Case Study: Public Outreach Logo & Branding
By: Ludmila Shevchenko
Tags: Design, Logo Design, UX, Branding, Product Design

The beginning of the work

When working on the logo I usually start with hand-drawn sketches first. It’s the best way to deliver the ideas as fast as possible and while I’m drawing the first idea I already get the next one.

The first sketches

This time I followed my regular approach. As you can notice, most of the variants have an imperfect circle as one of the key elements. This is because such a shape symbolizes people with different backgrounds and skills.

Choosing ideas to develop further

Variant #1

The evolution of color combinations and shape formation

In this variant, I showed the neat “P” letter where the circle consists of several ones inside it. I also played with colors to see how the general perception can be changed when we move the color tone.

Bright “P” with font

Variant #2

The next concept consists of “P” that has overlayed shapes bringing the feeling of a perspective.

The color in this variant plays a big role as depending on how you choose colors you present the overlay effect in a different way—whether you emphasize it by a contrast color (2) or make it as a darker part as a continuation of one of the layers (1, 3).

Color variations

Trying this variant with the composition of the circles brings a new vision. Perspective in “P” adds to the movement and direction of the circles and altogether, we get a dynamic element.

Playing with color combinations—calm (1), bright (2), medium bright (3)

Another thing was to play with the tiny details—angle, roundings, and more color combinations. In the result, it showed a more “classic” view of the letter which means that it’ll be easier to “read” the idea.

The formation of “P” changes the roundness and proportions

At this point, it was also decided to stick to the existing branding colors.

Variant #3

The combination of circles felt like the right thing while the other part of the logo could be further explored.

So, the next stage was to play with “P” and “O” letters which reflect the full name—Public Outreach.

Four variants based on a combination of “P” and “O” letters

The variants vary with an overlay (or not) as well as different “O” styles.

Then, I checked the combinations with different fonts.

Checking various combinations of fonts and composition

Of course, there are always multiple approaches to how to play with the details in order to get another perspective. At this stage, I created more options playing with the distance between letters, the angle and number of circles in “O”, as well as waves.

Formation of composition and detailing inside the shapes of the circles

“O” itself while being quite a simple letter has even more variations.

In the following versions, the letters again are placed with a slight angle to add dynamics while “O” varies in shapes that could be further animated.

The variants with different “moving O”

How not get lost while comparing multiple variations?

Ok, so this is a common question you might get once there are many iterations done. Sometimes seeing 4–8 variants together which have slight differences it’s getting harder to choose the one. So, what’s the solution?

In this case, it will be very helpful to see the variants on a different scale as well.

It’s kinda a rule I discovered while learning in the art school back in time. Usually, you’re drawing at one distance to the canvas and your eye gets used to the picture. As a result, you hardly can notice details or small disadvantages. But once you step out from your work and check it from a different perspective so that it becomes smaller, you start to see it differently and your eye will notice some new things.

Pro tip: Check your work on a different scale, both standard and smaller size. This way you’ll get a new perspective and fresh perception. Also, it is needed to be able to imagine how the logo will look like in, let’s say, a header of your website.

Different variants in big and small scale

The final result

In the end, we decided to focus on the circles only. They represent:

team;

donors;

charity partners.

The imperfect nature of the circles symbolizes people with different backgrounds and skills collectively making a successful whole. The different shades represent the development of staff throughout their time at Public Outreach.

Final logo for Public Outreach

How the logo expands into the branding

Once the logo is created you should move to the next step—create the patterns of how to expand and use the brand style over multiple elements on the website, social media, and/or printed parts. This way the brand will look consistent and holistic.

1. Using the logo in a different scenario

Here, the logo itself can become a self-explanatory element.

Scheme showing the values of the company

2. Detach one element of the logo

Having the imperfect shapes of the circles as the core elements you have a chance to expand using this element in other cases, for example, small graphic images describing the products.

The different shapes, as well as colors, add to the fresh perception of each group.

Three graphics are followed by three shapes of the circles

3. Create a new composition out of logo elements

Another approach is to create new compositions of elements based on the one from the logo. Like in the following example where the area for the company’s logo has a different new formation.

The example of how the testimonials look like

4. Incorporate a logo shape in the image of the team

This way you get the ready pattern for the Our Team chapter on the website but that’s not the only way to use it.

Professional networks such as Linkedin could be a great place to showcase people as one team with the help of such branded avatars.

Part of Our Team page

Conclusion

Working on the Public Outreach logo&branding was a great experience for me. First of all, thanks to a great collaboration with the client. I got the feedback right on time and nevertheless such a large time difference between us (GMT +2 hours vs. GMT+13) we managed to have calls to be able to discuss the updates and get a better understanding of where to move.

A great collaboration is an extremely important thing you can’t overestimate.

Then, the logo creation was fun and consistent process exploring multiple variations of how one logo can look in the end.

Another aspect was to find solutions to release the final web design based on Wix functionality. Wix does provide you with various approaches but at the same time limits the possible concepts. Because of that, you challenge yourself with finding creative ways how to get what you want out of limited sources.