The Night Line brief specified certain key points, the use of the blue, the imagery of the owl as an extension of pre-existing branding, but mainly specified an updated image, avoiding looking 'too girly'. I specifically focused on avoiding anything too clinical to try alleviate the stigma behind utilising mental health services, or 'girly' as it's put in the brief to hopefully make the services accessible to a wider audience.
I originally started playing around with backgrounds, linking Van Gogh's Starry night in as I felt the brushstrokes are not only recognisable as an iconic imagery (using imagery from popular culture hopefully alleviates stigma) but soothing and in-keeping with the suggestion of a blue colour palette. I used a colour swatch from the dull yellow shades to use for the typography and a sans serif font to contrast the fluidity of the background, keeping the overall appearance contemporary, especially with the alignment whereby the type fits in a box with adjusting the kerning.
I felt this wasn't in keeping with the brief too much however as the owl aspect is non existent which is a strong theme and would be consistent with the rest of their current branding which they specified they liked, so for this next example I used owl feathers the background and considered using the 'line' literally throughout the design, thinking about how this telephone line can metaphorically run through the business card front and back (below) and sticker (featured underneath).
Then I developed this idea and included the 'I' in this line, the use of colourful background and negative spacing for typography I felt was contemporary, however it didn't include any blue, there was furthermore something I just didn't like about these designs, I feel the aesthetic would suit the context of a clothing store or night out more... it doesn't look appropriate.
This next design utilised the owl in vector form, as well as a dark shade of blue which I felt looks professional and I recognise if frequently used in the context of mental health branding, for example for Mind the mental health charity and Bipolar UK. Whilst blue is associated also with the NHS most famously and many other medical companies, using blue in this context maintains that sense of knowledge and guidance.
I felt I should therefore add implicitly contemporary methods of overlaying and collage subtly to remove the feel of it being too professional and inaccessible. Maintaining the imagery of the 'line' the natural ending of the imagery acted as negative space underneath as I aligned the typography here.
Furthermore the use of lower case for their motto was to bring about this feel of informality, contrasting the company name which in bold uppercase hopefully readdresses this balance of informality as they provide a professional confidential service, which should be clear throughout the branding.
I made this design just before the latter but didn't think much of it as although I felt the concept was strong and in-keeping with the minimal logo concept as mentioned in the brief (picking out key facial features distinguishing an owl) I felt it was too scary looking for the context, however during the briefing today people said this was their favourite and most appropriate, dependant also though on the fact it had to be less scary. Initially it looked like a simplistic unsettling poster for a horror film.
I thought this could be played off like this owl was the inner demons we all struggle to fight with, I like this concept and I feel even you could say it looks like there is pain in the eyes, however it may put people off further as they're too afraid to face their own demons.
I then went back to the imagery I'd used to create the simplistic representation of the owl and picked out a few feather formations to add which I felt might soften the appearance. I feel this was successful, but avoids looking too 'cute' which the brief also specified they wanted to ignore as original imagery included pink cartoons of owls which was too 'girly' and 'cutesy'.
I then played around with the typography on the back, I used Hoefler and Kannada Regular for the telephone numbers as I felt the Hoefler text (first example to the left) is too complicated to read and old fashioned, ease of access should be a key factor for the type design of these numbers as in a stressful situation for example, legibility should not be a issue for those in need of this service.
I also changed the type into all lowercase to maintain this informal theme, while the subtle colour and bold kerning suggests professionalism.
Business Card (front & back below):
Sticker:
Leaflet (A5 with space for further information to be added by Night Line):
I've just emailed these mock-ups off to Leeds Night Line along with a link to my blog to explain further my rationale and hope to hear a response of some kind!
