Overview

For this Real Job I redesigned the logotype for the 16th workshop of Linguistic Landscape – a conference held that was held at the University of Duisburg-Essen located in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany in 2025. The conference is held at a different location every year, so requires a new, bespoke identity each time.

 

Restating the brief

Aim for the job

The goal was to create an identity for the conference that reflected the industrial heritage of the area to be used both on screen, on the client’s website and BlueSky, and off screen, on an array of merchandise such as tote bags, cups and pens (figs 01 to 04)

 

 

 

 

 

Core deliverable

The primary objective for this job was to produce a logo that has two variations; extended and condensed. This was because the client did not want to be constrained when selecting the range of aforementioned objects to apply the logo to, because of the range between their sizes. I achieved this by integrating a mascot into the full logotype, the Zeche Zollverein – a modernist structure that was formally a coal mine shaft – which could be removed and integrated with the initial of the extended logotype (L) to form the condensed logo. This allowed for smaller objects, such as pens, to be branded, as well as larger objects, like tote bags, simultaneously. The client also later requested to have multiple texturised versions of both logos to add greater depth to the identity by referencing the surrounding area of the conference’s industrial history as showcased later.

 

Schedule

• Week 13: Confirmation of brief directly from client and first meeting with client 
• Week 14: Research and initial design concepts 
• Week 15: Concept development, presentation to client and feedback from client 
• Week 16: Respond to feedback and develop iterations
• Week 17: Finalise designs
• Week 18: Deliver logo (and mock up, designs)

 

Research

As the client was based in Germany, I was unable to visit and collect primary research. As a result, I gathered material online by consulting sources of inspiration that pertained to the client’s needs after our initial client meeting, as detailed next. To keep this research as relevant as possible, I wanted to capture the gritty essence of the conference’s area.

Ideation

After my initial meeting with the client and discussing the job ahead, I created the three mood boards to distill the possible directions that could have wanted to pursue (figs 05 to 07), as this was not concrete. Initially, the client favoured two directions; the protest and the metallic visual styles. Therefore, for the next meeting, I decided to sketch possible appearances of the logo in the industrial style (figs 08 to 09) and conduct some experimentation with tape in the style of placards (figs 10 to 11), to gauge which direction they truly favoured.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Development

The client decided that they preferred the urban, industrial visual style after I presented the mood boards, sketches and experimentation to them. The tape, protest concept wasn’t successful as it jeopardised legibility, and was time consuming to make by hand, which was not sympathetic to the quick-paced nature of the job. Moreover, the client expressed that they liked both Univers and Gotham. To make the decision between both typefaces easier, I redesigned figs 12 and 13 in different ways (fig 14), with each typeface respectively, to provide them with an ample sample to choose one from.

 

 

 

 

Outcome

Inspired by Factory Record’s logo (fig 15), designed by Peter Saville to be used in association with bands from Manchester, a historically industrial area like North Rhine-Westphalia, the logo’s identity ultimately took influence from it’s modernist nature. However, the texturised logos gave the client the ability to inject a more overt application of the area’s essence into the deliverables being branded.

 

I successfully produced a set of two logos (figs 16 to 23), both of which have three different texturised versions. As outlined in the brand guidelines that I produced for the client, the black and white renditions of the logos were to be used for print, being vectors, and the texturised logos for screen – the image of the texture (created using filters and effects within Adobe Photoshop) being a .PNG.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feedback

‘Thank you for sharing the files. They look great! I was able to access and download everything with the first link you sent. The guidelines will be very helpful in the coming weeks. Thanks again for your hard work!’

– Melody Ann-Ross, University of Duisburg-Essen

‘Many thanks for the logos and the additional tips! You did a great job and we really enjoyed working with you!’

– Evelyn Zieger, University of Duisburg-Essen

 

Visitors and speakers at the conference also reportedly detailed how when they first saw the logo, they were unaware of what it represented, however after processing it for a few more seconds, the connection to the area’s modernist architecture (fig 24) became obvious. This was the effect that I wanted; avoiding obviousness to create that initial interest.

 

Reflection

This was my third official Real Job, the other two having been group projects. At first, I was slightly apprehensive, as rebranding an entire conference on my own, happening overseas, receiving the brief at the end of my first year of study, undoubtedly struck me as a challenge. Despite this, I decided to pursue the project, as I knew it was going to pay off and provide me with priceless experience. Overall, the job went smoothly once I distilled what exactly the client wanted within the bounds of my availability alongside my full-time studies.

 

Seeing work that I designed, mass-produced onto tangible objects, as pictured earlier, and even on screen, like on the client’s website, was surreal, especially as a second year, reflecting on the fact that I worked alone, with input from my supervisor, Irmi Wachendorff.