Creating the Identity for a Young University

A sneak peek into our logo design process for VijayBhoomi University.

A logo is as important as the name of the brand. It is the face to the name.

Therefore, the first step to creating an identity for a brand in its infancy is determining the visual language of its logo

Vijaybhoomi University reached out to us to help figure out their identity, specifically, their logo.

As every institute, in its infancy, the ideas for this emerged with continuous back and forth discussions between them and us. Our project discussions lasted for 3 months but our client relations continued even afterwards.

The scope for total freedom of expression provided by the client gave us room for experimentation.

There were multiple drafts and each draft had multiple iterations.

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Initial Draft Iterations

The aim here was to make a contemporary logo which was eyecatching.

The first draft played with the initials and vibrant colors to connect to the young student community. An alternate idea was to incorporate a torch into the logo, which signified the leading light of knowledge.

But monochrome explorations revealed the need for elements in the logo which would be easily identifiable. These elements needed to be independent of the colors used. They also needed to be minimal to fit all size requirements.

The next few iterations stuck with simple use of the initials.

These, however, proved to be too generic to use.

Further experimentations were done using illustrative logos.

The university was located in the lush hills of Karjat, complete with river and waterfalls. This context was used as an inspiration.

Yet again, the need to be minimal revealed itself during these iterations.

We played around with the negative space in the simplified initials.

However, using "V" as the background for these exploration did not produce the results we hoped it would. Furthermore, some of the monochrome versions of this iteration was not as readable as the others.

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A new direction

During the course of the above iterations, VBU contemplated taking inspiration from their existing Vijaybhoomi International School.

Then, for subsequent drafts, The VBI school logo was sent to us by the institute.

Inorder to act as a reference in brand colors and the visual identity of the logo.

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Final Draft

After many more iterations we produced a set of options which met all the key requirements:

• Simplicity, uniqueness and relevance in the contemporary.

• Use of minimal elements which are fit for varied uses.

• Continuity in the visual language.

• Readability even in their monochrome iterations.

This was the final draft we produced which the client loved.

It perfectly captured the aesthetics of the reference logo and made it minimal.

The monochrome explorations were stark and easily recognisable.

They also stood out on their own and was not dependent on the color.

The idea behind the symbolism used in the logo was twofold:

1. To capture the visual language of the original reference logo and

2. Represent the different disciplines provided by the institute

We hope this blog gave you an insight into the process of Logo development.

The idea behind producing a great logo is to make it:

1. Readable in all sizes and irrespective of the material it is used in.

2. Representative of what the company/ Institute stands for.

3. And in rare cases, communicate an idea.

We believe the VBU logo does all three.