Studio Brief 3 - Working with blocks

Refining cubes and using them as a format for other elements

Cube Logotype designs

In crit feedback it was said that the logotype could possibly be more three dimensional so the format of the blocks was used as experimentation.

We were still not 100% on the name choice so it was between Dimensions and Spaces meaning that designs for both were created. Using the straight edges of the cube allowed for  the lower case letters of 'Spaces' to be created easily and quite legibly. When this was also done for 'Dimensions' the outcome was less successful because certain letters such as the D and E were hard to create within the format effectively and consistently with the other letters. 

Spaces was also formed over a larger block of 2 x 2 allowing for each individual letter to be placed on a face of a larger cube. This worked well with the use of capitals because of the more regular and square appearance of the forms which fit better within the cube structure. This vertical format also worked effectively with Dimensions. Dimensions was also tried in a horizontal way however each of the letters were placed right next to each other as the blocks would be. This meant that the letters merged into one another, to improve this the letters would have to spaced apart like in the Spaces example.

Wayfinding using a cube

Using a cube as a wayfinding icon could work well because of the versatility of the cube structure. By using the empty cube for the wayfinding this means that arrows can be created within it in any direction. The arrows within the design would be the same thickness as the lines on the original cubes. Potentially the rest of the cube could be left visible, however using dashed lines instead of regular lines. The arrows could be used on their own without the the rest of the cube however the use of the cubes would link it more to the initial cube designs. 

Variations of cubes to represent empty, available and full space

In initial discussions we had decided on the concept of using cubes as a way of signifying empty, available and full space.

It was considered that the three types of space could also be visualised through its 'fullness'. Empty would have nothing in it, available would be half full and full would be filled to the top.

The original available block allowed access from the top however this was adjusted so that the box could be accessed from the front. This made it clearer that it was open however it would potentially not fit as well alongside the other blocks, because of its slightly different orientation. 

For the empty box the design originally just used lines to create a skeleton frame. Another variation looked at how all of the lines could be dashed to create a sense of freer, lighter space,  however this instead created the feeling of fragility and looked less structurally sound as the other 'spaces' created with the blocks. Another design combined both normal and dashed lines to create the empty box. This provided more permanence to the design but also created a sense of transparency of elements allowing the rest of the box to be seen.