Friday 14 January 2011

Questionnarie - Record Label

For Commission (Unit 2) I created a questionnaire for people to answer about logos and names of Record companies that already exist. I have also mentioned names that I have come up with to see what their thoughts and opinions are on them.

These are the questions that were in it:
1. What do each of these logos make you think of and why? Sub Pop, Factory Records, Island, Trash Aesthetics?
2. Which record label do you like best and why?
3. What do these logos ake you think of?
4. What aspects of logos do you remember the most? 
The Text/Name
The Picture
The Colours.
5. Do Black & White or Colour logos attract your attention the easiest/quickest?
6. Does the name of the brand have to be related to what the product is?
7. If the target audience is 18-28 year olds what do you think the most important part is to include?
8. I have come up with come names for the company. Do you think that the names "Unmarked" and "on track" are suitable names for a record company?
9. Are there any names you can think of that are appropriate for an online record label?


I am going to print out 10 if the questionnaires and go around college and ask people to fill them out. College is a good place for this questionnaire as the students are the same age/around the same age as the target audience (18-28 year olds).

Feedback
The feedback I got from the questionnaire was similar to one another.

1. Sub Pop = Top of the Pops, Chart Music, Subway (Sub), Top of the Pops, Television Program, Music Company, Black and White contrast, Contrast, Boldness, simple, Pop - because it says innit, Subway, Simple.

Factory Records = Urban Music, Street, Grime, Pollution (Factory), Factory - Work place - in routine, A factory which is in use, Factory Records - makes music/CDs, Producing things like fuel, Name says it all vector goes in with theme of factory, Smoking a fag - turn it on its side - guy smoking with 2 noses, Oil Vetinary - the shape is very industrial yet simple and bold.

Island = Desert Island - the shape of a palm tree is very simple yet effective, Reggae - routs and Jamaican island, Record mainly - I already know - I like the vectors - fits the theme, freedom - a desolate island, holiday destination, looks like a tropical island because of the palm tree, a tropical island - somewhere cut off and alone, Desert Island (Palm tree), Holiday cheese because you see palm trees when your on holiday.

Trash Aesthetics = Oil Label - the type reminds me of an American corporation, a used car dealerships, something you would see on/at a gas station, clothing, old fashioned tincan label, clothes label, this looks like a car logo because of the font and layout, a sports team because of the stripes, Rubbish (Trash), Bands/Groups.


2. sub pop because people can recognize it, Island - Trees are fun, Island - bold and vectors are powerful - font is simple and there's contrast, Island - its simple and effective, Island because it looks relaxing, i like the island logo the best because it stands out more to me and looks better, Trash Aethetics because to me its the one that stands out, Island - Stands out and simple, Sub Pop because i enjoy chart music and Top of the Pops its also bold and eyes catching.


3. Industrial corporation/American, record labels, I need a break, Tv programmes, a factory in use, a tropical island, a car logo, sports teams, holidays, work, TV music shows.


4.  the picture, the picture, the picture - the colours, the colours, the text/name, the picture, the picture, the pictures - the colours, the text/name.


5.  colour logos - catches my eye, no, depends - on a magazine yellow is the first to catch the eye, colour logos, black and white, colour, colour - catch the eye, yes.


6.  no, no, depends - Ferrari is a car well known name is completely different, not necessarily, no, no not necessarily,  not always, no but helps to remember, possibly.


7.  information about a product, drugs, depends on the genre, colour, big font, quick to read, the catchy name, pictures, the colours, pic, pictures.


8.  yes "unmarked", theyre alright, yes "ontrack", yes, yes, yes they are good, yes, yes, yes "ontrack" - but unmarked sounds as if no one knows about it.

9. "Grunge core", "M.F.T.M" - music for the mind, "Epic Labels", "online records", "www.records", "sonic sound", "shockwave", "spin".



The name that they liked the best is "OnTrack"...this way my favourite out of the 2 aswell.They thought that the picture was the most important part of a logo and a logo should be colour to be more eye catching.They also thought that the logo should be simple and easy to remember to make it eye catching and rememberable.

My Ideas - Record Label

My Ideas
I need to think of a name before I design a logo as the logo needs to include the name....
 
Name:
I have been thinking about words that are related to music, original and new.
Music: Melody, Tune, Harmony
Original: Creative, Imaginative, Unique....Unique: Exclusive.
New: Contemporary, Fresh...Fresh: Clean, Bright, Unmarked....Unmarked: Unharmed, Safe, Safe and Sound.
Spotless, immaculate, unblemished, pure, clean, spick and span, pristine, squeaky clean, perfect, flawless, gleaming....Gleaming: shiny, polished, luminous, glinting, glossy.

Because of the online record company being an indie company it makes me think about the difference and competition between independent record labels and major record labels. And it makes me think that the indie record labels are "Underdogs" to the Major Labels. The dictionary meaning to the word means: A person who is expected to loose in a contest or conflict. I don't want people to think that the record company is going to lose. But in the films the underdogs always win against the people that are known for winning. This is how I want people to take it but this isn't guaranteed. I looked on the Internet to see if there was already a record company called "Underdog Records" and there was. So I then went onto the thesaurus to see what other words are associated with "Underdog" because I like the idea of the meaning of the word. The words that caught my eye were "Dark Horse" and "Long Shot". At first I didn't think that either of these were going to work very well because they give off a negative feel. If I did use one of these it could be seen as ironic and could work.

Many bands and musical acts begin on independent labels, so I could think of some names using this theme. I looked at words to do with this and I started with "Getting Started",  I looked up synonyms for this and it came up with "On Track". This stuck out for me because of the play on the word "Track". As On Track means that it is going where you want it to go, but track can be related to a music track which then has something to do with the music label.

So far my favourite names that I have some up with are: Unmarked, On track, Long shot and Flawless.
If I choose these names I would like to Make them interesting like the Def Jam Logo. I like the idea of  using capital letters where there should usually be. This would make it more unique as well: "UnMarked" and "OnTrack".

Logos:
  • I would like it to be the same as these logos, as in black and white and a basic font that fits all styles of music. I think it should include simple shapes or have a basic picture that has more than one meaning. 
  • Although I like the Sony logo as the colour in the middle breaks up the black words. So maybe the image could have some sort of colour on it but not overtake the black writing.
I have come up with several logo ideas for "OnTrack" and "UnMarked" and "Flawless".

  • For the Name "OnTrack" I came up with the idea of using a CD as the letter 'O'. Also the name on a cassette tape. I liked these ideas to begin with but now after doing some more research most people will get their music from online so cassettes and CDs are a bit "out of date". Another idea I had was the idea of having the word 'OnTrack' above a piece of train track and then  the word 'Records' underneath. I am trying to think of simple ideas that will make it rememberable and easy to take in.

  • For the Name "UnMarked" I thought about having scratches/sketchy background behind the word "UnMarked" as it is the opposite and it will hopefully sick in peoples heads. I would like the writing to be white so that it looks like it has been rubbed out of the background. I also came up with a simple idea of having the name in a simple font like Arial and making it black and with a border. This idea is simple but it should make it more remember-able.

  • For the Name "Flawless"  When I think of the word flawless it reminds me of the adverts about foundation on the Telly. This then made me think of an idea for a logo: When little children play with their mums makeup and get it everywhere. You could have a picture of the child face in-between the words "Flawless" and "Records". This is ironic because this isn't very flawless as synonyms of the word are spotless and clean. Another idea was a image of a diamond in the middle of the words. I think that it could be more effective if you have an image that looks almost 'clip-arty'. 
I have found a font for the "Flawless" logo on word that I like called.... The colour of the font reminds me off diamonds so I think that it links well. I found an image of a diamond that looks good with the  type of font but to make the font stand out with the image I put a black outline on the font. But I don't think it looks as good because it draws attention from the colour and pattern of the font.












To present my ideas to Lee my ideas, I am going to draw the logos by hand but for the font I am going to do it on word and print it out. This way there isn't going to be any bad hand drawn bubble writing that looks unprofessional. I find doing this way of working easier than working on a computer program such as Illustrator.
Lee and Sam are going to say which ideas they like the best and how to improve them.

Thursday 13 January 2011

Research - Record Label

The brief has asked us to come up with a name and logo for an online record company. the style of the label is a "DIY Indie Label".
The logo should look good no posters, flyer's, lighters, t-shirts etc.
The target audience is 18-20year old's and it isn't just exclusive to the southwest. It should attract "Dads Blues Bands" and it shouldn't be associated with Penwith College. It should be "Fresh" and "Cool".

 Universal Music Group now owns Island and Def Jam Recordings is part of Island in the USA.  Both of these logos are black and white and stand out.

The island logo uses the picture of a palm tree. We associate palm trees with holidays abroad. Also islands are a place where we are relaxed and enjoy ourselves. This can make us think that the Record Label is something that we will like because of the association we have with the picture.
I like the way that the 'D' and the 'J' link together and are bigger than the rest of the words/lettering. But you can still see what the logo is saying.
Factory Records was formed in 1978. The logo uses basic shapes but we can still see that its a factory. Underneath is the name, it is basic lettering; I think this is because then it isn't stereotyped to just one genre of music.







Sub Pop also uses black and white. It also used the basic shapes and uses symmetry. They have used the same sort of writing as Island and Factory Records and I think this is for the same reason. Also if colour was added then it might not suit certain genres of music and it will take away the simplicity of the logo.


I don't really like this logo because it reminds me of a label off of a tin can. but then f you look into it and think of the meaning, a used tin can would become "Trash" so it does work. The colours Blue, Red and White are very British colours out together and this relates to where the Label was formed.


These are some other Record Labels that i have found and looked at: