The Design Experiment. Do Designers Think Alike?
Every designer is influenced by their surroundings, the people they meet, and design trends - but does that mean that we’re all affected in the same way, or does each of us retain a sense of uniqueness in our designs - regardless of influence?
Tara at the Graphic Design Blog decided to run an experiment to find out. The experiment (open to anyone who wants to take part) requires you to scribble down a logo idea (or several if you wish) for two fictitious companies.
Well, I couldn’t resist finding out if my patterns of thought when designing are my own - so without further ado, I present my submission to the experiment! 
Caffeine Rush - Espresso Machine & Accessory Supplies
The first scan shows my initial brainstorming sheet. I wrote down the two words from the company name, then strung off various keywords and sub-words that were related to them. Finally I put asterisks by the words that had visual cues for me.
The main idea I played with on the second sheet was the different ways of portraying coffee cups and mugs (1-5, 13, 15). I also looked at coffee beans (6-9) and their shape, latte art swirls (10-12), coffee leaves (14) and a remembered idea for a lettering style (16).
The third sheet shows me playing around with various ways of indicating speed (17-20) and movement (21), and drawing out an idea about a rocket (!) that popped into my head (22). There’s also a stamp motif idea (23 - like they have burned into the sides of coffee sacks), and some messin around with letter spacing, word division and text placement (24-30).
Cheap ‘n’ Cheerful - Budget Fancy Dress Shop
Same as before, but I wrote down three main keywords this time, strung off the related keywords and sub-words, and put in the asterisks by the most visual words.
I played around with various clown, jester and harlequin concepts on this sheet (1-5) and then a couple of interesting ways to use them (6 - glove puppet, 7 - toy on a stick).
This sheet’s got a couple of jack-in-the-box ideas (8 and 9), and then I’m playing around with letter styling, word positioning and placement of the graphic (10-14).
The Final Designs
I realise that this wasn’t a part of the experiment - the sketches alone should be enough alone to indicate my thought processes - but I couldn’t stand the idea of not taking my favourite concepts through to completion! So, here they are…
Thanks again to Tara for coming up with the idea - I can’t wait to see the results of the experiment… Remember to check out the other submissions too: Tara’s sketches are here, Tess (from Thoughts and Such) has some up here, and Siong’s are here.
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And you say you have no time on your hands
I do like the way you’ve detailed your thought process, a very good insight into the creative (or disturbed
) mind!
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Hey Paul
These are great, you’ve put mine to shame, thanks for the time you’ve spent on these
Fantastic! Love the thought process, love the end results. My “Caffeine Rush” suggestion looks tremendous.
Great job Paul!
Paul, after looking at your creative process and the final result, I refuse to take part in Tara’s experiment and embarrass myself in front of everybody
Mr Barnes: Disturbed mind? Moi?
Tara: I enjoyed it! It was nice to go through the whole design process without having to consult with a client!
Steve: Thanks mate!
Vivien: LOL! There should be no embarressment about the design process - everybody has a different way of doing it, and different techniques when it comes to sketching and the thought process! What’s important is that the client (you in this case) is happy with the end results!
Wow! Love the way you detailed your thought process - I love the logos! Interesting that both you and Tara used clown symbols…it never occurred to me to use a clown for Cheerful…I think of sunny, happy kids, cheerleaders, glasses toasting : ) Thanks so much for sharing!
Thanks for your comment Ariane! I’m glad you liked my work, and I guess Tara was right about designers thinking alike as far as the clown thing goes!
I guess we both used the brightest, most colourful thing we could think of that was connected to happiness - although I have a feeling it may have been sub-concious for both of us! I’ll reserve final judgement until some more designers have (hopefully) joined in!
You have a great blog by the way - lots of interesting bits. I look forward to having a click around it when I get some time to spare!
Nice work Paul. Your Cheap and Cheerful ideas are VERY similar to Tara’s, and even though you final Caffeine Rush idea is different, some of your sketches a spookily similar to Tara’s.
Are you sure you haven’t been copying her?
Hi Paul,
really like your sketches and the final results. It’s nice to see your thoughts and Tara’s on ‘paper’, mine were in my head so I only have a final result to show
Aaron: Thanks! Yup - I’ve been peeking over her shoulder when she wasn’t looking!
Tess: Thanks for your comment, and well done for joining the experiment! I’ve added a link to yours above, and I’m off to your blog now to post a comment…
Paul,
It was excellent to read through your thought process. Loving the sketches!
Personally, I think you could create an even better caffeine rush logo using your coffee bean idea. There’s an ‘S’ inside your bean sketches. Perhaps incorporating that into the name somehow.
Regardless, thanks for joining in Tara’s project. It’s been refreshing.
Off topic, I think you can improve your site usability by adding a ‘comment’ link below your articles. At present we have to read through your post then scroll to the top to read. It’s no biggie, but will make a difference in the long run.
Great post.
ps. The orange of Tara’s blog looks superb against your black background!
Thanks David! You’re right - the ’s’ shape in the beans would have work nicely in ‘rush’, but I quite like the novelty factor of the rocket - which is why it was nice being the client myself for a change!
Good point about the comment link though. I’ll either work that into the current layout, or make sure I remember it for the new one. With the current darkness of my site reflecting my current mood, I’d like to think that I’ll have a brighter outlook on things if my test results bring good news - so a refresh will be in order.
You’re bang on with the bright orange and very dark red combination! I thought that myself this morning when I first previewed the post!
Just wonder if you showed your client the entire thought process? Was thinking if I should start showing them so that they can appreciate the tine and effort taken by the creative talents from conceptualization, sktetches, drafts, fine tune doodoo dahdah until the final product …
Hi Vivienne! Thanks for your comment - your blog makes interesting reading!
It depends on the client, but I have certainly shown the sketch stage to a few. However, the majority of people I produce designs for have no interest in the background process - they only care about a final result that they are happy with.
There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with this attitude though - I don’t ask to see the schematics behind my electrcity supply for example - but I always retain the prep work for projects, and I’ve now built up quite a library of unused ’stuff’ that often comes in handy for new tasks!
Reason for asking was a designer friend got really pissed for being offered less than USD200 to do an orignal logo + full set of stationary. That irritated me and prompted me to blog on “How Much Should You Pay for a Logo Design”.
I saw how David Airey, Tara, yourself and other creative talent putting time, effort and resources to stay true to your passion. You guys should be duly compensated. Clients that respect the efforts put in by marketers (like me) and creative talents (like you guys)probably would get the best out of us. I usually run the extra miles for an appreciative and supportive client. I’m sure it’s the same for you.
Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope to welcome you back soon.
Ah, I see. Well, I don’t think I’d be happy about doing a logo and full corporate set for $200 either, but I have done work for that level of pricing before - for me it depends on who client is, if I’ll get other work from them, how much they can afford, etc, etc, etc.
The examples above didn’t take that long, were created with an online use in mind, and there was no consultation (as the client was me). I’d be likely to charge between $80 and $160 if I was producing them for a client.
On the other end of the scale, I’ve created logos for companies that were designed to become registered trademarks. They took months of consultation and hundreds of drafts and redrafts - and the pricing for that sort of work comes in at the $600 to $6000 mark, which is a big difference!
Like most of what I do, I don’t believe in inflexible pricing - as it generally means inflexible projects!
Indeed a very good work.
Very organized creative process and really refined outcomes
Congratulations Paul.
Thanks Romeo! I’m glad you liked it!
[…] was quite please with my sketching efforts a few weeks ago, but this is just something else entirely! The title may sound a bit iffy - but I […]
Loved going through your design process, ending up in amazing designs.
Though your caffine rush remined me of ayn rand books rather than your concept for speed.
Thanks namrata! I hadn’t heard of Ayn Rand before, but after reading the Wikipedia entry about her I think I should be flattered! I couldn’t find any reference to her drawings though…
Paul, she is a writer and not a artist. But while reading books we kinda build our own imaginating world, and that’s what is appreciated.Incase you have sometime do read this article by paul graham at www.paulgraham.com/hp.htm , named hackers and painters
Thanks for the link - I’ll have a read of that once the project I’m working on launches later today!
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Hi Paul-
I just came across this page linked from the graphic design blog and I have a quick question. I am an art director in Cleveland, so I mainly deal with page layouts as opposed to logo creations, but have recently gotten more into freelancing and creating new logos for clients.
For logos such as these, do you create your images (the rocket & the clown) from scratch in a program like Illustrator or do you pull them from somewhere else? I have always wondered this when I see really sharp images within logos and I know every situation is different, but I was just looking for a little insight. I assume most of the time the images are created by the GD, but maybe there is some super secret stash of illustrated images I’m not aware of
Also, thank you for showing your thought process. I am going to try this with my next logo creation and see what I can come up with! You’ve definitely inspired me
Thanks!
Jessica
Wow Paul..thats very inspiring..
The final designs look excellent..
Nice designs Paul! I like the coffee stuff. Made me want to go get a cup immediately!