Darryl Spratt identity

Making a new identity—from my logo to website.

My website needed an update and I decided to do a complete identity upgrade as I’ve been desiring to have a better logo made with the new experience I gained since creating my original logo. While I found logo marks are largely unnecessary for freelancers, I came up with this idea that really excited me, so I just had to see it through.

Roles
  • Logo & Identity design
  • Web design & development
Client
  • Self

The logo mark combines many things about me: from my initials, to what I do, to what influences me. It’s a 3D wireframe with the S or Ds connecting the box like a 3D polygon connected by triangular faces. The wireframe represents the initial phases of design and my work in games. I also wanted the logo to be simple and easy to draw since it’s about the design phase.

A critical part of the logo is the line vertically dividing the box in half and extending beyond the shapes, this line creates a “pivot point” and is the center of an optical illusion. I believe most will see the top part as the top of the exterior of a box. However, looking at the line will cause you to see the top as the interior of a box. I further emphasize this effect in the monocolour version of the logo.

Illusions are like design in a way—they distort our perception of reality, while design has an intention to guide or influence a perception of an idea and games are really an interactive illusion.

The colours look back to my original site for inspiration. I liked the vibrant yellow on top of the duller greens and blues, the neon look has an arcade feel and it’s a colour scheme that I don’t see often.

I used 3 different varieties of blueish colours with the intention to make the S stand out and look like it has lighting and shadows. These hues were the foundation for the colour scheme throughout my website.

I also considered how it would animate and did this mockup, though this isn’t currently used anywhere.