Rapid Brand Identity Design Process for SXSW Presenters: Pocket Tales

When creating a brand identity, it's not unusual for our internal process to take several weeks to a few months. It's not too often that we have to expedite that process, but every now and then, an opportunity arises...



Last week we received a phone call from a potential client who was in need of a logo. Initially we assumed the project would follow our typical design process: we discuss general requirements, business objectives, schedule an initial discovery meeting, etc. But by the end of this phone call, we realized this client was in a bit of a hurry. They needed a final logo by 5PM Central time on the following day!

Our new client, Pocket Tales, is only one of eight companies selected to present in the Entertainment Technologies category at the Microsoft BizSpark Accelerator, part of the 2010 SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin, Texas. We felt confident in their potential for success--especially when we learned that their project was selected by SXSW solely on the presentation of their concept.

We found out that SXSW needed a logo from Pocket Tales right away to begin printing promotional materials for the event.

We had only 24 hours to concept, sketch and finalize their brand identity design.

As our client described the concept, "Pocket Tales is an online social reading game for kids 7-12 years old. The objective is to earn points and rewards by reading books and completing activities like taking quizzes, playing games, rating books, and recommending books to friends."

Within the hour, we met with the client and discussed their concept, audience, and visual inspirations. Following the kickoff meeting, our entire design team was debriefed on the project and issued a challenge to have concepts and sketches to bring to the table the following morning.

The rest is history. Here's a visual snapshot of the process:

















The final Pocket Tales identity is infinitely customizable. The design allows the client to "swap out" what goes in the pocket--a globe, the wheel of a ship, a knight's helmet, etc.

Good luck to Pocket Tales this year at SXSW!

Project Timeline:

Tuesday:
3PM - Discovery meeting
4PM - Internal creative Meeting
6PM - Begin sketches

Wednesday:
10AM - Review concepts / sketches
11AM - Finalize top 4 concepts
Noon - Submit 4 concepts to client
1PM - Final direction approved by client
4PM - Rough vector art submitted to client
5PM - Final Pocket Tales logo design delivered

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4 New Miles Design Logo Designs Featured in Logo Lounge Master Series

Our copies of the Logo Lounge Master Series books arrived this week. We were surprised to see that we actually had four logos selected for this edition, as originally we were only told there would be three of our recent brand identity designs included in their inaugural Master Library Series book.

The official title of the book is Master Library - 3000 INITIAL & CREST LOGOS.

The book itself is really well done, complete with silver gilded page edges - it almost looks like a bible. Check it out at your local bookstore.

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