Project Name: Kevlar Steel Gaming Logo
Project Type: Freelance | Client
Tools Utilized: Adobe CC Photoshop, Illustrator | iMac Desktop
Do you like video games? I do. It’s been a part of me since childhood. Besides enjoying the games, I’ve always had a fascination with the box art design as well. Now, in my adult years being a visual artist, I have been presented with the opportunity to work on a gaming related logo. In this article, I will be sharing my reflection of crafting a gaming logo for various media platforms and all the challenges and processes that go into it!
Pixelated Visions
One of the great things about networking with people is it exponentially increases your chances to offer your creative services. You just never know when an opportunity can manifest itself at anytime! During a temporary job relocation, I got to know some of the people there. So one day, one of the employees that work there and I got to talking about video games. After several conversations throughout the following weeks, I soon discovered he was looking to branch out into the gaming community and share his passion for video games. Particularly through YouTube, Twitch, and social media platforms. With this in mind, he wanted to create a brand presence. Being that I am a visual artist, I offered to help make this vision a reality!
Leveling Up
Let the brainstorming begin! The client wanted a 3D logo design with a steel shield motif, and decided to play off his brand name, Kevlar Steel Gaming. Additionally, he also envisioned the logo sitting on a Kevlar mesh background. The client preferred that the logo be a sign of strength, and could withstand anything that could be thrown at it. Therefore, these elements would be carried across all social platforms.
Journey ahead
Every great adventure starts with planning and mapping out an outline for the journey. As a graphic designer, we call those plans thumbnails. In light of all the information the client gave me, I would translate that information into 3″ tiny sketches. Thus, each one being a different variation of each other. For this project, I sketched out different shield shapes, typographical name treatments, and various gaming themed elements. The two logo concepts that stood out the most were a ranger like traditional badge shape/shield and a Viking/ Warrior like shield with stars and a gaming controller. Additionally, the anagram KSG would be inside the shield with the full name aligned to the right of the logo shield.
Crafted in Illustrator
Now that there were two excellent choices, it was now time to turn them into fully existing entities in the digital realm. The best choice to achieve this for logo design is Adobe Illustrator, due to it being a vector (svg) based program. I loaded up a JPG of my sketches from my iPad into Illustrator. Once there, I would be able to trace and smooth out the sketched concepts, both turning out really well. Now there was a new problem at hand. We had two strong designs, but only one could be chosen. After much pondering, it hit me! Why not combine the best elements from both? As a result, the newly blended design transformed into perfection. It was now better than the first two concepts! A strong design has been crafted!
Forged in Photoshop
However, the greatest and longest battle yet lied ahead! In order to envision victory, the strongest weapons must be carefully casted in Photoshop! Here is where the bulk of the work was, due to the 3D nature of the design. In order to get the shiny effect, a combination of filters and adjustment layers were used. The main ingredients were the satin, bevel, and drop shadow filters. I used a steel brush texture that I created separately, and overlayed it using a clipping mask. Once going through these processes, we have successfully forged an amazingly crafted 3D logo! My client was blown away when I showed him the finalized version of the gaming logo.
The Last Piece of Branding Weaponry
Once the stunning logo was done, we still had one more weapon in the arsenal to forge. The mesh background was the last thing that was needed. Similarly to the other pieces of the gaming logo, this would be made from scratch as well. I took my sketch into Illustrator and created the base of the mesh. Once in there, I created a grid of circles, just like a chain like fence. Then, onto Photoshop to add more to the base design. Again I would create the 3D illusion by using Gaussian Blur, noise, drop shadow, and a custom overlays. Photoshop is an amazing tool and I would recommend it to any digital artist, designer, or photographer. After a lot of trial and error trying to get all the filters to sync to give the desired effect, success was finally achieved! I painted out the concrete overlay with a hard brush to give it the chiseled look over the mesh background underneath. This was a very fun process! I felt like an archeologist! The mesh background looked 3D, complete with shine, shadows, and depth!
Armed for Battle
Finally, it was time to show my client all the final pieces together! He was even more ecstatic that his goals were turning into a virtual reality! It’s always great to see the joy of the client’s reaction, knowing that you can affect someone’s life in a positive manner through art! Also, It’s very cool when I go to my clients social platforms and see all the hard work up on display. Thanks for stopping by and reading this article! Continue to stop back for more project articles! Go checkout my design work and my client’s newly launched gaming and social platforms!
Follow Kevlar Steel Gaming using the social media links provided below.
