As my prototyping phase began to develop, I looked back at the concept behind all of my work. I had always intended on creating a final, fully working prototype for the degree show, but now I also had to start developing the rest of the concept. I wanted to develop this product as more than a simple prototype, I wanted to give the whole project an identity. Therefore I began to brainstorm ideas about branding, a product name and how I could evolve my work from a series of prototypes in to a more complete concept.
 |
 |
 |
 |
I looked back at my original research and revisited the information I had gathered on previous examples of dynamic eyewear. I started to develop the idea of creating a company around my project, creating the illusion that this was not simply a university project, but a product soon to be unleashed upon the marketplace.
 |
 |
If I was going to do such a thing then I had to make sure I developed every aspect of my brands image and identity. I began by looking for names for my product, writing down any words that I could find relating to eyewear, colour, and sight. I put these on post-it notes and placed them on my wall so that I could start to evaluate them. I wanted a name that would not only sound plausible as an eyewear brand, but that would convey the importance of colour in product. Eventually I settled on the name Shades, feeling that it fitted my requirements perfectly.
The next step in branding my product was to explore signage and logos. I looked at a huge range of eyewear companies, analysing their typography, how they chose to represent themselves visually and what this said about their products. It was interesting to see that so many of the simply relied on a name rather than a logo. Those companies that did use logos tended to be in the sunglasses or activity sports sectors, Oakley, Arnette and Spy. However there was another trend of incorporating elements of logos within the name of a brand.
 |
 |
 |
I came up with a variety of different options, playing with fonts and iconography. It was difficult to find the bend of and individual style and identity without looking too cheesy or fake. I finally decided to go with the logo you see at the top left of this website. I found it really helpful to be working on this while still prototyping as I felt it pulled all my work together and made it easier to visualise the project as a whole. I found it also helped when it came to designing this website, as I already had a strong idea of the sort of identity I wanted my project to have. Since my project was not going to have as high a degree of technical complexity as i first thought, I felt it important to ensure that it had a clearly defined design language and style.