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LOGO123 Case Study – LockDown

Lockdown Cover Photo v2
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Today we are going to analyze one of the earlier projects on Logo123.com. “Lockdown” is a new live action challenge taking place in the confines of one room. They wanted to start the business off with an attention-grabbing logo. In this case study, we will review the design process and find out:
1) What did the designer do that was so accommodating?
2) How was the communication between the client and designer? and
3) Why did revisions make a difference in this contest?
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 Lockdown Loog

The Introduction: Lockdown
The concept of the business is a group of four to six players pay to be locked inside one of the available themes which consist of one or multiple rooms. There they have to use the clues and hints laid throughout their surroundings to escape. The player are isolated inside the area for a set amount of time, usually one hour. The idea is to give players an awesome experience as if they were in a movie. Some themes include a Prison Escape and Completing Tasks as a Special Agent.

The Ideas and Concepts:
The client, unicore, wanted a logo that was attractive and drew attention. The viewers reaction upon seeing the logo should be excitement. Unicore wanted to explore the ideas of being locked down or constrained in a space, possibly including a jail cell or keys. Finally, the logo was not to be too complicated.

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The preferred colors were Black, White, and Red. Unicore also provided sample of competitor logos, including FreeingHK, Mind Challenge Mission X, Omega Room Escape, Xcape Vancouver, and Xcape.

Lockdown Competitors Logos

The Contest:
Upon completing the brief and providing additional details, unicore’s contest was submitted to the Logo123.com Design Community. By the time it was through there were 76 designs submitted by 8 different designers. Some of the first submissions include #1 by usef44, #5 by ingepro, #10 by PRN123, and #19 by jaize.

Lockdown Submissions

Let’s take a look at #1 by usef44. The following comments were made on that submission:

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  • Could you do something to make it more exciting? Additionally, our logo in the store will be 3-dimensional preferably, hence the hands will be very hard to materialize when it comes to making it the 3D logo.

With is feedback usef44 went to work and submitted designs #7 and #8. On #7 unicore commented:

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  • Great design, we really like it!! But we like the black background more as it’s more outstanding. However it would be easier to implement the white background logo, do you think you can do some changes to make this logo more outstanding but with a white background? Thanks!

Lockdown #7&8

Usef44 then takes those comments and submits design #16. He describes the changes as “enhanced to make the logo more attractive and eye catching.” Unicore comments that they would like to see the angle reduced to increase readability. This leads to submission #18 by usef44.
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Lockdown #16&18

At this point unicore’s partners start getting ideas on how else to revise usef44’s design. So he is selected as a finalist and creates variations based upon their ideas. They explore moving “Lockdown” to one side of the jail cell, putting the word on one line as opposed to stacked, and simplifying the effects of design #18.

Lockdown Revisions

In the end, with 27 total submission from usef44 and 35 total from two other Finalists, unicode decided to choose design #18 by usef44 as their winning design.

Where Did This Contest Succeed?
During this particular contest you can track great communication between the client and designers. They were willing to have a dialogue about the ideas in the designs, discuss their likes, dislikes, and concerns. The designers were willing to offer revisions and changes based on unicore’s feedback.

I believe this was the key to this contest and finding the final design. Revisions are part of the design process. Exploring ideas, finding out what works and what doesn’t, it all applies to the finished product. By finding out how usef44’s design #16 looked with the varying ideas applied, it gave unicore more confidence that design #18 was the one to go with. They no longer have lingering questions like “what if we stacked the name?” or “how would the text look placed on one side?” Those issues are put to rest.

Another key element to the contest was mentioning how unicore would use the finished logo, as a 3D sign at their location. The mention of needing something 3D gave usef44 the lead to explore depth in his designs where he hadn’t in his first submission.

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Conclusion:
Submission #18 is a solid design by itself, and unicore could have stopped the contest right there. But exploring revisions removed all doubt that #18 was the one for them. Including samples of businesses they would compete with helped the designers identify what ideas to avoid (so they don’t come off as a copy). The overall shape hints at the room involved. Using negative space used to create a keyhole between the “K” and “D” in Lockdown is not only attractive, but alludes to a way of escape. In the end they were able to work out all their ideas and come out with an attention grabbing logo with depth.

  • “Very happy with usef44, he was very helpful and accommodating. He provided a lot of variations and was willing to try. Thank you usef44!” -unicore.

By choosing Logo123.com, Lockdown was connected to creative designers willing to communicate about ideas and explore where they could go. So try it out on your contest! Give feedback on designs that interest you, ask the designers to explore ideas you get from seeing their work, and explain in the Contest Brief ways you will use the final logo design. I’m sure it will lead to the most satisfying results.

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