Iowa State University has established a Brew Lab within the Food Science Building, where students and professors collaborate to develop a new and improved Iowa State beer. As part of this initiative, my Practicum class was tasked with creating a logo and branding for the ISU Brew Lab. Over the course of the semester, our class was divided into teams to focus on different aspects of the branding process. I was a member of both the logo creation team and the merchandise design team. Below are some of my final designs and mockups created for the Brew Lab!
FINALIZED DESIGNS
Logo mockups, merchandise designs.
PROCESS WORK
Sketches and logo variations.
To kick off the logo creation process I developed three grids, each featuring key descriptive words that captured the essence of the Brew Lab. Using these words as inspiration, I explored how they interconnected and began sketching logo concepts that reflected their meaning. For instance, what logo could I create with the words "energetic" and "wheat"? Through this process, I created a total of 75 logo sketches as part of my ideation phase.
After completing 75 logo sketches, I transitioned to my computer and iPad to vectorize the most promising designs. Ultimately, I chose to move forward with the swan and beer glass logo. This design pays homage to an iconic Iowa State tradition—Lake LaVerne's beloved swans, Lance and Elaine. The swans' imagery cleverly forms a beer glass in the negative space, making it a perfect representation of the Brew Lab’s identity. In the final logo, one can see that I additionally integrated a hop shape into the wings of the swans. I also added a wheat shape inside of the badge as well.
