Plates of Pride - WassellDesigns

'Plates of Pride' (2015/16)

Case Study

'Show them that you are proud.'

Ben d'Orleans, a former serviceman, had one vision and that was to show pride towards the Armed Forces. He decided to raise funds which would help those who need it. He started Plates of Pride which produces high-quality commemorative plates featuring images of crests (Army/RAF/Navy) and names/messages on fine bone china. 50% of all the profits go to service charities and he will be working closely with Cobseo (Confederation of Service Charities) who help distribute funds raised.

Plates of Pride's website

The brief

The brief was to bring Ben’s brand to life. He had an idea what he wanted in his head; he just couldn’t execute it. I also had to assist in designing each plate layout with the crests and a poster and flyer to start him off. It was also a project that I had to really concentrate on as this is a cause Ben cares about deeply and wants to make a difference.

Research

i started with the usual research. I looked at 'pride', and what it means in so many different formats. I also looked at images to do with the Armed Forces. Ben asked me to look at postage stamps as he was interested in the layout and design of a circle and text .

Beginning

I started off by making some rough sketches before taking it to the computer and bringing my sketches to life. I used the colours red and blue.

Beginning

I used a basic red and blue colour scheme in the development stage. Once showing Ben some of my favourite designs, he gave me a few pointers on the direction that I should take my design in. He also told me what he liked in my starter ideas.

The spark

The ‘round oval plate’ shape idea with the Plates of Pride logo through the middle was the one that ignited the spark for the logo.

Progressing

I developed the idea further to integrate the union jack better into the logo as Ben wanted this in the logo. He also had an idea to insert two of the plates into the logo to show what they make.

Font research

Fonts were investigated in depth. Ben liked the basic Bookman Old Style font. When you see this font against the Union Jack plate, it looks strong and appropriate to the Armed Forces.

More progress

We found a stock image of a plain white plate, of similar shape to the ones Ben would be manufacturing. I then got a decent image of a Union Jack which we decided to Photoshop onto the plate. I decided to use this on the logo as the main plate rather than the oval black outline plate that I had. You can also see here the two extra plates, which were done seperately.

Colour Palette

After trying a 'grunge' effect on the logo (which didn't look right), Ben asked me to try 'washed out' colours instead. I did this and it made a big improvement to the Union Jack. It gives it the look of a flag.

Final

After many revisits aligning, straightening and getting the text perfect the logo was finally done. It looks great and works well big or small, which was important.

Matching flyers, stationery and posters

These leaflets were produced after the logo and plates were finished. I designed this double-sided flyer, this being the front. A similar, larger-sized poster was also produced.

Matching flyers, stationery and posters

Ben needed Business Cards, Compliment Slips and Letterheads designed also. These are the compliment slips.

Creating the crests and plates

I won't go too much detail of this as I'm only talking about the branding, but I also had to assist with creating these amazing templates for the plates which would be in production. Supplied with the Armed Forces crests, I had to apply these images to round templates which would be used to print these images onto plates. I was given a time period to do this.

Creating the crests and plates

Also was this plate, which featured small crests round about a big one. The name, dates of service and rank are featured at the bottom. I was given a time period to do this. Ben was granted to the Crown Copyrite license for each crest.

'Plates of Pride' (2015/16)

Case Study

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