"We need some SWAG." T-shirt designs for Oakland Literacy Council
FINAL DESIGNS
It is always exciting when a new client loves your work and trusts you so much that do not go into detailed descriptions what they want, but expect you to come up with some concepts along some loose guidelines. After reading OLC’s Brand documents and a short discussion with Sia Magadan, I was ready for the challenge. The goal was to come up with some fun illustration/design that is edgy and hip, something that people working at OLC would wear as their business casual t-shirt at events, or even can gift t it to their donors.
INITIAL DESIGNS, THREE CONCEPTS
1. Minimalistic and Playful - READ
DIRECTION 1 – MINIMALISTIC and PLAYFUL
CONCEPT: You cannot go wrong with elegant and fun text. This design is minimalistic and hip, it uses the brand colors plus a little pink to add a little cheerfulness.
It is also reminiscent to the American pop artist’s, Robert Indiana’s famous love sculpture. An additional idea was to use a book instead of the letter A.
2. Book are Windows to the World
DIRECTION 2 – BOOKS ARE WiNDOWS TO THE WORLD
CONCEPT: books are opening a window to a new world. A happy kid is holding a book, (it is also a bit like he is opening a window), The book is transparent, the child is happily absorbed in the world of the book. There are little yellow rays, beam of lights around the kid’s face. He is bright.
3. Books as a Journey
DIRECTION 3 – BOOKS AS A JOURNEY
CONCEPT: Books are journey, books are fun, books help you to achieve your goals.
This whimsical version is probably my personal favorite.
It is a sketch now, however, in the final illustration I still want to keep the illustration simple and readable.
Three kids are rinding happily their magic-book-animals (kind of imaginary critters) above Oakland’s skyline. They are wearing super hero capes and aiming high. Brand colors dominate in harmony with some more neutral colors.
The client loved all three directions and asked only minor changes. Instead of their slogan “Learn. Collaborate. Champion.” They wanted to use the organization’s name Oakland Literacy Council. For practical and economical reasons they asked me to reduce the colors to 1-3 only. They also preferred to print on black or perhaps white t-shirts.
SOME MORE LIMITED COLOR VARIATIONS
Feel free to share it.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
