Log – Oh! – Logos and Brand identity

Log – Oh! – Logos and Brand identity

Thank you poster to the Next Generation of Artist and FB Post supporters

We have 3 pictures that were coloured from a shout out we sent on Facebook. The participant would print off a picture of our Logo and we would post it up.

What was nice was to see the energy that the children put into the task as every coloured pen stroke is artistic magic. It has also been a touchstone of the Trees of the Green project that the next generation of artists would colour in and write messages of hope on the many pieces of art that festooned and are displayed on the trees.

Vibrant Autumnal colours

But how did the logo come about and what is the story behind it?

Well I am trained as an Architect and the method to produce it was a CAD (Computer Aided Design) drawing. Architects regularly use software to draw buildings. We put these drawings into the council to gain planning permissions or show to clients and other stakeholders (people with a vested interest in something) for funding what the overall project will look like.

For both the Trees and Beds on the Green project we needed  to apply for planning permissions. This requires drawn to scale, diagrammatic representations of the area that the trees were going to be displayed in and the trees and flower beds made from sleepers. 

The great thing, at that point, is you have a graphic 2D representation of the elements that make up the project. 

Computer Drawn Images for Planning Application

But how do you get a logo from this? And what is the point of having a logo?

Well the point of the logo is branding and  an identity that you can use on letters and posters and sign posts. It says who we are and what we are about.

We wanted to convey that we were a community project. We wanted to show we were welcoming, warm and smiling. 

Minimalist penning in

We wanted to differentiate ourselves from the many “Communitree” projects that are in the world. We were unique in the fact we were recycled wooden trees, in fact 3 of them, on a patch of grass that was used in olden time to graze sheep. The creative team were an actor, architect and the surrounding team were musicians, people who worked in film and were would-be Artists and Chefs and genuinely handy people.

However the graphic 2d representation did not have that narrative. But in earlier physical, maquettes and mock ups and the built trees all had displayed different personalities. 

So we need to give the 3 trees personality. Let’s add a smile. Give them hairstyles and heads to wear them. But most importantly put them on a green. 

But what made us different from the other “Communitrees” we were all of the above so “Trees on the Green” written large was an essential part of our Logo and Brand Identity. 

Simple when you know how. If you are a budding designer out there these will be some of the concerns you think about when creating. It forms your brief which is a document, an instruction, a kind of goal you aim to achieve to create a successful project.

The little adaptations we made were to raise the arms higher on the middle tree to create a feeling of joy like the viewer is about to be hugged. It makes us happy to see this every time and we hope that was conveyed.

A fun palette of colours and the a surprise 4th tree (Seeing into the future)

As a postscript to this we as you may well know we did build a tree at Hilly Fields park. The new tree in its final sculptural form really exuded personality.  So we produced a special limited edition poster. 

For the new image I took to tracing both the surroundings, which included real trees of the park and the new sculptural tree made of offcut from a tree surgeon. The tracing allowed for 2d abstraction of the natural trees and pathways and grass. The new tree felt sassy, like Shirley Bassey singing in a ballgown. The arms in the air or the branches give the impression of a dancing diva. The irony in this case was we did get an invite to the party that was the Brockley Max Art in the Park festival. This character was ready. The “Festival Tree” as it was known.

But how do you integrate the brand identity into this?

Well by bring in the three tree characters and getting them to react in the background to their new community member. We then bring back in the text of the “Trees on the Green” and we have the old project meeting the new. This is important as unless you were following our Facebook Site you may never have know we had created both trees as they look very different.

The hope of the Logo is that the characters feel friendly and if you want to hug a tree it would be one of ours.

The great part of working on a community project like this is that you get to push yourself to create the bits you need. The logo was useful as it works to communicate a bit of our personality on the 2D screen, we used it as a feature on our early edited videos. It also made it onto the actual trees as signage. Most importantly it made the best canvas for the next generation of artist to start a part of their art journey.

So give it a go make a Log – Oh! (Logo)

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