A few objectives were presented to me, but it was generally open-ended. The station aimed to create a versatile and legible 1:1 ratio logo that could be used as a bug in the bottom right of TV screens as well as a large and interesting focal point on shirts and TV graphics. The logo had to be recognizable in black & white and color, as well as on different color backgrounds. The logo must be able to switch between the station’s primary logo of an 18 in a 1:1 box, so they must be compositionally the same. In turn, the logo must also include said 18. My director also wanted the type and the symbol to be able to be used separate from each other as well as together. Most of all, the goal was to update the dated and hard to read typography.
WLFI Logo, Original Frenzy Logo, and Original Frenzy Type
After many sketches and explorations on what the logo could become, I decided that the best course of action would be to pay homage to the iconic original logo by keeping the general idea of a shield with wings while updating the typography and shape to create a more proportional, modern, and consistent trademark.
Some of the many initial sketches
It was quite awkward keeping the wings and the type within the 1:1 ratio, especially working with the already elongated shape of a shield. Early on, I decided the best course of action to take the most advantage of the space would be to cut the shield in a way that the gestalt principles allowed it to still come across as a shield. There was an executive decision to cut the news station’s “18” to help with this effect. This was initially done with a stroke but I felt that the silhouette was far too complicated. “Friday Night” and “Frenzy” were separated for balance but were made so they could still come together without the shield.
Initially, I used a blocky slab serif to bring in the sporty aspect, but it was decided to switch it out to a sans serif for a more futuristic and modern look.
After discovering how I wanted the text to be, I moved on to deciding how I wanted the wings to look. I made them as tall as I could while keeping the same proportions. I printed out many copies and sketched several wing ideas to be reviewed by my director. We decided on a “tribal” separated look with a weight that made them visually interesting while keeping the focal point on the type.
I took the original gray and red color scheme and expanded it to neon red, orange, and yellow that blended nicely into each other. I decided that a warm, energetic color scheme complimented the station’s primary cool blue, and played into the idea of the “frenzy” and excitement of football season. While my director initially wanted an industrial theme, I felt that a theme of glossy fire fit the new logo better. I was inspired by the idea of a fiery phoenix’s wings for the colors and theme. I first painted the render on my tablet to figure out how I wanted the gradients to look, then created a vector using gradients on Adobe Illustrator.
I created three forms: The full logo, a simplified version without text, and a version with text only
