:: (Case Study) Logo for Mark J. Sebastian ::

How do you develop a logo for a seasoned photographer with a matching client list to boast? The initial meeting with Mark J. Sebastian allowed us to figure out his needs and what values the logo was meant to embody. A few of the feelings he wanted captured were timeless, non-instrusive, simple, clean, and bold. Assuming that’s how every logo should turn out I asked him what characteristics his logo should adopt. Sun, energy, light, triangle, skull, danger, and ninja were words he quickly mentioned. Ninja? Right then I knew this was project was going to be a blast!

Step 1. Have a sit down, extract tons of ideas, and drink a few beers. Mark had a handful of his own thoughts but was open to see what ideas I could conjure up after our initial correspondence. It’s my job as a designer to take this information, do some thinking on behalf of my client, and produce a solution.

Step 2. Light, Rays, and Energy were words I wanted expressed in this symbol simply because of the nature of the photography industry. I fleshed out roughly 20 logos but only showcased 9 that encompassed a variety of solutions. Presenting more than that would cause us to lose focus and is rarely necessary. A jedi mind trick is to place my favorites first in hopes to steer clients in that general direction. A1 symbolized a shutter and light rays. B1 represented the flash button on a camera. C1 was an abstract bokeh.

Step 3. My tactic seemed to work and Mark was favoring A1 and B1 from above. However, he was still curious to explore two new directions. A typographic mark and a more abstract symbol. These four marks varied greatly but a direction had to be chosen at this stage.

Step4. Mark chose to move forward with and refine the shutter symbol. The organic movement of this symbol was the best feature, but the “blades” were too close in proximity and confining. By giving it breathing room we made the positive and negative space exist cohesively and easier on the eyes.

Step 5. With a few more tweaks to the blades we began exploring type to compliment the feel of the logo. As you can see we explored a wide range of fonts and styles. This round was probably the toughest although the solution seemed simple. Ultimately we chose a lowercase, san-serif font to playfully balance out the overpowering stance and shape of the symbol.

Step 6. The final step was to add color. The magenta paired with black evoked an energetic, mysterious, and alluring mood. Sort of how Mark J. Sebastian constructs his shots behind the lens.  Final files were delivered, smiles produced, and handshakes exchanged.

To view more of his work: www.markjsebastian.com

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