The company my logo is for is a Cruise Ship. The logo will be displayed on the boat, signage, websites, magazine advertisements, billboards, and on all stationary. Considering the economy my fictional company is catering to single folks and families on a budget. Age and education are irrelevant to the extent that activities and ports of call do not cater to the very young or the very old. The company is trying to encourage people to once again feel safe to go ahead and incorporate travel into their freetime. The combination of the casual friendly boat and the stoic compass rose held in place by the porthole of a ship says no matter who you are or where you are from we will navigate you back to good times. 

     I researched the compass to see if any cultures or nations have a negative relationship with it and only found backlash from Christians over the movie The Golden Compass. “The more you know about the symbols you use, the better you will be able to communicate.” (Designing with the New Symbolic Language) I debated using the directional letter initials because not all countries are english speaking but decided to go with them because nautical and air traffic symbols are international as well as in english. I originally wanted to use the life preserver to symbolize safety but decided it was more likely to make someone think of sinking than of safety. “When working with a collection of symbolic photographs, remember that the viewer is always looking for and making connections between images.” (Designing with the New Symbolic Language, pg 4) I liked the logo with the water turning into rope and traveling around the persevere. I felt it had potential to make travelers think of being led around the world, but, ultimately the sinking thought came to mind too often and I scrapped it. 

     The sketch of the ship was exactly what I wanted so I drew a copy of the same thing in illustrator and tried a colored version and a grayscale version. The early grayscale versions of the compass looked very unfriendly so I lightened up the gradient, added a lighter inner glow, and changed the color of the drop shadow to a blue v gray. Next I moved away from the “emergency” call to action of the red and went with a calm and peaceful blue. The porthole also originally felt locked in and imposing rather than like a window to  freedom so I lightened that up and changed the gradient around to look more inviting. 

(Source: tiffanyneumann.com)