practical / initial ideas

Before creation of the publication, I first needed to think of a name, colour scheme, typefaces and entire brand image.

Name mind map

I considered quite a few different themes when coming up with a name. The general theme had to be gender neutral and also educational to fit with the demographic. Some themes included animals, which is what Illustrator Chris Haughton recommended using to allow the children to identify with the characters, though most of the names of baby animals didn't really fit with an educational magazine. Another aspect would be fruits, which gives a scope for character creation and would be easy to create as fruits don't have faces (lots of room to play around with expressions and features). This also fits with the gender neutral theme and allows children to identify with the characters. Lots of different fruit characters could be created to show the differences between other people, yet keeping them open enough that anyone could identify and connect with them. 

The names of the fruit for the magazine on the mind map are "berry", "grape", "pear", and "nana's" (short for bananas). The most suited name here would be Pear, as it is simple and could also be related to the word "pair", associated with 2 (as the magazine is aimed at both boys and girls). 

Once the name was decided, the magazine needed an identity. I decided to start experimenting with the front cover to get a feel for the type choices and colour scheme. My first thought was to have an actual pear incorporated within the logotype. 

The soft colours relate to the audience and let the parents know that it's a product for young children. The typeface is very simple and easily read. The pear that replaces the 'a' is also very simple, but as a whole I felt that something wasn't working. It wasn't obvious enough that the word was supposed to read 'pear'. 

I moved onto creating a separate image and logotype which could both be used together or in different contexts. 

Keeping the soft greens and off whites, this logo worked better for me, though I began to think about what it would actually be used for. The magazine doesn't necessarily need a logo, but a striking identity and an easily recognisable layout/colour scheme for the front cover. 

I moved onto deciding on a colour scheme. I wanted to keep a fresh feel as the theme is fruits, so some reds and oranges also feature in the desired scheme. As discussed in previous research, colours are only gendered when they are placed in certain contexts, so additions of dark pinkish red would not compromise the gender neutrality of the magazine unless placed in a context that is inherently 'girly'. 

Proposed colour scheme

This colour scheme allows different colours of fruits to be used while still keeping with the core concept of the magazine. 

Moving away from a logo, I thought it would be better to create a memorable character that can be associated with the magazine instead. As the magazine is called Pear, the main character should obviously be a pear too! This character can feature in all issues of the magazine guiding the reader through the content, creating a fun personality for them to engage with and enjoy. 

The first Pear design used the template of the original logo with the thick stem and transparent leaf. Only one colour was used in this design, though it was pointed out that it looked a bit lifeless and could benefit from some extra colour. 

The next development of Pear was adding a brown stem, changing the eyes to black and the addition of orange from the colour scheme. This was heading in the right direction, but feedback from this version was that the stem was too thick and the colours seemed slightly out of place. 

The final design of Pear gives them a thinner stem and full leaves. Contrasting facial features that stand out and don't clash with any of the other design or could impact on the rest of the colours used.