Hey buddies, in this entry I´m going to explain the different steps I use to create an illustrative logotype, from the first sketch to the final outcome.
Here I´m sharing some of my most hidden secrets 
Brief of the project
Frangola is a small company located in Angola, which sells fried chicken. They found me through a design agency who made the briefing of the project and subsequent applications of the design.
The client wanted an illustrative logotype with integrated mascot. On one hand, he wanted to cause graphic impact when printing in very big sizes, on the other hand, it had to be readable in small sizes. Later we´ll see the different versions I designed to work this out.
The design had to transmit freshness,confidence, optimism, health, flavour, quality.
The sketch
To transmit the mentioned values I chose this typography named Dholphins, a good choice?.
The instructions were quite simple. The client wanted to incorporate the character popping out of a circle, in a confident attitude, showing that their chicken is the number one. I offered various compositions, using this character I designed some time ago as reference.
The client picked the first one.
My idea was to design a logotype that was easy to simplify. In small sizes, we could supress the illustration and keep just the brand. We´re taking this point again later.
Drawing the character
The client described the character as a hen with the next attributes:
- Tasty
- Fleshy
- Fresh
- With bright eyes
- With confidence
- Showing to be the number one
- With a feminine touch
The client´s corrections (just once, and not to be taken as a precedent 
) really improved the final design. The character gained some weight, we softed the lines to make the plumage smoother. We also gave it some volume and increased the curvature of the back to make the action line more pronounced. This way we get a more interesting pose.
Pay attention to the change in the action line, the second pose works better.
Designing the final logotype
After some correctiones here we have the final sketch. Notice that we curved the brand a bit to give it more dynamism. We also changed the position of the character´s hand, the client chose this gesture among other five ones.
Let´s focus first on the brand, it has to work independently from the illustration. We´ll integrate the character later.
About the fire, I though warm colors would fit, so I picked yellow and brown.
When you´re designing an illustrative logotype, you must choose the colors carefully. The logotype has to be readable as well as nice. I suggest this test to check it:
Desaturating the image will be enough. If the brand is still readable, that means we made a good choice with the colors. As you can see, in the image on the left there´s not enough contrast between the yellow and the brown background, whereas in the image on the right, the contrast is correct.
Coloring the character
I used Photoshop for the color, as I usually do. The most difficult part was to paint the plumage, I painted it all in just one tone, and then I added different shades. If you want to learn more about this technique, you can watch this video.
Here you can see the evolution of the character.
- Advise 1: add plenty of layers. I started the plumage with a nearly-monochromatic shading, and then I added more layers with different shades.
- Advise 2: use the different fusion modes with the layers, this way you´re adding volume. "Screen" mode is good to lighten areas, while "Multiply" mode is good to darken areas.
- Advise 3: if you want the illustration to look "alive", paint the lines.
- Advise 4: when you´re finished, flat the layers and use "Dodge Tool" to merge tones and emphasize some areas.
Integrating the character with the logotype
On one hand we have the brand, on the other hand we have the character. Now let´s integrate them both.
Summary
Remember: One of our goals was to design an eye-catching logo to print in big sizes, but we also needed a simplified version to print in small sizes, which still had to be fully readable.
So we designed different versions of the logotype:
- Full color brand in detail
- Brand in 1 and 2 colors, without detail
- Full color character and black&white
- Full color brand + character and black&white.
Final outcome
As good designers we are, we must pay attention to the presentation of our final work
If you have any contributions, criticism or questions, please comment. I´ll reply as soon as possible.
See you soon!!!
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