- Maker: Merly Mesa
- Project: Design a Logotype
- Level: Graduate
- Program: Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
- Course: WRIT 5800: Editing, Layout, and Design
- Instructor: Dr. Eric Mason
- Semester Created: Winter 2020
Description:
This logo was created for two sisters who are equal part-owners of an Airbnb in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. The sisters wanted to brand their Airbnb in hopes of increasing word-of-mouth recommendations (it can be difficult to find them solely through an Airbnb search), as well as to provide a more luxurious experience for long-term guests. They have named the Airbnb “Villa Amelia,” which is a reference to their mother’s second name.
Villa Amelia was described to me as having a beachy, Mediterranean theme. It overlooks a golf course and a rainforest. The villa is accented in turquoise and blue with lots of reclaimed wood throughout. There are lots of birds that can be seen from the windows, perched on the palm trees.
Note: The clients wanted to stay away from the traditional approach to anything labeled Mediterranean, so no vines, olives, or columns. They didn’t want any curly/cursive font.
Reflection:
This was my first time using Adobe Illustrator to complete a project like this. I am much more accustomed to applications like Canva, which tend to be more beginner-friendly. However, Illustrator is the tool that professionals use, so I’m glad to have been tasked with working in this program. Also, Illustrator allows for a total customization of the elements on the page, which was fun to play with.
The process itself wasn’t new to me, as I’ve worked in Marketing/Creative departments for several years. I came to the client with a pretty extensive list of questions, as well as some examples of logo styles, in order to minimize the excessive back-and-forth that can happen in these types of projects. The client was presented with a variety of sketches.
Once I had a general idea of the style the client preferred, I started working in Illustrator. Choosing colors was a disaster (I’m still not positive the client loves the color combination). I learned that I much prefer the ideation part of the process over creating the final design.
