OUGD505 - Studio Brief 02 - Branding for Leeds lending Library

Branding for Lending Library: logo, typeface, library cards. 

For the Leeds lending library I want to design branding that is modern, trustworthy and accessible to a range of ages from 15-60+. The commodities available at the library will appeal to a range of age groups from students to the retired therefore the branding has to be legible yet engaging.

Other community branding examples:

Library of things, Brixton, London

Bright, colorful, bold, trustworthy, friendly and approachable. 

Artistic Style:

I want the logo to contain symbols and simple shapes as it has to be universally recognized as Leeds is a multicultural city. Also with a name like 'lending library' additional imagery has to be included to ensure people don't assume it's about books. 


Pinterest board containing more inspiration. 

Potential color schemes: 

Blue, yellow and white – inspired by the white rose emblem of Yorkshire and the Leeds coat of arms and Leeds United F.C. 

Leeds coat of arms

Leeds United F.C 

If the concept was to be made reality it would probably be run by the council, therefore, I felt it important to create a consistent colour scheme that would make it, trustworthy, official and local to Leeds. 

However, this idea has the potential to expand into every city across the nation, therefore a neutral colour scheme that would fit in well to each city may be more appropriate eg. Library of things: Leeds, Library of things: Sheffield etc. 

Therefore something like a black and white colour scheme could be more appropriate as well as gender-neutral and modern.  

After getting feedback from a number of my peers I decided that city neutral colour scheme would be more appropriate as it allows for future expansion. 

An eco friendly looking colour scheme such as greens, greys and browns may be a good approach as lending libraries benefit the environment as they lower your carbon footprint. 

Potential Names

• Lend don't Spend
• Community Borrowing
• Borrow don't buy
• Lending Library 
• Library of things

I looked up the definition of Library and found that it is based on a collection of books, therefore I might try and steer around the word Library as it may make people assume it contains books unless I made it obvious that it was only the concept that was similar. 

Logos

Imagery based on the idea of sharing and lending. 

• Hands passing objects
• 2 things coming together/2 halves of a whole
• Joined lines

First attempt at logo:

Using hand drawn lettering - the difference in line thickness creates good contrast and balance in the logo however at a smaller scale such as on the lending card and the stickers, the writing may become illegible. The target demographic covers all ages (up to around 70 years old) therefore the typeface needs to be clear and legible at all sizes. 

Feedback:

• 'I like the angular lines and the mix of hand rendered font and vector imagery.'
• 'The writing works well but perhaps experiment with a different typeface.'

Using the typeface 'Poetsen One' - the line thickness matches that of the logo making it tie in well with the composition of the design. The flicked points on the ascenders, descenders and apexes give the typeface a more friendly and approachable appearance, something I think is important in communication the nature of the lending library and building trust. This font would also be legible at a range of point sizes, making it more legible to the entire target demographic.

Feedback:

• 'I liked the hand rendered but 'Poetsen One' is more appropriate as it is easy to read but still exudes a friendly and laid back tone of voice.

I wanted a typeface that was friendly but informative at the same time,  I tried both upper and lower case for the logo but in the end felt upper case worked best because it was much bolder and can stand out better. For the typeface, I eventually chose Poetsen One because it was a bold, playful typeface which exuded a friendly and trustworthy tone of voice.