CCSLC Apprentice

[GFB]

Shall we get down to business?

First off, here are your teams:

Red Team:

chestnutz6

-(dp)-

FKAkrock5cent

josh_cat_eyes

maz1960

SG30

Sgoalie 19

Blue Team:

bruschimania

ColaCock

GINGERBREADMANN

jake_22

lets_go_red

ShinyHubCaps

williamrhys

Now as a reward for being a part of this contest, here is your commemorative sig?

Here is your first challenge...

Challenge 1

On the TV version of The Apprentice, one of the first things the new teams do is decide on a team name. Usually, the name is something like Apex Corporation or some other one-goal oriented name. However, for this Apprentice, our naming process is a little more complicated?

Your first challenge will be to come up with a name as a team, then design a full identity for your team. The identity should flow together as one fluent design.

This identity will include a logo, wordmark, business card, and a general layout design (this layout design will be what you will use to present your final submissions at the end of each challenge). You are not required to go beyond the minimum requirements, but you are free to add any additional elements to your identity.

At the final presentations, the Task Managers will have to explain the entire identity. (Why you went with that name, those colors, used that font, etc?) Then the Trump Board will meet after the deadline and decide on a winner.

Here is your basic info for this challenge:

DEADLINES

Task Managers Chosen: 12:00 PM - Tuesday, June 10

Final Submissions: 12:00 AM - Wednesday, June 18

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

Logo

Wordmark

Business Card

Layout Design

Best of luck to both teams. This should be fun.

[chestnutz]

Wow, great idea ghetto, can't wait to see what we can come up with.

[broncos711]

Wow, great idea ghetto, can't wait to see what we can come up with.

Same! I am so excited to see everyones work!

[Vicious]

yeah, this is awesome, i would love to get on a team if there is a next time for this.

[Le Québécois]

I'm sad that I missed this thing...

Ah well, there's always next time!

[heernumurr]

For future reference with deadlines, what time zone are we working in?

[GFB]

Eastern Standard Time Zone (New York)

[GFB]

Also, feel free to ask any questions you guys may have and I'll try to answer it to the best of my ability...

[gingerbreadmann]

Who are the board members?

[heernumurr]

Bumping this to the first page

[GFB]

Ok, sorry I've been vacant for the past few days.... I've had computer problems.

The Board right now sits like this...

Myself

Joel (fiasco)

Pat (pcgd)

Brian (Brian_in_Boston)

?

I've asked a few people about that last board spot, but have been unsuccessful in filling it.

There has also been some complaining about the time for the deadlines, and they have been noted. So I am proposing that the deadline for the final presentations be moved back 12 hours to Wednesday at noon (Eastern Time). This will be up to the teams. Only, of course, if both teams consent... so if the Task Managers can give me a quick answer, that would be great...

I'm looking forward to seeing the Final Presentations... Best of luck to both teams!

[heernumurr]

Sent you a PM, but it's a yes from me on the deadline incase you haven't seen it yet.

[GFB]

Both teams have agreed to extend the deadline 12 hours... so the new deadline is officially Wednesday at noon (ET)...

[-(dp)-]

The red team brings to you.. PRODIGY design collective.

The red team's seven members were all of a relatively young age. We wanted to somehow show that, while also staying professional. We went with the name Prodigy, because it represents greatness at a young age. We then started on the logo. The font we ended up using was somewhat simple, but pointed serifs were added, because we wanted a more modern look, and because they made the wordmark not so plain. We went with a torch for the 'i' in the wordmark. The torch represents something new. The phrase, 'passing the torch' usually means someone new is taking over, which Prodigy hopes to do (ex. Brett Favre is passing the torch to Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is now taking over for Favre.). The colors chosen were a reddish orange and dark gray. The orange was chosen because only white flames burn hotter than orange flames, and we couldn't really use white here. We needed a dark color to complement it, and navy, black etc. are overused, so we went with dark gray. The business card and layout, we didn't want to get too crazy with. The ends of the orange lines on both are supposed to mimic the serifs on the wordmark. The font used for both, is the same font we used for 'design collective'.

[heernumurr]

[heernumurr]

CCSLC Apprentice: Challenge 1

Blue Team

bruschimania

ColaCock

gingerbreadmann

jake_22

lets_go_red

ShinyHubCaps

Challenge 1: Task Manager

williamrhys

Name Choice

The decision was made to go with a team name that showed a feeling of superiority, that the team was at the very top and that we are in the competition to win. In order to shy away from similar corperate names, the team explored other languages, at which point the name Optimus was chosen. This seemed to encompass all of the teams criteria in choosing a name to good effect. In not using a common suffix, the name "Optimus" on its own creates a memorable brand, and can be used flexibly in future projects.

Logo

The logo was choosen as it too represtented the theme of being the best in our field. The simplicity of the typeface and main logo emphasise the dart and bullseye imagery, symbolising the team's winning mentality. The logo is minimalist to create maximum effect on first impression, coupled with a simple modern font.

Colours

After much discussion and many concepts, these colours were agreed upon as they seemed to best suit the chosen imagery. After fine tuning the individual concepts by various team members, these precise values will be used to brand future Optimus designs. The orange gives a warm feel to what could be quite stark imagery, while the charcoal shows we are a modern, forward thinking team.

Business card and Layout

The card's stirking shape was a simple choice used to emphasise the existing logo. This unusual design let's the client or viewer interact with the card, leaving the brand to stick in the memory. Having all the information on the back frees the front of the card up, letting the logo speak for itself. The unusual layout of the contact details again increases user interaction with the card.

The layout sticks with the minimal theme, with Optimus' colours used as the main method of branding. This leaves plenty of space for the client's designs, detracting from them as little as possible.

[GFB]

Now the Trump board will begin their critiques.

But I do have some news for both teams. The Board members have decided to expand the size of the board from 5 to 7 in an attempt to get a broader range of opinions and design expertise. So if you all would please welcome to the board:

Slapshot (Jim)

pollux (Paul)

andrew_harrington (Well, Andrew obviously)

So hopefully we will get the critiques done with a.s.a.p. and be able to announce a winner soon...

Good job to both teams for getting this burdensome challenge over with!

(I'll give my critique in a little bit)

Matt

[josh_cat_eyes]

I don't know if we are allowed to comment on anything now, but I will anyway.

Red Team:

As a member of the red team, I saw how most of this played out, but I didn't actually see the final work till now. I am pleased with how our identity came out and I think it was unique that we made it a "design firm name."

Team Blue:

I was impressed with how their final design came out but taking into account that team red used the same colors, for the most part, the whole design process, I think that they could have picked something a little bit farther from team red. Also I think that the whole identity kind of reminds me of an Eye Glasses Store or a Telecommunications Company;

Optimus Optical, Optimus Mobility.

[Cola]

:

I was impressed with how their final design came out but taking into account that team red used the same colors, for the most part, the whole design process, I think that they could have picked something a little bit farther from team red. Also I think that the whole identity kind of reminds me of an Eye Glasses Store or a Telecommunications Company;

Optimus Optical, Optimus Mobility.

Just to be fair and stand up for my team, I can assure you that we did not intentionally borrow any element from the Red team- including the colors palette. In fact, one of our team members suggested an orange & charcoal color palette almost 24 hours before the Red team introduced anything with orange- it just wasn't viewed in alternate colors until a bit later.

With that said, I don't feel that takes away from either team's design. We had our reasoning for choosing the color and I am sure there was good reason for your team as well. When I finally did realize we were using the same colors in our project, I attempted to throw out two other colors- but they just didn't work the same for us and as a team, we felt like we should have stayed with the original color palette- so we did.

By the way, was it ever stated that the company name was to be branded for a design company?

Good luck to you guys and I am anticipating the board's decisions.

[chestnutz]

There's no doubt in my mind neither team "stole" colors, they just both fit our identity well. Nothing wrong with it, I guess it just shows that the teams are pretty similar.