track during the process. By the way, here is the link to my other posters as the result of my chaotic self due to the fault I made beforehand.
brochure
I used to create a brochure before, but back then I didn't know much about graphic design which means the outcome surely would not satisfy the requirement of the exact design. Now that I’m still learning, it's enough for me to know what should be applied and what should not, the color combination and such. For this task, I didn't feel pressured because it was pair work, which suggests that two heads are better than one.
We came up with a new company name and since both of us had eyes on arts and flowers, we decided to create a flower design company that provides products as well as services related to creating accessories and such with flowers. After deciding on the company, we made our way to find flower designs online and surprisingly found out there are a lot more than we ever knew. I am sure that everyone has grown accustomed to the existence of bouquets because it is like the classic type of flower design. Indeed, it is the 21st century, and creative minds are everywhere which is why there are so many innovative ideas to craft by using flowers and most of it has something to do with wedding events. As we collected ideas and pictures here and there from Pinterest, we managed to find suitable products that would be appealing enough to be placed in our brochure.
By the book, we did not just pick anything. Our main concern when inserting pictures of our products and services in the brochure would largely depend on the color of the flowers and how the pictures were taken, the angle. These days, the idea of a good picture is quite vague but if I were to pick, it would be the trending one which is aesthetic and vintage values, and these ideas were the lead to where we were heading for this brochure. As we chose dried flowers for most of the designing services instead of fresh flowers, we wished to put the snaps of designs of dried flowers to create the feeling that people seek nowadays. Even the color palette that we chose was giving the vibe with the combination of black, nude, and greyish-brown. The black in this design represents sophistication, the nude represents solace, while the greyish-brown just represents friendliness, and these altogether give a harmonious color tone that would warm hearts with a hint of urbanity concurrently.
In terms of the information that we used, while using monotone color for everything, we included information that we thought would suit a brochure. Aside from the necessary details for contact, we put together a little info about our company, products, and services just to give a heads up for the readers to attract their interests. Apart from that, we also colored the brochure with two different quotes to make it more captivating to be learned more.
As a whole, designing a brochure was great and I was glad that we did not take much time in designing it. I learned a lot but I am sure there is still a lot more to learn which I am fairly anticipated. Throughout the process of doing this, I never face any difficulty because I have always partnered with this friend of mine for any pairwork and things are never difficult when she’s with me. Despite my lack of talent in designing, at least I have her to cover some of the designing parts that I struggled with, whilst I was in charge of the information needed to include in the brochure. It was a fair decision we both made in distributing the work and very much delighted after seeing the outcome of our hard work.
newsletter
Never once have I ever seen a newsletter. I used to hear the word, but it did not sit well with me, not until we had this assignment. I suppose it is fair for me to say that, assuming that not so many companies are still using newsletters as an attempt to reach potential customers closer, at least for the printed type. Since everything comes in handy these days with everything that can be done online, printed newsletters are even getting lesser, plus online is costless anyway. It took us quite a while before working on this assignment because we were catching up to other due assignments. We were frantic because even when we started discussing this, we just did not know what to include as information. Later on, we began scrolling down the Internet, looking for something that would fit the idea of newsletters.
Once understanding had slowly crept into us, we went down to the business right away. From the instructions on this assignment, we understood that the content should be covered with the latest news regarding our company. It could be somewhat similar to a newspaper in that sense, but the design seems to lean more toward a magazine. According to the examples from the lecture slides, newsletters are usually crowded with content. Nevertheless, since our company needs visuals more to attract attention, we set our newsletter with the focus on stabilizing the content and visuals.
As a means to feel spirited, we started with designing the layout of the newsletter, to size space to know just how much information could fit in the spaces. From the first page until the last page, we designed them uniformly to make the newsletter look much more remedial. The color palette that we used for the whole design was tuned well with the typefaces and even the photographs that we had included too. Considering that our company sells dried flower arrangements, we decided to use earthy colors throughout the newsletter so that the subscribers could catch the warm feeling by just admiring the design while reading it. Plus, for the color contrast of the background and the overall elements, we chose a very soft and light color from the earthy color line to ensure that it would set off well from other elements, and together it would look neat.
In terms of content, as per the instructions, we went for the latest news, events, and activities to update on the weekly news from our company. Since newsletters should be updating things that are related to subscribers’ interests, we brained a bit to gain some ideas on what would be in their interest. After some time, we decided to write about workshops that we ran weekly which focussed on creating flower arrangements such as glass dome dried flowers and dried flower wreaths. We thought that it could be a good idea to insert the workshop as part of the story to make it more realistic especially since we also provide services. Other than that, as for the latest event, we creatively wrote down our imagination about us working on one of our customers’ booking for a really big wedding event, and we highlighted the number of the bookings that were placed to enlighten the subscribers that we are worthy of trust.
Lastly, for the latest news, we were confused at first on what would fit in this part. As we thought thoroughly, we decided to write on something that could alarm our subscribers, hence we wrote on upcoming products that would be released at our own company. Rationally, people love new things especially if they were to come from something they adore. As newsletters are only made for those who subscribed, we knew that announcing a release of new products would be more than enough to excite them. Asides from all the information and details, the photos that we had selected for each division were downright the same one as we had described in every written part. We purposely used high-quality images which were captured from the best angle to have the subscribers get as close as possible to the idea of the real ones.
All in all, I learned that newsletters are not that easy to create. Even though in real life we could have just paid any graphic designer for the layout and all, experiencing this on my own would be something that I would forever brag about, not until I found something better. I mean, we may be lacking in language though, but I can tell that both of us did a good job in designing and writing.
website
https://nissputeri.wixsite.com/cosmos
Website is not something that I ever dreamed of doing at all. The toughest of all. I never thought I would ever design and create a website on my own when I first registered for this program. While other assignments mostly would be more to media that are available both online and offline, websites are only for online use. Of course, there are plenty of examples, yet even the closest examples that I could get were all extravagant which I obviously could not even compare nor dream of myself creating like any of the existing websites. It is too far to reach and I realized how much farther I still need to walk or run to make it there. I even thought that I might need too much time to finish this task because of the designs, plus the content that was yet to be decided.
However, when we were asked to make a proposal for our website around two weeks before the due date, I sort of felt dazed at that time because I still did not have anything in mind other than the original company that I created for the logo and poster. As I went through the sample website that was given in the e-Leap, I began to write down one by one sections that I thought would be necessary for the content later on. Surprisingly, the little notes which were kind of a rough image of my website indeed helped in guiding me throughout the designing and sorting spaces. Since I already knew what should be done, I started by writing down the content that needed to be included in the site later on in a document so that the designing process would not be interrupted much because ensuing, all I had to do would be just copy and paste.
Here’s the link to my website’s proposal;
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11xD731dNZcVeIFvbfVu_ErCZyypQWBvnRqYpQkUWh-I/edit?usp=sharing
And here’s to my website’s draft;
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ssl6_eJ4FeybraimtczvSSifPWzuYKCVbxQyfKEsO8M/edit?usp=sharing
I decided to go for visualizing rather than wording because I believe that when it comes to something as beautiful as flowers, the people who love them would have their own words to describe them by just admiring them. In other words, I was convinced that the beauty of the bouquets would leave them speechless because sometimes, even words do not do justice to beautiful things. From Pinterest, I managed to collect different bouquets with alluring flower arrangements to be deposited to my website as part of the collection of the products that my company sells. At first, I thought of only selling products, but suddenly I came across corsages and flower crowns which were so pretty and cute which then I decided to provide services as well. I chose them to be under service instead of a product because these kinds of accessories are usually only worn during wedding events in which most definitely would be in matching rather than varied. Since it is quite impossible to create the matching accessories in a large amount to be in stock, I believe that it would be better for customers to make a booking for it, plus with the availability in putting on their ideas, it should be a win for both sides.
In three different sections, Gallery, Shop, and Services, I inserted the downloaded pictures from Pinterest into each section accordingly. Honestly, Gallery wasn't that necessary, but in this case, I thought having it would be the best to please the eyes of the visitors as well as an attraction to make them spoiled with choices. For the Shop, all I did was just insert the pictures of bouquets, naming them, and putting the prices, but the rest were all automatically set by the Wix. It was cool and I was amazed for a second that I did not have to do much for the hyperlinks to go back and forth from the shop. I kept the design for the shop as minimal as possible because I did not want it to cause a distraction to visitors. As for Service, I came up with two different yet almost similar services, which were wedding events and graduations.
Aforementioned for the accessories which are specifically for weddings, I also created a small service for graduations and other related events wherein my company would take bookings on small bouquets of real flowers which are sort of quite rare to be in stock, therefore I placed it under service. Since it came in small size, it may need extra care when arranging to ensure the stems of the flowers would not be broken. Also, to place an order, I included a form where the customers could fill in the details which would be needed for the company later.
Apart from all the above, another important thing that I should highlight is the theme which was chosen for the website based on the logo’s color. The color palette that matches well with the logo was suggested by Wix which I could not be any more grateful for because it was rather hard to create the color palette on my own since it’s my first time using the platform. The purple shades in soft tones with the mix of black and white were applied all across the website to represent the sense of serene as well as a delicacy in the work done which would captivate eyes. As much as I know that purple could mean feminine, but I wanted it to be more leaning to the mysterious side which would leave the customers to keep scrolling through my simple yet sweetly ornamental website.
I could not believe this, but I felt like creating a real website soon. I might want to share random things because decorating and designing websites are seriously enjoyable for me. It wasn’t at first, but as soon as I could grasp a few more things about websites, I started to feel relaxed, and later I found myself visiting this site much often to edit because it somewhat became my safe space where I could loosen my mind. I learned a lot from this course and felt like I needed to explore more on my own sooner or later.