Rebranding Fullscope

On the surface, the Fullscope brand has been through very few changes since 2005.  I’ve largely retained the form of a weighted ‘fullscope’ to a lighter ‘design’.  In sufficient constract of black/grey, the brand has intentionally remained neutral and legible.  Sticking to these simple principles, I did want to add something; be it a splash of colour or perhaps a graphic element.  So conceived the new brand with a site overhaul in mind (and yes perhaps a t-shirt or two!).  A t-shirt?  Well, perhaps not as ‘fluffy’ as it sounds as any brand must work in context – be it on the side of a truck, a a business card or t-shirt – as well as on a website and in hardcopy.  I’m unlikely to commission the brand to be on a fleet of Scania trucks but who knows whether there will be a sudden rush for Fullscope t-shirts?  Hmm ok.

Anyway… I reviewed the many development files I had archived as I experimented with logotypes and typfaces.

I find its a balance with any brand between form, colour and typeface.  Elements come together and must work, not for the designer, not just for the business but for the market.  In terms of a graphic design ‘brand’, anything clever or cute or something that is currently fashionable (web2.0, facebook-ish, tweet-ish) may soon appear dated and tired.  Student brands often try too hard and can be picked out easily as can be seen from these images I found tucked away in an archive folder.

I didnt think ‘texture’ needed to feature in the brand, rather continue with a smoother perhaps more classic structure.  I got hung up on experimenting with different typefaces (as seen above and below), but always returned to Myriad or similar for its style.

The final brand needed to be introduced to a relaunch of the Fullscope website.  The site had been using WordPress 2.6 and the old WP Remix template was broken with 2.7 so it stagnated for a few months.  Apparently WP Remix has been fixed but that saga is another post….

The typeface used in the final brand is Kozuka Gothic Pro (R/EL), which ships with Adobe CS3.  The ‘f’ is from the Rezland font – simple and strong – the curve of the  letter following the circle.