The Chronicles of Narnia is a magical series of books that hold a special place in the hearts and childhoods of many. This classic set written in the 1950’s has sold millions of copies to fantasy lovers worldwide and over the years has produced countless TV, Radio and film creations. Now we are being asked to revamp the brand identity for a new generation. Times have changed exponentially since the previous releases, and Harper Collins and D&AD are looking for an innovative mind to envision the brand in the digital age we are in.

This breif is asking designers to rebrand the Chronicles of Narnia for the generation to come. The challenge is to develop a new identity that will appeal to the new generation of readers/viewers as well as the generation who hold the series dear to their childhood.

The things to think about are relevancy, designs must not be too old nor too young. Also consider how designs may evolve in different environments like social media, websites, and audiobooks.

Alongside the brief, Harper Collins and D&AD released a set of assets containing all the versions of books and logo designs from the US and UK.

My main inspiration from the official designs are those by Pauline Baynes.I love her striking and detailed designs, there is something strangely nostalgic about them.

After deciding that a  graphic style was not how I wanted to continue the project, I began to look at an illustrative style that looks as if the images are from a storybook. My aim is to find a style that brings in both a young and older audience. The subtly textured and detailed designs featured below hold a lot of character and playfullness that I believe is pleasing to all audiences.

I began working on  the logo with the theme of Aslan as this is the only motif from the chronicles as the brand specifies.

After my sketches were completed it was time to colour Aslan. I created a colour palette of reds and yellows that I wanted to use, and I started with a yellow/brown base layer for the skin.

After playing around with the profile of the lion, I also sketched the lion as a whole.

My main issue with the first colouring of the lion was that the mane was too flat and resembled the graphics style that I was trying to avoid. I decided to place the hairs individually to create the texture that want within this design.

The final outcome for this experiment became a decent starting point for my designs. I had found a solid technique to creating my lions, and a style that I was happy with. However, the other elements of this design let it down. I became annoyed at the sight of the vines and the moon above the centre illustration. Overall, the outer elements are mismatched resulting in the design lacking in a professional feel.

I had the idea to place the lion on some grass to create a relaxed atmosphere and to include some natural imagery. However I later cut this as I realised it was venturing too far off the course of being a logo.

After removing the Aslan Image from the background I felt that the design was much more appropriate for a logo. I also moved the typography across the lions body which has made the image unique and cleaner. Following this the strap line was downsized so that the title of Narnia was emphasised.

The font in my previous designs were clearly the worst components in the pieces. To get a better idea of what I wanted, I stuck to hand drawing the letters so it was in line with my handmade storybook style.

 

I build upon the front of the original brand, borrowing elements like the bowed lines between letters (A and H for example). By using the font from my previous illustrations as a template, I drew out the letters for the strap line first. As for the main text logo, I thought about other lion features I could incorporate. as the tail was already in use and I had already manipulated it, I focused on the eye of the lion. I thought that a piercing eye peeking through one of the letters in the title could make for an eye catching logo.

As the logo is Aslan who reaccurs continuously throughout the books, I had an idea to use a motif from each book to combine with the logo for book covers and other advertisements. These elements can also be animated, for example,

I have animated the lamp turning on and off.

 

Looking back onto this project I am reasonably satisfied with the final products I have produced, although I am not as pleased with them as I would like to be. One of the best features of the project are my drawing skills as I am primarily a portrait artist have never drawn animals before, so the first thought of drawing a lion was intimidating. Despite some initial struggle I persevered to create multiple lion images that I was happy with. Another positive I have found within this project is my time management skills, I was able to consistently stay on track with all my work and make continued improvements up until the deadline. Furthermore, I am pleased with the style that I chose as I believe it is an effective bridge between both young and older demographics, the style is cute yet classic. Unfortunately, throughout the project there were moments that I did veer slightly off track into areas where my work began to lie outside of the brief. For example, during the second mock-up of Aslan I illustrated him to be sat upon some grass with flowers and a blue sky. Although this design was aesthetically pleasing and presented Aslan in a warm and welcoming manner as I had wanted, the design was intended to be a logo and my sky/grass scene was far from what a logo should be. After re-adjusting myself and my design I completely removed the surrounding scene and modified the text to create a much cleaner and more successful logo. However, places the design is somewhat messy in places (the typography for example), and the animated designs are limited. In hindsight, I would add some more interesting animated design elements to the logo such as the lions moving tail or teeth, rather than a static lion and small moving butterfly motif. I believe if I were to focus my attention on perfecting the typography and digital mock ups that my design would have been more impressive.Overall, my designs are definitely not where they should be in terms of professional standard, however they are not a bad attempt.Originally I was very excited to begin this brief as I adore all things fun and fantasy, so I jump at the opportunity to illustrate things of that nature, but sadly as I progressed into the brief I came to find that it ended up being quite limited in terms of usable imagery (only being able to use the Aslan motif), however I am aware that this is what many branding briefs will be like and it is still imperative to stick to what the company has outlined.