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As part of one of my University briefs, I had to rebrand a theatre in Chester named “Chester Gateway Theatre”. I really enjoyed the brief because one of my favourite things to do is to brand and rebrand. Logo design in particular is something I really enjoy. Six weeks after the completion of the project, Chester Chronicle interviewer David Holmes and photographer Ian Cooper came in to speak to us about the project for inclusion in the Chronicle. The Chester Chronicle is committed to getting a theatre back in Chester after the Gateway Theatre closed down in 2005. I was lucky enough to be interviewed and photographed with my work and today, my picture was published in the paper.

You can see the logo in all of its glory here. I’ll be uploading further promotional pieces that were designed for the rebranding very soon including business stationery and posters.

It’s really nice having a chance to display your work to a larger audience, even if the actual logo itself will not be used. I believe it creates more awareness of graphic design in general and of course getting your photo (and perhaps more importantly your name) in the paper is a small step to getting my name out there and giving potential clients more confidence and trust that I can not only get the job done, but to a professional level.

A quote that I’ve just come across:

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

Found via here.

I think that’s such an interesting question that graphic design on many occasions fails to answer. So much design follows trends instead of starting one. No one person can be blamed for wanting to look like something else, however. Afterall, we as a society are comfortable with the familiar, while casting out anything that can be considered unusual. You only have to look at the likes of the London 2012 logo to see how that was unwelcomed by the world.

It’s hard to be different because it’s scary being different. The more you stray from the realms of familiarity, the less people there are to give you advice on how to progress because if they’ve never done it, how are they going to help you? And if they’ve never done what you’re trying to do, they’ll always want to direct you down a path on which they have an understanding. But just because someone isn’t there to point you in a (right or wrong) direction, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t always do it regardless. At the worst, it’s a failed experiment, giving you valuable lessons for whatever project you work on next and at best, you design something that leads the rest of the industry, seperating you from those who are content just to follow.