Saturday, March 7, 2015

Behind the Redesign


A more in-depth at the logo and site redesign for 2015.
As a graphic design major, I am always learning about the industry. Something that has been on my mind as of late is this site, and more specifically the message its colors, logo and overall look ar communicating about it.

I played around with a color change on the site once before (a bright yellow to a pale green) but that didn't satisfy my want for a meaningful and purposeful aesthetic to my journalism blog.

Don't get me wrong, I really loved the old logo, but I felt my learning experience in the years since making that logo was enough to warrant a new approach.


2014's logo was too focused on following that year's trends. While pretty, it had no durability and wasn't built to last. It was built for an update every 2-4 months. Logos ideally are built to last at least 5 years, hopefully more. The old logo ultimately didn't have longevity in mind, which is one of the reasons I chose to suarey into a redesign.

I don't want to touch too much on the errors of the last logo, as it was a much less experienced and educated designer's attempt at looking cool. It's faults are in ignorance, and I can't fault my past self too much for not knowing what I didn't know.

On to the new logo! First of all, I wanted to switch from a letter mark to a word mark because I wanted to allow for permutations and growth as I felt necessary. If I want to change the language of the site name to better suit an article I really want to write, then this wordmark allows me to do so without losing any brand recognition.

For example, in my reverse-engineering the look of the site to apply it to the archived articles, I changed the language of the logo from "Tanner Reviews Things" to "Tanner Talks TV." This verbal change may not seem like much, but it lessens the restriction on what I want to do as a writer.

There are a lot of little choices that went into the new logo. I had a core concept that pretty much stayed true through all of the steps in the design process. I wanted a design that a.) allowed for change to suit the articles, b.) created a specific sub-logo pertaining to an article's subject, c.) drew on a journalistic notion despite never being printed, and d.) was built to last. I think this new logo checks all of those boxes I set for myself.


I wanted to create a sense of color recognition with a specific genre. That is one major reason behind the logo being greys. It allows for endless color manipulation. Each color has a purpose. Purple plays on music's artistic expression. Orange on games' ability to be fun and also tell a story. Blue on tv's consistency (everyone has a tv) and also is a trustworthy color for something almost everyone can find a program they enjoy. Red on movies luxurious history, its ability to incite a human emotion and red is often a color featured in theatres. Green on hobbies, as they not only take money but are also often seen as a fun distraction from corporate careers.

This color coordination allows for endless expansion, which really excites me as both the content creator and designer for this site.

Overall, this redesign felt necessary for so many reasons. For longevity to the aesthetic of the site, for expansion purposes, for branding and colormarks and even for a new look. Also important to me was the switch to an almost-white grey background, as it provides the most natural reading experience. It was intended to be off-white, much like a newspaper.

I hope that this direction of the site allows me to grow into what I want from this site: to become a better writer, to express my opinions in the best matter possible and most importantly to create a unique conversational experience among everyone reading.

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