1. What initial researchdidyoudo on the company?
I started by gathering a history of the company. I looked for how the company
was founded as well as the existing products, the prices and the general feel of
the company. OnceI had done this I created 20 paper questionnaires about
the currentRoyal Canin logo. The questions were a mix of qualitative and
quantitative which gave me an accurate responseand opinions which people
had on the brand. After this I held as focus group with 20 people to ask their
opinions on the look of the currentlogo and whatthey would change aboutit.
I then took this feedback and implemented it into my re-branded logo. They
said that the old logo was “bland” and was confused aboutwhat the brand
sold as their product. The main issuewith the logo was that they could not
identify what the Royal Canin brand was about justfrom looking at the logo.
Some of the people I asked within the focus group new whatthis brand did but
only knew this due to them buying the company’s products for their own pet.
How successful was this?
I felt that the initial research went well. I felt that knowing the company’s
beginnings really helped me to changethe logo. This is because of some of the
information I found out about the history of the brand Royal Canin. I found out
that it was founded in Franceby a passionatevet who only wanted the best for
the pets. However, I also found out that Royal Canin is owned by a company
called MARS. The company, who arebased in America, also own brands such
as pedigree and Banfield Pet Hospital. Due to MARS owning the Royal Canin
brand it has led the brand to become a much more global brand. This benefits
the company finically.
What data did you gather from this and how did it help you plan the rebrand
designs?
Frommy paper questionnaires, I found that 90% of the people I asked like the
colour of the logo. This was reflected in
the focus group as everyonedid not
have an issuewith the colour red. The
facts I found about the history of Royal
Canin helped me shapehow I need the
logo to look. I now know that I must
keep the colour red within my new logo
and havean older look to represent the
humble beginning of the company. I also needed to make the brand look crisp
and clean as well as stand out. I needed to listen to what my feedback was
2. fromboth the paper questionnaires and the focus group. I needed to add the
connotations of the pet industry that my focus group wanted.
How effective was your pre-production?
Overallmy pre-production was a success but it was not without its issues. I feel
that I was not able to use the Photoshop tools at firstbut the further on in the
design process this got easier. This was becauseI had
previous experience with Photoshop but not all the
tools I used to create the new logo. Before starting
this project, I had no knowledge of the pen tool. I did
not know whatit was or how to use it. My firstever
attempt using this tool was of a basic outline of a
sitting cat. This went ok. Itwas not as neat as the final
logo was becauseI did not know how bestto usethis
tool. I discovered that
by adding in less points
you could make curves
that are not as steep therefore creating more
natural, smooth lines which I needed within my
final logo. Another tool I did not have knowledge
of was the various brush tool. This tool could be
used like a paint brush, stroking them across the
page, or a stamp. I started by using the brush
tool to add differentpatterns and animals into
my logo designs. I did this because I wanted to
see whether this would work or not as well as
see how effective they would be. Some worked
well, like the giant paw print or the fox. Others
brushes like the spotlight and the dots did not
work as well. I also wanted to usethe brush
tool like a paint brush and add colour onto a
shape. Itwas at this stage I discovered how to
best use the pen tool. I added grey for the dog’s
body and red for the collar. This worked well however, it was very hard to keep
in the lines even though the size of the brush could be altered.
3. How did you respondtofeedback givenfrom peers and tutors and how did
this developyour work?
Half way through creating my designs I struggled to think of any ideas on how
to change the logo. This was frustrating becauseat this stage I was no way
near to a finished logo design. So, I decided to listened back to my focus group
and took notes on points that I had not taking in the firsttime as well as point I
had remembered frombefore. I chose to do this at that stagebecause all my
design did not look how I wanted them to and I felt that if I reminded myself of
what people wanted the logo to be I would be able to focus my mind on
coming up with ideas relating to the peer feedback. This helped a lot as I found
the creative direction I needed to go. I also had an image of the existing logo
for Royal Canin as a reference point. I made a rule that if the current logo
looked better than the design I worked on I would not us it as my final logo.
However, if certain elements of the logo, like the fontor arrangement, was
better than the current RoyalCanin logo I would keep these elements and
apply this to the next designs. The thoughts and feedback of the focus group
was that they said that the old logo was “bland” and was confused about what
the brand sold as their product. The main issuewith the logo was that they
could not identify what the Royal Canin brand was about justfrom looking at
the logo. Some of the people I asked within the focus group new what this
brand did but only knew this due to them buying the company’s products for
their own pet.
What skills have you developedthroughout this unit?
I started off by only having a basic knowledge of Photoshop. I found that as I
use Photoshop moreand moreI used the software, the easier I found it to
work. The bestexample of
this was using the pen tool.
When I firstuse this tool I
really struggled to curve the
line to fit the outline of the
shape. This changed as I
found out that I did not need
to add so many points to it
and that I could move the
points if needed as well as
add new points in. I also
learned that the bigger the distancebetween each point the wider the curve
will be. The quality of my work got better as I used Photoshop more. This is
down to the practice I got fromrepeating the same steps to add text in and
4. change the text’s colour as well as inserting new layers and images. Due to my
limited knowledge of Photoshop I struggled at times however, I overcomethis
by keeping to techniques and methods I can do and not to aim for unrealistic
goals I still struggleto usePhotoshop and I am far from an expert but I feel the
skills I have learned will help me if I need to use Photoshop again.
What does your final design“communicate”?
When re-branding RoyalCanin I needed to consider how to put the
connotations and element associated with the pet target market. For example,
I considered adding paw prints as well as a dog or cat to the logo. I kept the
crown idea fromthe main logo as this is what feedback I got from the focus
group and someof my questionnaires. When I asked what impression people
got about the company fromthe new logo design they said it was “not an
upper class brand anymore” and found it to be “down to earth” and “ pet
friendly“. They also felt that it looks “professional” and “appealing” than the
old logo.
Does your designfit or meet the original intentions?
The logo I created does meet the intentions I wanted it to. I wanted the logo to
be more associated with the pet food marketwhich Royal Canin is aimed at. I
wanted to do this by adding in these features which would help the logo to
become instantly associated with the pet products. This was done by adding
paw prints as well a cat and dog outline. Both pets are the top two most
popular pets in the UK and havestrong connection with the brand as well as
the company’s targetmarket. By adding a new design of the crown to the logo
it makes the Royalpart of the brand morerecognised than beforeas people
did not see the crown until it was pointed out to them. I also wanted the text
to stay the same shadeof red as the old logo because mostof the people I
asked agreed that this colours works welland they also liked the shade. The
main element as well as the strong connotations I wanted to add to the new
logo was that I wanted the logo to stand out and catch the attention of the
target audience.
How appropriate is it to the target audience?
The logo is more appropriatenow than before. The old logo had no clear
indication on what the brand was. The new logo on the other hand, has been
created to be appropriateto its target audience (cat and dog owners). This has
been done by using cat and dog images as well as the crown placed on top of
the dog’s head. The logo I created fits into the target marketof pet products
due to these added elements. Also, the colour was kept the samebecause the
5. focus group I asked said they like the colour. I felt that the new logo would
appeal to the audience moreif elements of the old logo like the colour of the
font and the idea of a crown werekept in. The thoughts and feedback of the
focus group was that they felt that the new logo had connotations and
elements which made the brand’s targetaudience moreclear and opened the
brand up to a wider audience. They also thoughtthat the new logo makes the
“brand feel friendly and welcoming”.
How effective is your final design?
I personally feel that this logo looks more professionaland has the
connotations that was desperately needed. I was not the only one with these
feeling towards the finished logo re-design. The participants in my second
focus group agreed that the logo was better than the original with one person
commenting that the old logo looked like a “cruiseship logo” whilst another
stated that it looked
“upper class” and this
would put them off or
even considering the
Royal Canin brand in
greater detail. The
second focus group and I
agreed that the issues
whererectified in the
new logo. However,
some people criticised the letter head design I created to go with the
company’s re-brand. I decided to take the image of my final logo and create a
water mark with it due to many companies using the water marked logo
concept within all their letter heads. One person commented that the image
part of the logo, the line drawn cat and dog, should have not been included as
the watermark becauseit had the image of the ca and dog already in it. I
pointed out to this person that I had chosen the water mark idea since many
companies use a water marked logo within their documentation. Some people
felt that other aspects of my final logo could havebeen changed. For example,
one element was that the packaging of the new dog food design could have
been changed more. I then pointed out to these people that I took the ideas
they had and usethem. The focus group agreed that the packaging should stay
the samebecause they liked how “visual” it was they felt it was “easier” to
“find the food you need especially if you are in a hurry”. Dueto this I change
the design little only adding in the new logo and leaving only the English parts
6. in. Overall, I felt my final logo design was effective and did meet the brief and
exceeded the expectation I had for it.
What do you like about your final design?
My favouritepart of my final design is the dog and cat line drawing becauseit
is so simple yet highly effective. I got the idea from images of line drawings I
found on Google images. They used as fewer simple lines as possibleto create
the outlines of the subjects. I liked how this looked because it was simple,
clean and crisp looking yet slightly traditional which is what I needed the logo
to look like. I used this idea to draw the image of my logo and when I was
happy I emailed myself a photograph of this line drawing. I used this as my
image. I also feel the colour of the font worked well as it was the same shade
of red as the original logo. The contrastbetween the red fontand the black
and white image is effective and grabs the correcttarget audience’s attention.
The old logo did not do this due to it being flat and 2D in comparison.
I believe there is nothing I could change myself due to my re-brand hitting all
the point my focus group and paper questionnaires told me to.
How does your designcompare to past or current practice?
The original logo incorporated an unusualfont style which does not appeal to
the people I asked
through my paper
questionnaires and
focus group. The font
has the letter “a”
slanted twice which
the focus group and I could not understand the purpose of. It also has a poor
attempt at a crown which is
meant to look like a paw print. I
did not realise myself that this
was a paw print until it was
pointed out to me by one person
in my focus group. As well as this,
the layoutwas bland and
lacklustrewhich added nothing
to the logo. The royalshade of red featured throughoutthe logo was its only
redeeming feature which my focus group and I agree on. The overall look of
the logo left a lot to be desired and one person from my focus group
commented on the Royal Canin logo looking like a “logo for a cruise ship
7. company”. Dueto this no one within my focus group would pay
attention to the pet food brand if they saw this logo and would not
explore the brand further. Now though the logo looks refreshed
and revived due to the clean, crisp, professionalfinish to it. The
font is simple yet effective and is helped by the red colour featured
within the centre of each letter. The tittle located above the letter
“i” is in the shapeof a paw printgiving the brand the much-needed
connotations of its target market. The crown is now clearly visible and sits
regally upon a dog’s head. Both dog and cat are created in the style of line
draws using as fewer lines as possibleto create a bold, dramatic image which
creates further connotations which are found within the brand’s target market.
Is there anything youwantedto do, but couldn’t?
I felt like I achieved all I wanted to do with the logo re-brand. I followed the
feedback I reserved frommy paper Questionnaires and my focus group as well
as my own check list
of elements I feel it
needed. I kept the
colour the same as
most of the people I
asked wanted me to, I
added a better
designed crown to the
logo as the focus
group asked me to
and I added a cat and dog to the logo as well as a paw print in place of the tittle
(a dot above a letter) of the letter “i” as my focus group and I wanted the logo
to have stronger connotations of its target market. I also struggled with one of
my elements of pre-production. I wanted to add fur onto the lettering to link
the logo design into the pet target market. This did not work becauseI did and
still do not haveenough experience using Photoshop to know how to do this. I
was shown butstruggled to follow the instructions due to me not
remembering whereall the tools are in Photoshop. When I did attempt this, it
turned partof my letters a sparkly silver which is not what I wantas this makes
the design look like it has been sprinkled with glitter. I did get a fur effect in the
end but it was using a brush tool to strokedifferent shades of colour to blend
them together and give it a rough texture.
