Logo Development: Cross Based

Below are the first deigns for my cross based logo and the process showcasing how I arrived at my first design.

First Designs
First Designs

After my first designs I decided to experiment more with the cross. I wanted it to be more detailed. I was heavily influenced by the neon crosses I have found during my research phases.

Development 2
Development 2

Following from the above designs the next step was to attempt to make the cross glow in a neon like fashion. This was the most time consuming part of development because I was attempting to make a vector graphic which glows. It was hard because of the potential pixelation of the glow. I got around this problem by layering colours on top of each other and adding Gaussian Blur to the darkest colours and the inner whites. After a lot of attempts and research I managed to create below examples. There were a lot of issues with making the vector properly re-size but I eventually solved these.

Development 3
Development 3

Another remaining problem was that the blue outline’s rounded corners didn’t stay in place after re-sizing. To solve this problem I created another outline but with the rectangle tool and rounded the edges with an effect tool. Below is the shape comparison of these outlines.

Shape Development
Shape Development

The next step was to experiment with different colour schemes. Below are two examples of the logo with and without the boarder.

Colour Experimentation
Colour Experimentation
Colour Experimentation 2
Colour Experimentation 2

From the above colour schemes my favorites are the first two because they’re more defined and work better than the others without the boarder. They also seem more cyberpunk in my opinion. The colours also blend better together to make a neon like appearance. I do prefer the black outline however rather than the dark blue one as it makes the colour pop more. For the final cross design I’m going to go with the first colour scheme but with a black outline because it’s more aesthetically pleasing.

Fonts

Below are potential fonts which I could use for the title of the game.

Neon Fonts
Neon Fonts
Punk Fonts
Punk Fonts
Horror Fonts
Horror Fonts

Adding Text

The next step was to see which font works best with the cross logo. For this I used the fonts I researched above. From the first examples I like the bottom two the most because they incorporate the logo the best. However the font is too curvy and doesn’t match the square outline of the logo.

Development 1
Development 1

I decided to look at other more square and bolder fonts. These did in fact work better with the cross. The cyberpunk fonts however did have splatter around them and within the text itself which disturbed the uniformity of the logo. This is why I decided to add a torn up outline to the cross which worked well. I didn’t feel like this logo was suitable for a video game however or reflected the atmosphere of Bloodletting well however. I like the composition of the biggest logo, however it isn’t suitable for a video game logo. The title should be more prominent.

Development 2
Development 2

The appropriate thing was to look for another, more suitable font. I looked for a typeface with harsher edges. I felt that worked a lot better with the cross logo. For some of these fonts I decided to add a black, square outline which uniformed the text and logo well.

Development 3
Development 3

From the above fonts I chose the three best ones which I felt represented the atmosphere of the game. I added an outline with a blur to it to make it glow. I felt that creating a font which is in a similar style to the logo would unify the two even more which was true.

Development 4
Development 4

From the above three fonts I chose the best one (as it represented the character of the game the best and conveyed the cyberpunk genre) and added an inner white glow in order to make it even more neon like. I preferred that font.

Development 5
Development 5

Finally I decided to add a pale pink colour to the core text. This worked really well and incorporated two main colours used in the cross unifying the text and the logo even further. I do however feel that the colours can be changed when appropriate.

Development 6
Development 6

Bloodletting: Fonts

I decided to experiment with a few different typefaces which will be used throughout the branding package for Bloodletting. The neon fonts which aren’t used for the logo will be considered for headings, subheadings and the menu. This will help to unify the branding identity of Bloodletting.

Neon Fonts
Neon Fonts

From the above typefaces my favorites are Neon, Las Enter, Fangtasia and Beauty School Dropout II. This is because they look club like but are still readable. The menu is going to be in a small size and therefore these fonts are more practical. I’m still not sure which font I’m going to use for what aspect of the branding identity however.

Below are potential fonts for the body text both on the website and the company’s documents and/or business cards. These are a lot plainer and readable than the fonts used for headings and subtitles.

Experimentation with Font
Experimentation with Font

From the above typefaces my favorites are Century Gothic, Microsoft PhagsPa, Neon Pixel-7, AR Darling and Source Sans Pro. For Bloodletting‘s branding identity I’m going to use Source Sans Pro for body text, AR Darling and Neon Pixel-7 for either the menu and/or subheadings. This is because these two fonts stand out from the rest and match the feel of the game especially since AR Darling has crosses as Ts.

Logo Development: Neon Based

The neon based logo idea came from a poster I’ve seen of a game called Void & Meddler. I was also inspired by the cyberpunk genre itself and films such as Blade Runner which use a lot of neons in their set design. My first sketches of the logo focused on curves based off of alcohol/club neon signs. As the below sketches show I wanted the neon font to break at points so that the neon liquid spills out. This would be reminiscent of blood being spilled which goes well with the title of Bloodletting. I wanted the font to be red as well but this changed later on as I preferred bright pinks and violets.

First Design Sketches
First Design Sketches

Below is the first stage of experimentation with this logo. I decided to experiment with the positioning, colour and most importantly the neon effect. The font used to create this logo is called Fangtasia. I felt it was most appropriate for the logo because it looked the most like the fonts used to make neon signs, especially the alcohol or club ones. I made the neon effect by creating an offset path of the text which was a bit bigger than the original and used a darker shade color swatch on it. I then arranged that behind the original text. Then I added Gaussian Blur to it to make it appear as though it’s glowing. I like the angled positioning of the logo more because it is more reminiscent of a neon sign.

Development 1
Development 1

I felt that the above designs were too flat and didn’t have a strong neon feel to them. This is why I continued my experimentation. I decided to make another offset path, this time smaller than the original text and place it in the center of said text. I used a white colour swatch on it to make the glow more intense and to emphasize that I also applied Gaussian Blur but on a smaller scale than the outside offset path. I also experimented with more blue and pink colours. From the above designs I found the ones with two contrasting colours more interesting and decided to continue exploring this with different variations of blues and pinks. This is because white and light blue popped the most and the pink outline added a nightclub feel to it as well as emphasize the glow of the blue.

Development 2
Development 2

From the above designs I chose the two I felt were the strongest logos. These stood out to me because they complement the light blue the most. I don’t like the dark outlines as much because they don’t create as much of a glow whereas I want a neon-like design. I also preferred the designs with two contrasting colours more because they’re more interesting. More bright colours add to the club-like cyberpunk feel of the game.

2 Best Designs
2 Best Designs

I thought it would be a good idea to see these logos on a black background to see if they can be used in varied designs. The first one with the pale pink outline looks too blurry on a black background whereas the other doesn’t. Even though I prefer the light pink because it complements the light blue more the darker outline seems to be more versatile.

2 Best Designs: Black Background
2 Best Designs: Black Background

Below is my final neon based logo design. I chose this one because of it’s practicality and the fact that, even though the outline is darker than the other design, it’s still bright and makes the light blue pop. It’s positioning, color and neon effect make it look like a neon sign which was my original aim. I feel that it conveys the atmosphere of Bloodletting well.

Final Neon Based Logo
Final Neon Based Logo
Final Neon Based Logo: Black Background
Final Neon Based Logo: Black Background

Logo Development: First Ideas

I had two main ideas for the Bloodletting logo. The very first logo idea is based around neon. I wanted the typeface to be reminiscent of a neon sign. This is also what my logo research was mostly focused on. The second logo idea was heavily inspired by Bayonetta’s logo design which is based around mystic/occult symbolism. I’ve included two of the Bayonetta logos in this post as examples.

Neon Based Logo

The font used to create this logo is called Fangtasia.

logo 1
Neon Based Idea

Inspiration for Cross Based Logo

Below are the two Bayonetta logos which inspired the Cross Based Bloodletting logo design:

Bayonetta Logo 1
Bayonetta Logo 1
Bayonetta Logo 2
Bayonetta Logo 2

Cross Based Logo

The font used to create this logo is called LostWages.

Cross Based Idea
Cross Based Idea