In this book review we take a look at The Process Two by The Brand Identity.
The process is a series of books showcasing the unused and unseen ideas, concepts, mock-ups and sketches that are created during the branding process.
The book was created by Elliott Moody, who runs The Brand Identity website.
Let’s waste no time and jump right into the cover design. The cover design is right to the point featuring the title and who the book is by.
Another interesting design element is how the books 13 digit ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is featured on the cover, this number is assigned to each separate edition and variation of a publication.
When first holding the book it had a nice premium feel to it, and the card used was Arjowiggins’ curious matter black truffle with silver matte foil print in 270gsm.
The production of the book was by Lunchpress who is a production studio that provides bespoke services for design originally started in London UK. The studio has now moved to Zagreb, Croatia where they now do their production work.
I have other books printed by Lunchpress and I must say that they all have that distinct crafted with love feel to them.
When first opening book you get a unique fresh print small that is still present months after first receiving the book, and I say it a lot but if you’re like me and love books you gain a sense of appreciation for the fresh unique book smells and allow you to enjoy the book even more.
The inside pages are glossy and smooth to the touch making every page turn a pleasure. The paper used is Arctic paper munken polar 120gsm
The book starts with a brief introduction, followed by a rundown and description of all the studios featured within the book, followed by the contents of order they are showcased.
The book then explains how it is presented on one side you have a solid black page that features the final outcome of the projects, and the white pages show the unused ideas and concepts that are featured in the book.
Each branding project only has one outcome that makes it into the real world, however arriving at that final solution a designer can go through a range of design directions before landing on the one and this is all down to “The Process”.
With every project a designer completes there is a trail of interesting and intelligent ideas that never see the light of day after being cast aside by either the decision of the designer or the direction not being chosen by the client, and this book is home to those ideas.
The second release of The Process contains 13 branding projects that were created by 9 of the leading design studios from around the world for clients both large and small in industries such as fashion, food, retail, technology and more.
The studios featured are Bunch, Bureau Borsche, Mildred & Duck, Never Now, Only, Ragged Edge, StudioSmall, Underline Studio, Vrints-Kolsteren.
For instance one of the projects featured is Hector’s Deli in my opinion with only 5 sandwiches on its menu and serving amazing coffee.
I imagine they wanted to stand out from your average sandwich shop and be unique with something that was simple, clean and both professional and fun, as this is what is presented in the final direction.
They went for a clean professional but fun typeface for their main wordmark, and a slightly fun bolder secondary typeface for the other brand elements. Keep it clean and have fun with the illustrations.
But when you look at the other ideas that were presented, I feel they may have thought it was too childish and cliché with a generic look not giving off a professional feel.
The book is unique and a nice concept as it allows you to see before and after concepts and what goes on behind the senses when designing branding work.
The Process book is ideal for both designers so they can learn more about the branding process from a visual aspect and as a designer it’s always nice to see other designer’s work that is not just the final design but also what they explored to get to that final result.
It can also be good for design clients to see just what goes into a branding project.
I know first-hand that a branding project even with the perfect client and brief can be a long tough road that is full of twists and turns at every corner. In most cases it’s a fun process that challenges our creative minds.
There are the odd-occasions when it can be quite stressful that the majority of clients don’t understand what goes into the process
It’s this lack of understanding that makes a lot of them ignorant and not appreciative of this industry but without good brand identity designers they would be lost in their businesses!
Elliott Moody from The brand Identity has done a great job with the book and I would highly recommend it to all design enthusiasts and professional designers of all levels.
We asked Elliott some questions about him and the book.
The Logo Creative – For people unfamiliar with you and The Brand Identity would you like to introduce yourself and explain what The Brand Identity is?
Elliott Moody – I’m a graphic designer from the UK that’s been in the industry since 2014, working on identities, websites, books and more; first in London, then in Cambridge, and now, in Norwich.
I started The Brand Identity in 2015 after finding myself with little to do while on an internship. I was looking at a few design blogs like BP&O, Visuelle and Brand New, which I still greatly admire, and thought I’d give it a go myself. It started out with me reposting design work I liked on Instagram, and it gained traction fairly quickly as I don’t think there was anything too similar at the time. We now have a small, remote team where we cover projects in more detail on our website, publish books and make design templates, with many more to come over the next few years.
The Logo Creative – What sparked the idea of making the book The Process?
Elliott Moody – The books are the opposite of what we have on our website and Instagram feed, which is the highly-polished end result that the design studios and clients want us to see. We thought it would be interesting to document the work that is hidden away on servers, never to be seen or talked about again. Some of this work can be just as good as the final outcome, or at least offer a different perspective, but it just wasn’t chosen for one reason or another.
The Logo Creative – What was the experience and process like working with Lunch Press to make the book?
Elliott Moody – Goran and the rest of the team at Lunch are great. They always try to go a step further to help make the final product the best it can be, often suggesting printing techniques and paper stocks that we hadn’t thought about.
The Logo Creative – How long did it take to complete the book and did you face any challenges along the way?
Elliott Moody – Each book takes around six months to complete, from initiation to delivery. The design and printing process is relatively straightforward. I like to constantly iterate on top of the same version when I design them, which is kind of a contradiction to the concept of the books…
The biggest challenge by far is planning and organisation. Choosing the projects to be involved and getting the files normally takes up at least half of the overall timeline.
The Logo Creative – Do you have any plans to release The Process Three?
Elliott Moody – The Process Three is actually with the printer right now, with the release set to be in early August. We’ve expanded the book this time around to feature interviews with the studios involved as well as notes and annotations on every piece of work included. I think it has the best content yet, so I’m excited for people to see it.