I don't have any other information on the assignment other than the name of the project as the brief was handed out in class and hasn't been uploaded online yet. I have contacted the lecturers to get a copy sent but haven't had any word back yet so I've been browsing through classmates blogs to get as much information on what is required as possible. I am of the understanding that the technical implementation is not due yet, but until the end of the semester we should be working on design concepts, wire frames and logo ideas.
So with the info that I gathered, I started with some logo designs. I had been working with the name 'Grow Community Center' as this is what it appeared to be called in one students blog. I thought the best thing to do was create another mind map as I find these really helpful. I made notes on the things I should research for inspiration.
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| Logo Mind Map |
'Growth' (Images Sourced via Google Images)
'Friendship' (Images Sourced via Google Images)
'Connection' (Images Sourced via Google Images)
Based on the inspiration I got from the images above and some other ideas I had thought of, I began sketching the designs...
Concept 1 - Growing Lettering
The idea behind this design was to illustrate the word 'Grow' which is the key word of the brand. I thought of using plain text with a graphic of something that grows (plants, flowers, people etc) as an icon beside it but that didn't work with the concept of illustrating the word. So I tried messing around with the size of the lettering and came up with the logo below. I also designed
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| Phase 3 - Final |
A key aspect of community for me is friendship. I've also always loved the 'Circle of Friends' figures so decided to combine these two ideas and came up with the designs below. Another symbol I consider a sign of friendship is hands joining together. I combined this idea with a growing plant and made the hands the flower of the plant...
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Phase 2
Connection
A community is about connecting (like a jigsaw) and looking out for each other so I designed some logos based on this idea. However, as I had not got the full information about the project, I didn't incorporate anything to with gardening so these designs are irrelevant but I thought no harm in showing them.
 
Other Sketches
The designs below are a few other sketches I tried. This time I based them more around gardening than community and friendship. I incorporated a growing flower, the back drop of a garden, a tree trunk and a leaf into the designs. I personally like the single letter 'G' to represent 'Grow' as I think it's a simple and contemporary design.     
Back to pop-it.com
A bit later in the game than I hoped, but I have finally started to read up on PHP. pop-it.com must contain a members log-in area, a way for new members to sign up and upload photos of their work to share with others and sell. I will be using PHP and my SQL to achieve this...once I know how to...so for now I have been reading PHP Solutions and looking at some code online for the various functions. I also need to figure out how payment will be made to the other members. I was thinking of using Paypal as this is as secure as I could probably make it but I need a bit more advice on this. Lastly, I have been looking into purchasing a domain name. The following sites were recommended. I would recommend SoulHosting to anyone who hasn't already thought about which provider to use. It has great packages including a Student Special :). This is the e-coupon code if anybody would also like to use this one...UUROCKS2010! |
