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Creating a New Brand  – James Rogers, Art and Design 

13 January 2025
Hi I’m James. I’m currently studying Level 2 Art and Design. This term, we’ve been working on a custom brief set by Blaze Signs.

Hi I’m James. I’m currently studying Level 2 Art and Design at EKC Dover College. This term, we’ve been working on a custom brief set by Blaze Signs, helping us to explore design, branding and brand guidelines.

We were tasked by the Blaze Signs team and our Lecturer, Jacob, to create a complete brand guidelines document for a new food brand that would stand out amongst a crowded market. This has helped us think about all the restrictions and rules a company needs to follow with their graphics and colours.

This project has been very different for me. Last term, I mainly did my work in a sketchbook. This term, Jacob suggested that everyone do a large PowerPoint presentation, around 70 pages, that we could print it and present it to Blaze Signs. This was to help develop our computer skills and design abilities.

We’ve had the chance to develop something from nothing into a whole brand, with lots of research, concept art, digital designs and more.

When it came to creating the brand, I needed to focus on a specific type of food. I chose Mexican food, but I wanted to make it healthier than what’s currently out there at the moment. This was how I came up with the concept of ‘Almarilo’s’, a Mexican healthy-eating restaurant chain.

Looking at the competition was a big part of understanding the market as a whole. I did lots of concept art for my logos initially, and some went from basic ideas to really detailed graphics and signage pieces. After I had done these and narrowed my options down, I started using Adobe Illustrator to further develop the logos and graphics, and all the colours we used.

I used a combination of greens and oranges as my main colours, with green having connotations of health and wellness. The orange I used to give a slight contrast which blended in well to the greens I used. My main design element were three leaves, which represent plant-based food, herbs and spices and again link it back to the wellness elements of the brand.

Overall, I’ve boosted my confidence with Illustrator. Having access to Adobe software and similar programs has really helped me take my work to the next level.

I’ve also been working on company slogans, taking inspiration from fast food chains. With a project like this, the design work gets more and more detailed, which for me has brought out a lot of creativity and project management, especially around the deadline.

It’s been our main project all term, and there were no stages to the task, so if we missed the end deadline then there was no going back!

I often struggled at school with cramming everything in but studying at Dover has allowed me to follow my passions and shown me the importance of staying on schedule.

I think my favourite part about this brief has been having the freedom to create my own personal vision. Although it had to be a food brand, I could do what I wanted with it and combine all my ideas into one thing. It’s so satisfying to see the end result – I made this from nothing, you know? I’ve basically developed a company that doesn’t exist and not many people can say that!

As strange as it may sound, I wasn’t worried about presenting to Blaze Signs. Pitching to industry professionals could seem scary, especially for a first project, but I felt confident because I knew I had a good thing to show them and could explain all the skills I’d used.

I’m very happy that they picked my brand as the winner. I didn’t know what the result would be, as you don’t know until you get the feedback. I didn’t put any pressure on myself with expectations from today, I just wanted to do the best job I could.

After this course, I’m planning to study the T Level in Design, Surveying, and Planning for Construction. I’ve always been interested in Design overall, and the design skills I’m learning at Dover, especially the geometric stuff, will really help with my future goals.

I’m really glad I’ve chosen to study here. I was doing 10 GCSEs at school, so to come here and focus on just one area – Art and Design – has been so different. The Level 2 course has been full of professional work and is helping me build up the skills I need for my next steps.

If you’re interested about James’ experiences of studying at Dover and want to learn more, explore our Art and Design courses: Creative and Design – Dover College