Death is a depressing subject, or so many people say. However, by not thinking about death, many people seem to forget that the road we are on is not a permanent journey. We doddle and postpone the tasks that we know are most important, until one day, it’s too late. This project started as a daily reminder of the impermanence of life and how each moment deserves to be lived at it’s fullest. There were three components to this project: a weekly calendar that lasts a lifetime, a weekly journal, and the branding to tie it all together.
The Branding
The project was not just meant to be functional but also serve as a timeless art piece that could live in a home for a lifetime. As such, the branding had to be timeless and reserved, without following any trends that might soon go out of date.
Adobe Garamond Premier Pro was chosen as the primary font as it struck a balance between refined and rustic appeal. However, when stylized, the logo carried too much like a logo for a sports magazine. The font Baskerville was chosen as it naturalized and brought the logo to something a little more classy. It also balanced the logo with the 5 icons on the bottom.
The icons along the bottom of the logo were designed to reflect the 4 seasons, however, there are five icons present. This is because much as the year starts in winter so does our lives. We start off as precious little snowflakes, fragile and unique, as we grow we develop into fully grown snow persons and end the year, yet again, in winter.
Adobe Garamond Premier Pro was chosen as the primary font as it struck a balance between refined and rustic appeal. However, when stylized, the logo carried too much like a logo for a sports magazine. The font Baskerville was chosen as it naturalized and brought the logo to something a little more classy. It also balanced the logo with the 5 icons on the bottom.
The icons along the bottom of the logo were designed to reflect the 4 seasons, however, there are five icons present. This is because much as the year starts in winter so does our lives. We start off as precious little snowflakes, fragile and unique, as we grow we develop into fully grown snow persons and end the year, yet again, in winter.
The Journal
The journal was designed to evoke the same feelings are the calendar, and be a coherent piece. This was done by using the same fonts and styles, shapes and sizes. The boxes in the journal are the same size and have the same rounded corners as the calendar. The spacing between each line was measured out precisely to the most comfortable distance apart to write in. Instead of solid line, faded, dotted grey line were used to give the page a broader sense of openness as well as remain more visually unique. This also helps give the heading on each page a greater sense of hierarchy, drawing your eyes to the page title in the top corner, and then down to each topic heading sub heading. A blank space was left at beside the black box of the main heading as a space for users to scribble in and cross out as they go through the journal.
LOGO DEVELOPMENT
The brand imagery was designed to be as timeless and unobtrusive as possible while still remaining elegant. The idea was that this is a rather big art piece that will hang in many different homes that have all have many different art styles. The look couldn't be too sporty, too feminine or too masculine. It had to be subtle, natural, and gentle.
Many ask, if there are only 4 seasons, why are there 5 icons in the logo? The reason for that is because our lives start and often end in the same season as our years, winter. We start as a small snow flake, delicate and unique, and slowly grow our way into a full snow person.
