OUGD505 - Studio Brief 2 - City Patch Project - Initial Branding Sketches

Initial Branding Sketches 

From the mindmap exploring themes associated with the idea of patches and the projects aims in general some rough sketches of branding / logo ideas were created.

It was considered that a patch could be represented literally through its shape which is usually square in shape. Adding four lines around the patch would act as a minimal way of showing the stitches that hold the patch in place. Having multiple stitches on each side it was considered could perhaps make the design look quite busy. Putting the square patch within another square would create a sense of the patch being fixed to a larger area.These also visually look like the cross hairs pinpointing an area creating a sense of locating a patch / identifying one on a map. Filling the patch with diagonal lines, which references the car park imagery, would create the impression of a designated space / area creating a sense of a patch of land. Using the idea of designated space / areas using only the corners of a square could be used to symbolise an area like car park spaces are. Using crosses through an area could represent the idea of protecting a space. Placing a square within a square and filling the square with diagonal lines suggests a space / patch within a larger area, representing the green space within the larger city area. A square as a shape was found to be more visually representative of patch when compared with a circle or rectangle as this reflected the physical shape of a patch more and an area as well. Rounding the corners of the square it was considered could make the design look more organic as a physical patch can be a little rough around the edges. 

The idea of patches being connected and linked to form a wider system it was considered could be represented through a series of different sized squares or circles linked together by lines. This however looked a little technological and perhaps wouldn't be appropriate. 

It was considered that perhaps the a patch / green space could be represented by using symbols from Garden design e.g. trees etc within a shape. Using a square border creates the idea of frame around the green space as seen within the city where green space is contained by concrete. Using a frame that is broken into smaller blocks could reflect a brick border showing the patch outline. 

The idea of nature and the city being one it was thought both a sqaure and circle could be combined to create a new shape.
  
Another idea was to reflect the idea of a green space being within a city / urban space. By placing a  square within a square and adding smaller squares around the central square could reflect how buildings are all around the green space within the city area. Using circles could reflect the organic nature of the a green space whilst squares could reflect the angularity of the urban environment. Placing lots of squares around the a circle reflects how the urban environment surrounds green spaces within the city. To reflect the idea of urban and green space within the same landscape it was considered a cityscape could be portrayed using only rectangles then a rounded tree could be placed in between the buildings showing the green space in the centre of the city.

The idea of green spaces acting as stepping stones for wildlife in the city it was considered could be represented through varying sized squares or circles which would reflect the differing sizes of the patches with a city. Having them in a loose formation could reflect how the spaces are spread out within the city. Having them in a linear formation creates a sense of moving from one to the next. 

To create a sense of how green spaces need to be protected it was considered that a a patch of land could be encapsulated within a globe like shape.

The idea of finding green spaces and locating them could be visualised through the use of a flag on a patch of green space or by using the location symbol found on maps in apps.

To reflect the contrast between the urban environment and nature within a small area it was considered that focusing on areas where these two spaces join could best reflect the relationship between them in the city. Using the reference photographs of areas where urban / green spaces met helped create some designs. Using a square as an area created a frame for the design to sit in. Within this a green and grey area would be created to reflect the two environments which are separated. Using a border line broken into smaller shapes to reflect a brick line helped separate the green and concrete areas in different ways within the square, with some being split in half creating a sense of balance reflecting the need for equality of spaces within cities, others creating a border and some creating different areas. Using the broken paving slab images as reference it was considered that part of the square could be removed and replaced with a green section, using an irregular line to separate the two sections would reflect how the slab has broken and that nature is breaking through. 

  

It was also considered that different habitats could be reflected within the branding to show how green spaces can contain different things. The different types of space it was thought could be represented through different shapes with a circle reflecting a tree / woodland, an oval reflecting a lake / pond and a straight line reflecting a path through the space. 

Green spaces as a whole it was considered could be represented as a cross section through the ground.

To represent the different habitats and environments within a green space blocks with a cross section of that environment could be used.e.g a wiggly line would represent water , a zig zag would be grass etc. These layers could then be combined to create something to represent all green spaces.