Fictional Company Logo: Merryweather Security Consultants.

Task:

The task is to o create a logo for a fictional company either from a TV show, book or movie.

“You are reasonably free to develop a logo unconstrained from an already existing brand identity”

Research –

The fictional company I had chosen, was not a company that featured in its own standalone movie, book or TV show, but that had been in all forms of the same kind in some smaller way. The fictional company I picked however is more commonly known from the Grand Theft Auto Series; Merryweather Security Consultants is a company that specialises in the private security of any individual with enough money. So my research began with this company.

I began with the qoutes used by one of the lead protagonists in the game, Trevor Philips. A crazed man who has a short temper and a wild sense of imagination. His definition of Merryweather came from an ingame qoute:

"Private army of the New World Order? The folkes waging outsourced shadow wars in twenty countries around the globe, and recently cleared to operate on US soil?"

This is their logo:

 I went through this logo and highlighted a few different things i noticed about the elements:

• The owl, is used in the America Dollar bill. In doing research into the significance of the animal itself, i found out that it has connotations of intuition, wisdom and is the announcer of death. (http://www.spiritanimal.info/owl-spirit-animal/)
• The two lightning bolts symbolise fear. The same double lightning bolt, was used for the logo of Hitlers special forces (The SS)

• The Security, is in between two dots or full stops, symbolising a definitive statement. 

In analysing the logo in the logo this way, i thought it was important to keep the elements of the Merryweather name, Security, the owl and the two lightning bolts in any design. 

In doing so, i came up with these four designs. They each represent the four most important elements however in these designs i thought it would be best to try and push the limits of typeface and typography.

  

The design in the top left hand corner was a play on the hazardous nature of the private military. Top right, utilizes the initials of the company, trying to use this as a basis for the actual logo structure. Bottom left is a design based on simplicity and effective communication of all four elements while maintaining the integrity of the company's well recognised emblem.Bottom right is again a play on the aesthetic aspect of the logo, using the owl this time as the focal point. Again testing the use of typography, text and image placement. 

Influence – 

My influences were the different forms of fan art i had found for the actual Merryweather logo. Fan is another term for representational art done by fans or followers of the franchise, series etc. Examples: 

 

While two of the fan art representative designs were just colour remakes, they did however peak my interest. I liked the colourful element from the canadian interpretation because the logo was black and white before. I personally felt that to make the logo more commercial looking, it would have to incorporate colour in some way. Moving on to the black background of the picture furthest to the right, the reason why i was inspired by this designed is because i enjoyed seeing a darker element to the design which, i feel rightly reflects the ambitions of this company. Finally piecing together all those elements with the logo to the furthest left, i feel would be the best option because a round logo can easily become a sticker or something that needs less writing to draw attention. It could be turned into badges on a uniform or even become a company seal, life the American Presidential Seal.

Rationale – So for my final design i look at all the elements combined and chose to take them and mould them into one presidential style seal/company emblem. I researched different images of owls to find the right one with a menacing look.

OVO and OX owl notably the recognisable 

 

mascot for Drake's clothing line (October's Very Own xo)

Bing Searched Owls.

 

 

 

 With all the research done and elements analysed, i was able to produce this logo:

The exportation of the logo still left behind the crop mark area. Those marks were actually vital in the construction of this logo because Illustrator is such a technical program. As i said i would, i have in corporated colour (Blue & Gold most notable for their connotations of wealth and security. I have maintained the four elements most important, though opting for only initials as seen in one of my sketch designs, so as not to overload the surrounding space of the logo. I used the most menacing picture of an owl i could to maintain the sinister vibe and also kept the two lightning bolts and the 'Security Consultants' which reinstates their actual job...even though it may be a little misleading.

Specialized Techniques: Crop Marks, Ruler, Grid, Vector Masking.