Context
Prompt
HyGrounds was imagined to be a gaming community maintained by and targeted at players for Hytale a highly anticipated upcoming sandbox role-playing video game by Hypixel Studios. With space to become a legendary game supported by the community following the likes of Minecraft, the creators of HyGrounds anticipated a need for a platform to easily organize and manage player-created content and events.
The HyGrounds team approached me to make a logo to represent the community and build the platform up before Hytale's actual release. They wanted to be separate from Hytale's actual logo while still maintaining a visual link to the game's genre as a sandbox rpg adventure.
Objectives
The Hytale's logo, as seen above, shows a medieval inspired logotype adorned with foliage. With runic inscriptions inside the stroke of the letters, the logo fits the medieval RPG elements of the game. The HyGrounds team wanted the logo to look as if it fit in the universe as a community of the game but still appeared visually different. They knew they wanted an illustrated look and something revolving around the large 'H' from Hytale.
Research
Brainstorm
I brainstormed with a loosely sketched mind-map of large overarching words related to HyGrounds. I continued to make links and draw bridges to new ideas and concepts as they came up. It helped identify the classic imagery and symbology of video games and RPGs that could be used to build the basis of my logo designs.
I also researched what some classic logos of the industry looked like. I wanted to investigate what makes a video game logo look like a video game logo. I found some common threads especially in the RPG genre with embellished or stylized serif text. Many RPGs draw from fantasy, history, and medieval themes, and since serif fonts lean towards the feeling of tradition, history, and monarchy. Textures such as wood, metal, and worn rock make appearances often referencing the prevalence of nature and crafting in these genres.
In the case of games such as Minecraft, the logo is pixelated as a reference to the game's use of giant building blocks to create the world and gameplay, but it still utilizes a worn stone texture. Other's such as the Final Fantasy logos use ornate art, similar to ornate illuminated manuscripts, to frame their title.
My research and brainstorming helped inform my actual sketches in the next stage of the creative process.
Process
Sketching
For sketches, I played with a variety of concepts that I explored through my research. I experimented with simply a stylized 'H' form to see if I could make it look emblematic while still fitting the overall objectives the team and I mapped out before. I also tried merging the 'H' form with the campfire symbol, which signify bonding, shared interests, and common goals. Campfires are also commonly used in RPGs as a milestone or save point for progress. I also built off of pixelated look of the game to create a glitched concept. Finally I investigated the use of traditional RPG weaponry and how that could be incorporated with the 'H' emblem.
Refined Sketches
After discussing with the team, they found they liked the concepts where the 'H' form was accompanied by a stroke, as if the 'H' was resting on a plaque or shield. With the weaponry concept, they wanted to develop the direction towards the 'H' on a beaten and worn plaque/shield.
I took the input and created some more refined sketches of three definitive directions of the 'H' on a shield, with different styles of wear and tear, as well as different ways of stylizing the 'H'.
The team got back to me and said they like the orientation of the leftmost shield and asked me to play around with slanting the 'H' while mixing up the shape of the shield. They also found the angular cracked texture of the middle iteration to be the most compelling and similar to what they wanted to go for initially.
Hi-fidelity Colored Iterations
With the input from the HyGrounds team, I created some high-fidelity iterations for the them. I tried experimenting with how the slant would affect the crossbar of the 'H' and different ways to style the serifs. I also applied the cracked texture from the previous sketches in slightly different variations.
The team liked the leftmost version the best but was interested in seeing what the 'H' on the right would look like on the left shield.
Color Variations
Here I provided different color variations since they wanted more blue incorporated into the design. I also included a spliced version of elements from the previous set of iterations since the HyGrounds team just wanted to see the potential of the spliced option.
I played around with a light and dark version of a bluer color scheme, making sure to eliminate the green cast from before.
The HyGrounds team felt as if the blue aligned better with Hytale's original logo and captured a more mysterious look to the glowing cracked texture. They liked the darker variant since the glow emanated from within and captured the runic direction they wanted.
Final Result
Here's the final logo and how it would look on a dark background as intended.
Future
Retrospective
This was my first foray into creating an illustrated logo. With the context of the video game space, illustrated logos are the industry norm. I also had more creative freedom on this project than before and was able to play around with the iterations using my creative vision and eye.
The brainstorming and research stage was crucial in informing me what historical attributes built up the elements commonly seen in video game logos today. It allowed me to create a more cohesive final product and provide sound reasoning to the client for certain elements used in my prototypes.
Usage
With Hytale currently on development hiatus, having delayed the release and progress for an indefinite amount of time, the HyGrounds team thought it was best to close the platform hosting for now until more decided news comes out about Hytale's future. With the foundation of the service and community based off of a not yet-released game, the team wanted to focus their hard work and efforts elsewhere for now. While the website was active and developing, my logo was used on its pages to represent the HyGrounds community.
While the future of Hytale and HyGrounds subsequently is unsure, I learned a lot about my own design process and streamlined the hands-on pipeline of how I interact with the client to ensure maximum productivity. I hope to bring and implement these lessons to my next design project. Thank you to the HyGrounds team for this wonderful opportunity!