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Island Hopper ::: logo design process

Island Hopper logo

Island Hopper will be a an event presented by Special Olympics Florida as an incentive for showing your support for this great organization. The plan is to fly the winner of this prize to beautiful beach destinations from Hawaii to South America.

This is my first time really showcasing my process, so be gentle ;) but I felt it was an excellent opportunity to take you from sketchpad to vector!

I’ve always admired the aesthetic and tactile value of scratchboard illustrations and I knew this would be an excellent opportunity to experiment with that quality when creating the mark for Island Hopper. Given the tropical destinations the program offers and the very name itself my mind instantly went to seaplanes as an icon.

Island Hopper sketch

First, I decided to sketch out a couple of solutions for representing the water as the plane splash lands to the island paradise. I wanted to capture the feeling of excitement as you begin a new adventure. That being said, the icon became very dynamic.

plane002

Finally, I drew out the scene in full, this sketch would be used as a template to illustrate in-computer. I framed what I felt was the most ideal and efficient crop of the plane and water and made some guidelines to help keep the perspective consistent.

island hopper horizontal logoI chose Knockout created by Hoefler & Frere Jones for the logo type because of the versatility of its individually designed weights and widths. Experimenting with the lock-up yielded this horizontal version which has appealing proportions and switches the hierarchy so the type visually dominants the mark. Not sure but I think I prefer it this way, what do you think? :)

Well I think that about wraps it up. Hope I gave you a little insight into my logo process. I’ll try to do these more often, Mark Sunderland suggests a behind-the-scenes look at the conception, research and execution of the Wixárika Calendar made possible by partners in design Maria Rogal and Cassie McDaniel. How about it?

  • Jim
    The logos are fantastic. The company should be very happy with that.

    http://www.vancouvertohawaii.ca
  • I liked it. So much useful material. I read with great interest.
  • I think i've seen this somewhere before…but it's not bad at all
  • B. Gill
    Hey Avery. Nice look at your process. However, I feel like you've either edited too much out or you didn't explore enough. Did you really go with the first image to occur to you - i.e. the seaplane? Or did you explore others? In my experience, although there are exceptions of course, the first idea to occur to you is usually not the best. I think the style and execution of your illustration is great. No question about your talent or abilities. But, what else did you consider? The seaplane icon is rather cliché. And the type. What else did you consider? It might be helpful to show what you decided against and why. Also, I question listening to a copywriter who has misspelled not one, but two client names on his website. I'll give you a hint - look on his print page. Hope all is well and keep up the good work. B.
  • I didn't think it was cliché at all to use the seaplane. I'd think the cliché idea would be to blatantly illustrate all the island experiences, or to actually draw out an island. I think the prop plane bauhaus style, plus the use of the very geometric gothic style of the thin knockout gives a sort of 20's upscale feel to the event. Any asshole off the street could have used Party LET and some bad clipart, but this feels well-thought out and elegant without being obtuse.
  • Good design is like a good joke. It has to be both surprising and resonant to its audience, and to resonate it has to relate. I can understand you seeing the punchline coming Brandy, but for anyone who's never had a 20th Century art history class, I think the solution works well.
  • Brandy Gill
    Greg, agreed any asshole could use Party LET and clip art. And they do. And I don't disagree with you about illustrating the literal island experience or an island itself. Nevertheless, I maintain that an illustration of a seaplane is as cliché as your favorite Hawaiian shirt. And so is any mention of Bauhaus written or otherwise. By the way, a design that is well-thought out and elegant is inherently not obtuse. Regardless of your opinion, or mine, as I previously mentioned in my first comment, I think Avery did a wonderful job with the illustration and I enjoyed the glimpse into his process. Avery, a good book you might want to check out is called "Redesigning Identity" by Catharine Fishel. The case studies are rather in-depth and even include the sketches of their exploration.
  • Greg,
    Thanks dude, I think it holds at small sizes as well. It could be your monitor, It prints perfectly clear. But good eye, the cyan had to be light enough to not compete with the dark blue in the mark while being able to stand on it's own on a white background.

    Brandy,
    Thanks, I hope to do more process posts, the real challenge is keeping track of all the sketches I make, which usually range from sketchbook pages, coasters, job bags, to in-computer. But it really helps to appreciate the conditions I and my fellow designers create under.
    I agree that exploring different avenues is important when developing a logo but sometimes after you've gotten to know your client and understand their mission, it serves best to just see where your instincts take you. Good suggestion, seeing the directions left on the cutting room floor help to appreciate the process and might even create better understanding of the end-result. Sometimes I wonder how many OK logos out there actually started off GREAT logos, but were so over analyzed and approved by committee that the end result was a mitigated, watered-down facsimile.
  • Brandy Gill
    Avery, unfortunately your scenario of death-by-committee happens all too often my friend. All too often. Best, B.
  • I like it! It works really well at the smaller size, while maintaining enough detail to be interesting at the larger size. The "an evening of island experiences" looks a little lost in the cyan, but that's likely my monitor,I'm sure it works fine in print. Very nice.
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