bruin formula racing
the challenge
Design a logo for the UCLA Formula SAE Team. The timeline was approximately 5 weeks.
The logo needed to elevate the club to a professional brand, appearing in apparel, sponsor packets, and ads.
This is an ongoing project. Artifacts such as the brand book will be added at a later date.
speed
The primary communication goal for this logo was speed. The team competes in multiple racing competitions. It followed then that speed was the client's first priority in the logo.
The final logo to the right utilizes italics and an angles to illustrate speed, with the bruin vector reflecting the italics angle.
Precision
Precision determines the functionality and performance of the formula car. Exact measurements and manufacturing are present in every competent of the car.
The logo carries this principle with vector cuts matching the angle of the italicized letters, and spacing consistent with the kerning.
the process
The design of the logo started with three basic ideas: a strikethrough, a race track, and bruin. The first three artifacts shown below are the result of multiple iterations on each idea. After discussing each path with the client, the iterations focused on the bruin vector design, as illustrated in the second row of iterations. These iterations played with weight, font, and placement of the bruin vector. The final row of artifacts highlights some of the final iterations leading up to the finished logo-the consistency of the bruin vector's weight, flow of the vector, and angle of cuts. While these artifacts don't illustrate the entire process, they highlight the key design decisions made throughout the process.
Note: At the beginning of the process, the club wanted to represent the name Bruin Formula SAE, which is where these iterations started
Playing with line weight, font, and angles
Some of the final iterations touching up angles, flow, and consistency of the logo
geometry of the logo
In the final stages of iteration, the logo needed to be smoothed out. Using basic geometric shapes in Illustrator, the design was reworked to have consistent curves and spacing to create a clean and simple look. This method also allowed for a precise ratio between the length of the logo and hanging segment of the bruin vector.
Top Left: Parallelograms used to standardize spacing between objects. Bottom Left: Proportion of hanging segment of vector to full length - 4:1.
Logo as a composite of circles
Posters
The logo was also used on various poster prints sold to raise funds for the club. Below are a of couple posters sold. These posters were created and edited in Photoshop an Illustrator.
