Friday, August 2, 2013

Tura Satana Logo Designing!




For all you logo designers- here's the process I went through  with the wonderful Siouxzan Perry for Tura Satana Productions. Instead of rewriting the step by steps- I've mostly just cut 'n pasted bits from our correspondence.
To Siouxzan-
"What follows are a big mess of messy, messy doodles. I'm just trying to figure out a direction. This is just the 1st baby step! :-)


My thought process was to start with an iconic vibe, so I went with the Faster image of her standing, but I liked the smiling face from a different photo. So I put those together to base my future designs on (you might have a better idea for a starting point).
I want to be simple and graphic (but open to anything you want too). On some of these I started roughing in portraits and (by accident) the dry brushstrokes reminded me of Japanese paintings. I think this might work because "Tura" poses are very statue like (I attached a Petty pin-up to show that that direction doesn't fit Tura)- but the brushstroke feel lightens them up and adds a graceful touch (that is, if I do it right). I could also NOT do it that way (it's all good with me).

The tough thing with logos is that they can be ANYTHING, so to just pick one, makes it extra tough. And even when you pick an image, another million choices for the type.

So again, maybe you'll see a glimmer of something you like, or it'll spark an idea in another direction, or you'll have something very specific you want.
If these all suck- no problem! :-) We're just starting!"





"I started with a simple full figure, then just kept cropping in. I like the beauty mark starting the line of type the best." 

At the drawing board, since I was going for interesting brushstrokes,  I just did Tura's face over and over and over. You kinda have to get the loose feel right the first time.  After all these, I rearanged the eyes, eyebrows and mouth in different combinations for Siouxzan to pick from.












After Siouxzan picked her favorite, she swapped out my  typeface for her existing lettering.
And so- Ta-Da! All done!

3 comments:

  1. Enjoyed the "pro tour" of this project! Very nice work!!!

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  2. Mr O' I feel like the luckiest gal in the whole world!!!!! Thank you!
    I'm still playing with the text to art ratios...thinking I can use bigger text for certain things and smaller for others and also moving her face a tad away from text. Although a brief side effect of seeing Tura eyes/mouths flashing most of the day is a small price to pay for such a glorious logo.
    I know Tura would be so proud.
    You ARE simply the best my dear!
    xo

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  3. The information you provided has left a lasting effect on me. I wanted to thank you for writing such a great article. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I anxiously await future iconic logos and designs installments.

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