Typography choice

The font I chose was Neou. The reason for this is because this font had a contemporary look without appearing too corporate. This is in line with the goals I set out regarding my target audience. 

Also the bold version of this text will be used in titles and the light version will be used in paragraph text. This will be used consistently throughout. 

Target audiences

My target audience can be put into 2 groups; it's current underground audience that is familiar with the current brand and a newer younger audience. I want to target the 20 to 30 year old demographic.
This demographic, including the university student population, have been very vocal and passionate about current issues like university cuts, anti-war etc
There has been a number of large scale protests over the past few years and it is this audience I want to try and reach because I believe they will respond the most positively to my re-branding of anarchism.

Through my research I have concluded that the average age of the modern protester can range from 20 to 32.



Some articles to support a young protester:
Wall street protesters
College age protesters
Student led UK protests against University fees
Students against cuts




The way I will reach each group will be as follows;


Current group-

• The brand must not lose its edge and become too corporate. 
• The brand must still be recognisable. Using a similar colour palette.
• The groups original values must me forefront of the design. 

New audience-

• Push the groups positive, progressive values. The values that are important to the student protests of late. 
• A clean and minimalist design will appeal to this group. Clear, concise and to the point. 
• Re-assure audience that Anarchism is a worthwhile movement and dispel any misconceptions. 
• The clothing line (t-shirts, hoodies) will appeal to the young audience. 

Creating a dynamic logo

I wanted to create a dynamic logo that could be used on a variety of different backgrounds. Having a coloured version and a grey scale version wouldn't be enough. I wanted to create a number of different logos that all stemmed from the original logo, but were still instantly recognisable as part of the brand. This will give my brand more versatility and  allow the brand to remain fresh with the audience.

These logos consist of full colour, flat backgrounds, line work and also the 'A's without the circle. 

Refining logo (Colour)

This is a selection of refined logos that were developed from the polygon idea. The thinking behind the polygon structure is that is visually communicates some of anarchisms values; structure, organisation and networking.

Old v New

One of my objectives in this branding project was not to alienate the current audience that already supports Anarchism. I attempted this by not straying from the current colour scheme too much. Also the logo features an 'A' shape within a circle.
The circle originates from the quote 'Anarchy is order' by the anarchist theorist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon. The circle represents the 'O' in Order. So containing the 'A' within the circle is vital in appealing and reaching the current audience.

Ways it's similar to the old logo:

•Colour scheme similar to traditional anarchist visuals.

•‘A’ contained within a circle

•Flat design

•The un-uniform nature of the polygon shape echoes the lose design of the old logo. 

Ways it differs from the old logo:

•More refined and balanced.

•Although colour scheme is similar the colours have been muted slightly.

•Isn't reminiscent of graffiti any more.

Current political branding

As Anarchism is a social/political movement I thought it would be important to research what is most popular in political branding.
From what I can see flat design is very popular amongst political campaigns. Also the colour palate is limited to around 3 colours. The fact that this style of design is popular within political campaigns I can assume that it's very effective in communicating ideas and gaining support.

For my brand to be relevant within the political spectrum I need to consider this style of branding.

Photoshop logo concepts

After the logo sketching process I narrowed down the designs and created some more refined grey scale concepts. I believe that if I narrow down the logo design within the early stages of development it's influences the entire brands image. So this was an important stage of development.  

I tried to create logos that were a looser design and also logos that were constructed of clean lines to get a wide range of options to choose from. 

Some of the logos became too futuristic and even though I liked the designs they were not suitable for what I wanted to communicate. 

I also received some feedback that the cross bar of the 'A' on one of the logos resembled a rifle. This wasn't what I wanted to represent so I didn't pursue that design any further.

This is the logo concept I thought had most potential for development, This is just a font but it led me to develop this polygon structure more. I believe this interconnecting structure is very relevant to the ideas and values I'm attempting to communicate; structure, organisation and connecting people. (Connecting people as in coming together in mass protests).

Logo sketches

I began roughly sketching out logo concepts trying to produce as many designs as possible. Creating a number of logo concepts gives me a good starting point as I can then focus in on an design I see as working.

I wanted to update and modernise the current 'A' anarchy logo but also retain it's edge. Changing the logo completely would distance itself too much from the current brand so I thought it was important that the focal point of the brand was still the 'A'. 

Before beginning sketching I had in mind that I wanted to create a logo that visually communicated some of the values of contemporary anarchism such as; structure, organisation and networking. This could be accomplished by designing a balanced logo with interconnecting lines.