Logo Design

The logo design started very playfully as it was still very much in its conception stage. The theme was fat-cats, which for some reason I registered as simply cats. This simple sketch of a cat hitting itself with a mallet would prove to be the fuel for the final image. I felt that it needed to explain to the audience exactly what they were about to encounter, as it was to be used for the app and website, which i felt needed to be light-hearted as it was to be played for fun.

Original Sketch For "WAK-A -FAT-KAT" logo

                       


After this sketch I developed the logo further by cleaning it up with a second version inspired by the original in marker. This was further developed by the adding of the title "WAK-A-KAT". This was spelt colloquially to reduce the length of text as well as keeping it funky and trendy.

Concept 2 of "WAK-A-FAT-KAT" logo

 (As seen below) I scanned the previous image and vectorised some parts of it as well as giving it a splash of colour, I thought it  would give it a vivid feel as to how the final logo would look. At this stage I thought the logo wasn't far from completion but whilst attending a lesson at Uni, I thought the group would love the logo as I much as I did, but instead I got a mixed responses. The main criticisms were that the cat looked very similar to "Tom" from the famous "Tom and Jerry" and that it looked a little too playful. As much as I was frustrated by these comments I had to agree and decide to develop it  further.

Colour version of Concept 2 of "WAK-A-FAT-KAT" logo

   

Following the lesson I had a lot of ideas on how to improve the logo, by firstly remembering that although the concept was around fat-cats, it was supposed to be used to embarrass the heads of the companies which were refusing to join the points for poverty scheme. So whilst in the lesson I asked my group members who they felt was iconic enough to engage the audience and inform them as to whom to point their frustrations towards. Almost unanimously everyone suggested Sir Richard Branson, which was slightly unfair as I am aware he does do quite allot of philanthropy for various charities, but due to his familiarity it was a perfect fit, plus there was suspicions around unclaimed Virgin air miles. 

My sketch of Sir Richard Branson

Once I got home I began to play with the idea of Sir Branson and thought the best way to capture some of his essence would be to draw him, which I sketched out very quickly. I noticed he is most noticeable by his wavy gold locks and manly beard. These then became the trademarks that I would utilise in my later designs

My cat-like rendition of Sir Richard Branson

 I researched the other heads of the companies who we felt needed to be shamed but none were as enticing as Sir Branson. I decided to peruse the original plan and go with Sir Branson, so using the  image of Sir Branson that I implanted in my head from drawing him I then started studying an image of a cat to see what features set them apart from other animals. I decided to give my cat- like Sir Branson a  more rounded face and cats ears (obviously) this was followed with a cat nose, teeth, mouth and whiskers. Once happy with the face I began to draw out the final concept of my feline friend.

Final Concept of "WAK-A-FAT-KAT" logo

Once I had a better idea of what the final concept would look like I began to create my villainous cat-like Sir Branson, I dressed him in a suite as I thought he should be all about his business to emphasis his lack of empathy. That plus a fat belly to show his greed and keep in tune with the fat-cat idiom. I then thought if there was to be a king pin of baddies what would he be doing, then it struck me that he would probably be laying on his back smoking a big cigar. This i felt symbolised that fat-cat nature and gave him a real evil presence. I felt I had most of the angles covered except it didn't really explain what the app would be about. That was when I decided to chuck in an image of a flying mallet about to hit Sir Branson (cat) to give the possible audience a flavour of what there about to engage in. The text at the bottom was simply the same strap line I had from my earlier attempt except I included the word "FAT" between the words "WAK-A-KAT". Clearly it was initially a worry that it may be too many words but the group collectively agreed it was okay, and at least there was no ambiguity as to what the app was about. 

Vectorised version of "WAK-A-FAT-KAT" logo




I then scanned the drawing and began vectosing it in Photoshop to give it a clean professional look, I was very pleased with the end result and posted up the finished outline for more feedback from the group in regards to colouring and any other useful suggestions. The overall response from the group was very positive as everyone who commented really liked it. I Then proceeded to colour it in to finalise it and create a more flashy logo (as seen below).

Final Logo for "WAK-A-FAT-KAT"