About a year ago, I saw some Jane Austen-inspired makeup for a great price at Walmart. Being a Janeite, I was super excited and started collecting all the box sets.
And then I woke up.
Though I was frustrated I didn't have actual Jane Austen makeup, I thought it would be a great idea. There could be six collections inspired by the six novels and accessories, brushes, and limited edition items inspired by her unfinished novels and other writings. The brand would have store and merchandising tie-ins with the producers of BBC period dramas and . . .
And I was getting ahead of myself because I didn't even have a name. When it came time to create a logo, I decided to bring my idea to life.
I decided to name the brand Regency Bloom. "Regency" came from the era. "Bloom" is the word Austen often used to describe the freshness of youth and a character's glow that went beyond prettiness. According to Dictionary.com, one of the word's definition's is "a glow or flush on the cheek indicative of youth and health."
My next decision was easy. I was going to use the Jane Austen font, of course. No other font would so perfectly convey what Regency Bloom was about.
The next step was to find an image. I wanted to choose an image that was old-fashioned and conveyed the feminine elegance of the times but not too old-fashioned that it was out of modern reach. I searched for illustrations of past editions of Jane Austen novels. I ended up not liking many of them for the logo except possibly this one.
But it still didn't feel quite right (that feather on her bonnet is a little too much).
The picture below gave me an idea that guided the rest of the design process. I realized I didn't want to use a face. I wanted an image of a woman whose face was turned from the viewer. This way, the consumer doesn't associate specific features and the woman serves as an "everywoman" -- perhaps even the consumer herself.
Based on this picture, I made a first draft.
Pretty awful isn't it? Besides the graininess of the picture, the colors are just . . . bleh.
I suddenly remembered that I already knew of a picture of Austen facing away from the viewer that would be perfect. It's a watercolor of her Austen painted by her sister Cassandra. I used both this images, finally realizing that the second one was the correct painting.
Based on this painting, I made the second logo.
I liked the concept but didn't like how the letters clashed with the dark colors in the painting. Also, it seemed as if too much was going on. Briefly, I thought I could solve this problem by bunching up the letters in the corner.
But this wouldn't work, of course, because smaller printings of the logo would shrink the words and render them almost invisible. Also, I wanted to keep the extra spacing between the letters and didn't want them to touch to give the logo a sense of space. So it was back to the drawing board.
The previous draft led to an epiphany while I was checking my makeup in a compact mirror. I realized I couldn't see my entire face and that if the mirror were oval-shaped, I wouldn't have to move it around as much. I decided that the logo should be shaped like an oval. After all, circles are ubiquitous but ovals are familiar in a different and more elegant sense and different was what I wanted.
I also realized that if I blurred the image, the lines wouldn't clash as much with the words. Oval plus blur equals the next draft.
It was still wasn't quite right. It was still too busy and I hated the leaves and the colors were dull. Still, I could feel I was close.
I was wondering if there was a way to created a frosted glass effect, and my professor suggested adding a layer of white and adjusting the opacity.
Thankfully, I thought to Google the image again to find a version with better colors and found this one.
I decided to have her fill as much of the oval as possible. With this decision came the realization that I didn't have to show the ground as it was obvious she was sitting. The final touch was a soft line around the oval for definition.
Regency Bloom is in development now and will be available in major department stores in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2016.