During my graduate school studies, I took a Business of Music class that allowed me to work with independent artists on some visual branding. I specifically was assigned to design new logos for a rock band named Paste and an alternative artist named Enrii Mart. Neither had a pre-existing logo and, therefore, wanted the design to help strengthen their aesthetic and brand identity.
In order to generate logos that accurately capture the essence of these artists, it is important to have an in-depth discussion with both artists and find out how they see themselves and what their inspirations are. “What do they imagine for their logo, if anything?” is a question that will be integral to this process. Good communication will be key to a satisfying result for everyone.
The objective here is to design a logo that fits the desired aesthetic of these artists while also incorporating references to their sound and inspirations.
After the discussion, inspiration will be compiled and then utilized as a jumping off point for a list of various design options made using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I will then present these ideas to the artists themselves and further hone the ones they resonate with the most until they are satisfied.
After my discussion with Paste, they emphasized that they wanted something simple and iconic, similar to the Oasis logo. They told me that they screen-printed their merch and also wanted something that would fit that low-fi, grungy aesthetic. They specified that they wanted at max three colours to be used: black, white, and red. It seemed the 90s were the way to go with them!
For Enrii Mart, he explained that he wanted a logo that would emphasize the playful and gentle nature of his music. He cited Tame Impala has an artist who inspired him which I found interesting as I’m not sure I would use “playful” or “gentle” to describe him. Still, that sort of fun psychedelia would be key to creating a satisfying design for this project. He also stated that he wanted it to be a simple, single colour logo.
Enrii actually selected one of my designs after our second meeting. With Paste, they selected a few they thought were close to their desired logo but specified they wanted the logo to be all lowercase and just use a single line or a box. I then generated examples based on their feedback to which they selected their desired font and asked me to mock it up all in one colour with just a box. This was the final version they selected.
For Enrii’s next stage of music, he utilized my logo before moving in a simpler direction for his following era. Paste continues to play several shows in small bars who seem to do their own typography. As of yet, their own promotional material has not included their own typography or logo and only time will tell if they put it to good use. However, both artists expressed their excitement over the logos and their emphasis on the hallmarks of who they are as musicians which was the ultimate goal of the project.
