Nandri Chennai!

A tribute to a city where I stayed 2 years figuring out people, values, relationships, and more. Though I hate its climate and more, I’m happy to have spent two years in this city! For all the things, Nandri Chennai!

New Work: Logo Design for BuySellStockphoto.com

buysellStockphoto.com will be India’s first royalty free stock photography marketplace. Its goal is to give photographers and digital artist a powerful platform to promote and sell their work online and to provide photo buyers with a high quality yet affordable stock photo collection to save their business time and money.

I was approached to design the identity of buysellstockphoto.com. The initial options presented to the client are as follows:

Option #01

A polaroid photograph is used to represent the nature of the site. The two arrows represent buyers and sellers. The arrows complete a round which means the site is all about stock photo buyers and sellers and also that the business revolves around photographs.

A Design Test

Recently, I applied for a designer position in a design studio and I was asked to give a design test. I had to answer the following questions in one day. I’m blogging here the answers I gave for the questions they asked. Click on the thumbnails to view their full size.

Q. The friendly neighborhood, ice cream parlor “Corner House Ice Creams” is facing tough competition from the new giants in the market. Your task is to design a magazine ad to promote Corner House as the ice cream parlor for all your celebrations.

New Illustration

This is a recent illustration done to present to a client for calendar illustrations.

Scanned artwork.

Finished work.

© 2008 Saawan. All rights reserved.

Illustrative Logo: Project Lifecycle

Project Lifecycle is an initiative under Meaningful Volunteer. Lifecycle Necklaces are used for Birth control. More about the initiative can be found here. I was commissioned to create a logo for this initiative. I chose to do an illustrative logo as there was no restriction on the usage of color. The logo is supposed to be used on the internet more than in print. Below is the sketching process done before taking it to computer.

The following are the options given:

Option #01:

Web Design: Catapult

I published a design case study on Catapult sometime back. Further, I’ve created the website for the brand. The site is entirely built using CSS/ XHTML. Click here to visit the site. Below are some of the screenshots from the site.

If you like my work, please ask for a design quote by sending me a mail at yours[dot]saawan[at]gmail.com
© 2008 Saawan. All rights reserved.

New Work: Identity of ‘Ohana Media

‘Ohana Media is a Digital Marketing firm offering services worldwide. It’s headquartered in New Jersey while it has its office in Hyderabad, India. ‘Ohana, in Hawaiian culture means Family. I did the identity for this company and following were the initial options presented to the client.

Option #01:

An ‘m’ that is represented by abstract humans holding each other’s hands is encircled by an ‘O’. This logo captures the meaning of the name of the organization. The encircled ‘O’ represents binding together.

Option #02:

Leaves/ petals are used in this logo which have different shapes but they are bound together. Also, it has the beauty of the Hawaiian design just like the name of the organization. The color palette is chosen in such a way that it fits into the web design.

New Work: The Meaningful Shop Logo

My new client, from New Zealand, wanted a new logo for his Non-Profit venture – The Meaningful Shop. This aims to bring together many different craft groups and offer sponsorships for children. It’s initially based in Philippines before expanding to India, Nepal and Uganda.

Option #01:

An abstract design is done to represent the crafts. The earthy colors reminds us of the craftwork. The type is chosen in such a way that it gives way to the mark to stand out.

Option #02:

This logo is inspired from the Ukkil patterns of Philippines. Again, earthy colors are chosen to represent craftwork. The ‘m’ in the middle of the logo is customized. It stands for ‘Meaningful’.

Option #03:

Giving hands are shown on the backdrop of an abstract world. It stands for ‘giving to the world’ or ‘the world giving to the needy’ or ‘the world calling to come together’. Interpretations are  innumerable. This logo portrays the non-profit nature of the enterprise.

The client liked the second option and after a series of revisions, the following logo was finalized.

If you like my work, please ask for a design quote by sending me a mail at yours[dot]saawan[at]gmail.com
© 2008 Saawan. All rights reserved.

Design Case Study: Logo Design of ASP Inc.

Recently, I was approached by the talented photographer Mr. Walter G. Arce to update the logo of his firm, Action Sports Photography Inc. in Concord, NC. His clients range from DirecTV to FedEx. A little bio of the company from their website:

Action Sports Photography, Inc. is a sports stock agency specializing in NASCAR photography, baseball, tennis, football and other sports. Started in 1993 with one dream in mind, Action Sports Photography has built a reputation to achieve what the client needs. NASCAR photography is our main expertise, with thousands of stock images from the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Craftsman Truck series. With NASCAR photography as our main focus, we have what you need. Today, ASP serves the corporate community along with deadline media and publications of different sizes.

Mr. Walter Arce created the previous logo in 2 hours way back. He wanted to modernize it. Shown below is the old logo.

He is very fond of petroglyphs of Southwest USA. Following are the options given by me.

Option #01:

This logo combines both modernity and the art of Southwest USA. A petroglyph has been drawn as if it is holding a camera. The stars stand for  the excellence and great customer service of ASP Inc. The colors can be used in branding and visual identity. A modern type has been used to show the company’s name. The petroglyph used is a Kokopelli (the fertility God of the Native Americans). Instead of the flute, I tried to show a camera.

Option #02:

This logo also uses a petroglyph of Southwest USA. This is a very simple and one colored logo that can be reproduced anywhere easily. It can be seen as a glowing camera lens, a sun or an eye. It has immense possibilities in branding.

Saawan is now active on Twitter!

I created my Twitter account in August 2008 but has never been active until recently. I customized my Twitter background and added a li’l birdie on a stylized branch! I had fun illustrating them directly in Illy using the pen and pencil tool. I updated my logo a little. But, that ain’t permanent except for the typography of Saawan. Hope you love my customization!

If I become a Twitter addict, I may consider buying a phone to do SMS updating!

I hope to be active on it and you may find me here.

You may follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/saawan

© 2008 Saawan. All rights reserved.