Who are Cogent Mind Solutions?
Cogent Mind Solutions, founded by Eva Feredoes and Dan Jones from the School of Psychology, is a newly created start-up company that aims to become a consultancy and development organisation who improve mind-based training within other companies. They currently have their focus set on working with sports training, however, would like to expand quickly into other sectors that require mind-based training with scientific research.
Restating the brief
Summary of the project
Ben and I worked closely with Eva and Dan to create an appropriate and flexible logo with an accompanying set of brand guidelines that outline the major elements of the brand and how to use it. Being a start-up company, Cogent Mind Solution needed to be established with a brand identity – logo and guidelines – to ensure their new brand is communicated correctly to any internal and external designers, developers, and their audience moving forward.
Originally, Eva and Dan wished for us to create a website for their company, however, our supervisor Sara , Ben and I felt that Cogent Mind Solutions needed an established brand identity before major assets such as a website can be designed. This way, the clients will be able to have other designers or programmers pick up the project with a set of established guidelines and assets to create further outputs when needed instead of having no brand to work with.
Deliverables
- A range of logo variations (EPS, JPG, PNG formats)
- A flexible brand pattern asset (EPS, JPG, PNG formats)
- Brand guidelines including brand colours, typefaces, and brand applications
Client communication
Communication with the clients Eva and Dan were set up to work on various levels. For quick communication, we created a WhatsApp group chat to establish a path for quick updates, questions, and changes between the clients. This was set up after our first online meeting with the client and became a great help in moving the project forward at a comfortable pace, especially during the summer holiday. This move also made communication feel more casual and comfortable which helped create a good environment for progress. Online meetings were also established to keep the clients engaged with major decisions, milestones, and in-depth discussion.
Exploring the sector
To get the ball rolling on logo design inspiration, we researched the sector by exploring existing similar companies and their logo designs. Examples of these companies were ‘Neuro Trainer’, ‘alphabeats’, and ‘mendi’ [figs 1, 2, 3]. Through our research we found that most of this sector adopted either an ultra-futuristic design or a smooth geometric design within their logos. They also adopted biological patterns such as cell like connecting shapes and or the shapes representing the brain. This research helped us get a better understanding of how other existing companies in the mind-based training landscape presented themselves and gave us a good base to begin the ideation stage after settling on a variation of names for the company.
Exploring different names
The name ‘Cogent Mind Solutions’ was created by Eva and Dan before the beginning of the project, however, they were open to receiving some further name suggestions and or revisions on their original name. We decided with our supervisor that the full name was quite wordy as it stood and would need adjusting in terms of hierarchy. To combat this, ‘Cogent’ was changed to become the main name whilst ‘Mind Solutions’ was to be the sub name/descriptor instead of all working on an equal plain [fig 6, numbers 1 and 2]. Another idea to combat the long name was to create the acronym ‘CMS’. However, we were advised by our supervisor that using an acronym would take recognition away from the full name in the long run.
In terms of new names, Ben and I came up with a variety of names that complimented both the scientific/psychological and consultancy side of the company.
From this list of names, Eva and Dan liked the sound of ‘Synaptick’ and ‘Neuro Logic’ as they felt they were short and snappy while encapsulating the consultancy and psychological themes of the company. ‘Synaptick’ was later changed to ‘Synaptic’ to remove problematic risks associated with the word play.
First ideation sketches
During the first stage of logo ideation, Ben and I created a range of different concepts for each of the chosen names (‘Synaptic’, ‘Neuro Logic’, and ‘Cogent Mind Solutions’). As per our research of the sector above, we adopted a range of biological patterns, brain shaped imagery, and futuristic design ques to allow our logo to fit within the landscape of mind-based training companies.
After showing the clients a range of different ideations, we settled on a mix and match of different elements and worked together to create a new direction. Firstly, the clients wished to retain their original name of ‘Cogent Mind Solutions’ whilst adopting the new hierarchy seen within figure 6 (numbers 1 and 2) as they felt the name best suit their identity. Secondly, they wanted to adopt the brain hemisphere illustration from figure 8 (numbers 1, 2, and 3) as they felt that the opposing hemisphere design paired well with their vision of working with both sides of the brain.
Second ideation stage
With a direction given to us by the client, we created a new logo strongly sticking to their input in the earlier stage. Exploring a range of colour ways was the focus of this batch of designs as we felt that the general design had been finalised with the client.
However, we were later told by our supervisor to take a step back and explore a few more concepts before exploring the use of colour. We learnt that this design had more potential if we loosened up on the client’s previous input and explored the concept further.
Revised ideation stage
Last ideations stage
Upon receiving feedback from our supervisor and being advised to pursue more concepts, we further explored the concept of the left and right hemispheres of the brain through a range of different designs. Designing only in black and white for the logo drafts enabled us to finalise concepts faster and in finer detail without the need for considering colour until the final design was chosen.
Ideations were developed that borrowed features from multiple older concepts. A message was sent alongside the logo proposals that communicated how each draft should be seen as a concept that can be refined further instead of a final product. This enabled our clients to understand the process behind designing logos, allowing them to see the potential behind each concept and how it could evolve with their input and preferences.
From this new range of ideations, the clients selected two concepts [fig 11, numbers 3 and 7] that they believed fit their view of how their company should be represented visually. Colour then became our next point of interest for the two logos to be taken towards the final decision from the client.
The client ultimately decided on logo number 3 [figs 11 and 13] as it felt less tight, kept the idea of opposing hemispheres, and they liked the use of the letter ‘C’ within the illustration which could be used as a symbol on its own.
Choosing colours
Using some of the same colours that we explored in figure 10, the clients decided on the combination of the dark and light blue [fig 13, number 3]. These colours were chosen based on their strong relation to the health and science sector which their business is aiming for. Selecting two colours enables the logo to communicate the separate hemispheres of the brain whilst also allowing for a nice level of contrast and further additions to brand colours to be used in other assets.
Variants
After the colours were chosen, the full logo was separated into three variants: the full logo [fig 15] that would be used as the default method of presenting the brand, the symbol [fig 16] which would act as a smaller icon for social media outputs and smaller material, and the wordmark [fig 17] that consists of just the logos typeface ‘Scandia’.
We experimented with the wordmark portion of the logo such as originally having the stencil slits [figs 13 and 18] and cell like protrusions [fig 18], however, we decided to keep the typeface original to let the symbol be the focus.
To supply the clients with further branding assets to use to reinforce their brand identity, we created a pattern asset [fig 19] for them to use alongside the logo or in other places. This patterns creates one more asset to tie a range of their outputs together when needed.
Creating the brand guidelines
Initial guidelines
Developing initial brand guidelines for Cogent Mind Solutions first involved separating sections into: Logos, additional assets, brand colours, typography, and mock-ups. The goal was to present the brand in a clear manner whilst also informing designers how to use and where to find assets when creating outputs for the company.
Laying out the coloured and mono versions of the logo and assets became a challenge as we wanted to clearly present all alternatives on a single page; this was achieved by creating a grid that managed to show each variation. The grid enabled us to generate a consistent layout for the elements to be shown on each page without constraining proportions of the logos. We were also advice by our supervisor to add captions with the file names next to each asset to help users navigate through the files and know what formats are available using the brand guidelines.
Brand colours had a similar problem with managing to convey their colour values for print and digital media. Initially, the information sat alongside a block of colour, however after feedback we integrated the information inside the colour to maximise space and allow for better spacing amongst each colour. Presenting the Open Sans typeface on the guidelines was less of a hurdle as our supervisor informed us that four different weights was enough variation for this start-up brand. It also became apparent after feedback with our supervisor that we should include the link to the Open Sans download on Google fonts so that the typeface could be found and used more accessibly; this was added in a later version.
Before developing mock-ups to show how the brand could be applied on different mediums, we asked the client what they would most likely be placing this brand on. From this we learnt that the brand would appear on their website, business cards, glossy pamphlets, and banners at trade fairs. Once this was made clear, mock-ups were made to show our clients how their brand could be applied to these mediums.
Organising deliverables
To make accessing the variations of the logo and patterns easier for our clients, we ensured there was a consistent naming system for each file and asset. Files contained the variation name, colour, and format type to ensure clarity when finding each asset. The file contained RGB [fig 25] and CMYK [fig26] versions of each asset for the client to use when a print or digital output as required, with each variation including PNG, JPG, and EPS files.
Reflection
Through the progression of this project, we gained insight into the importance strong communication with the client, asking vital questions, that generate conversations that can sprout new concepts that can be explored when designing. Because we made a WhatsApp group, shared emails, and created a friendly repour with the clients from the first week, we were able to keep in contact throughout the design process ad gain quick answers and potential amendments when needed. Building a repour with our clients as well as between ourselves contributed to how smoothly the project resulted.
Overall, the design process of the logo and brand guidelines was satisfying to see develop into the final product, with approval from our supervisor and clients. Upon submitting the final product, it was made clear to Eva and Dan that if there were any questions or concerns regarding the use of assets or how they would be applied we were happy to take the time to explain and justify. It was a pleasure working with them.
Written by Tristan Bevan & Ben Brown