1.     Discuss what you thought about creating your logo.

I was really excited about creating my logo because I have always been interested in graphic design. I am constantly doodling, I actually love doodling ‘logo-like’ sketches so this was fun. It required more of a thought process than my random scribbles but I like how much meaning this logo has to me now.

2.     Describe the process: creative thinking skills and ideas you used in the logo creation.

The first thing I did was think of the message that I wished to convey to the audience about myself. I thought of which values and aspects of my personality I could simplify into a logo. Sun was an obvious choice for me; it has been a symbol of who I am throughout my life. I associate the sun with a positive personality, moving past adversity, bringing joy to others, warmth, and happiness (just to name a few.) Secondly, I tried to narrow the most central parts of my life. My life as I know it so far has pretty much been centered around hockey (hence the sticks in the middle) and I knew I wanted to make this a central part of my logo without making it the entire logo. The number 16 also has significance because it the number I have shared with my dad my whole life, and a representation of how vital and supportive he has been in my life. I wanted the sun to display motion, as if it were moving forward and persevering through cloudy skies. Lastly I knew I wanted to include the trinity knot for many symbolic reasons. The symmetry in this knot attracted me as well as the meaning behind it. I am from Irish decent and my grandfather told me this knot stood for family, connection, sisterhood, love, peace, and unity. When the girls in our big Irish family turn 16 they receive claddagh rings, each unique to the girls personality. I received one with trinity knots (or sometimes referred to as aaron knots) instead of the traditional hands. This is when I learned some important lessons about family and love from my grandfather and a lot about my heritage. I chose to make the rays small in some areas not only to give the illusion of motion but to represent the growth and maturity I still have left to experience. Life to me is about learning, loving, and spreading as much ‘sunshine’ as you can on the way.

3.     What was the most important discovery you made in the creation of your logo?

I worked with a new medium during the making of my logo so I discovered some do’s and don’ts about working with watercolor pencils. I discovered too late that adding water means you cant go back and easily make areas darker with more colored pencil. I liked this medium because it was mess free but I hoped I could add more detail by using the pencils. I had to cut down my original map-out design because the lines were too thin for these particular pencils to create the clean and finished look I desired.

4.     What is the most important information you learned from watching the videos, powerpoint, and reading material  for this project? What is your opinion of the videos?

The brainstorming process was most important to learn about for me. I tend to run with a doodle in the direction it takes me, not in the direction I necessarily want it to go. Having a precise plan and sticking to it was frustrating at points but resulted in me getting almost exactly what I wanted out of my artwork. There is nothing wrong with doodling for fun but the reading material for this week taught me how to stay somewhat focused on a design.