When undertaking a major project like overhauling a business website or launching a new marketing initiative it is often advisable to review the business’s logo first. A logo is the cornerstone of any corporate branding foundation. If it is beginning to look dated it may be time to update an existing logo as part of any new marketing initiative.
In a recent series of projects for one of our clients we began by reviewing their existing logo.
Their logo branding consisted of a hand drawn logo combined with two lines of kanji characters, a logotype and a tagline. The entire combination was a little unwieldy. The hand drawn logo had served them well in the past but was beginning to look a bit outdated by modern standards. We wanted to retain the spirit and foundation of the existing branding while modernizing, integrating and improving it for more expanded uses going forward.
I started with the bowing figures from the existing hand drawn logo. The figures symbolize the special student and teacher (sensei) relationship of respect and the honor of passing down the tradition of karate. The practitioners (karateka) in this karate school wear traditional white uniforms (gi) so I decided to re-draw the figures using black outlines. This would leave the interior of the uniforms white which reflecting their traditional uniforms in contrast to the previous logo that was drawn with black uniforms. I used the old hand drawn figures and an actual photo of a bowing Shoshin Nagamine (the founder of the dojo’s karate style – Matsubayashi Ryu) as reference. I drew new figures with a fluid calligraphic brushstroke style in Adobe Illustrator using a stylus on a Wacom drawing tablet.
In order to facilitate the logo being used as an embroidered uniform patch I integrated the kanji characters, which read Matsubayashi Ryu Karate Do, around the figures in front of the rising sun. I imported the vector outlines into Adobe Photoshop and applied various texture layers and effects to create a version of the logo that looked like it was an embroidered patch for use on their corporate website.
I balanced the sizing and kerning of the logotype/tagline and combined them with the new logo in both a vertical and horizontal format. I created a full set of embroidered, color, gray-scale and black & white combined logos for use in all their corporate materials from traditional printed collateral to their online website.
Updated Logo in Corporate Identity Design and Brochure Design
I used the new logo and logotype as the foundation for a new set of branded marketing materials for the company including letterhead, envelopes, business cards, drill datasheets, event templates and a new 10-page corporate brochure.
Updated Logo Branding in a New Custom WordPress Website
I also used the new logo and logotype as the branding foundation for a new custom WordPress web site to extend their new corporate brand into the online arena.
DreamLight Can Update an Existing Logo to Strengthen Your Corporate Branding
When launching a major marketing initiative, DreamLight can work closely with your marketing team to update an existing logo and strengthen your overall corporate branding. We can then carry that new logo and branding into a wide range of marketing materials including; 2D/3D digital design, illustration, animation or custom WordPress website, interactive multimedia, application development.
Contact us for more information about updating an existing logo for stronger corporate branding or to explore your specific needs.
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