Embattle: Research

 Embattle

The definition of embattle: To arrange in order of battle to array for battle also to prepare or arm for battle to equip as for battle.

I would associate the word Embattle with something more masculine due to the history aspect of men being sent to war and fighting for their country. Also famous leaders in WW1 and WW2 would tend to be masculine figures. I want to address the idea of inequality of focusing my company targeted for men. The concept of men having this identity of bravery, power and strength, I could adapt these characteristics into my final logo design.

The concept of being ‘ready to fight’ addresses the early stages of war and men being sent at a young age. I could create the target audience of 16-25 year olds through this concept.

For my research process, I could research into male branding clothing. I will research something modern, contemporary, fresh to relate to the idea of a younger target audience.

I then followed my reached, to researching into competitors of male clothing.

The company Stussy:

History of the company- Growing up involved within the West Coast surfing culture, Shawn stussy originally produced surf boards, embellished with a signature. Now the signature is identified with the ‘stussy’ logo for his clothing line.

The typeface reflects graffiti which is identified as Street culture. Due to the graffiti element the typeface is aimed at 16-20 year olds. When developing my work further I could adapt the idea of lace and graffiti into my chosen typeface.

Alpha: Alpha was founded in Knoxville in 1957 by Samuel Gelder and Robert Lane, the company originally created outerwear for the US Department of Defence. On some of the clothing, design feature on the zip, finishing with, ‘Remove before flight’ on the tag. I feel this logo is relevant to help me address context more. For my design brief I could research into military font and army camouflages. I could also create tags with my final logo design and apply that onto context, of perhaps an army camouflage printed bomber jacket.

Patagonia: Californian based Patagonia are known for their high end outdoor climbing clothing. It features a graphical logo with typography. I wanted to include ‘Patagonia’ as the company was firstly designed for outdoor products. I found this interesting how the company has introduced itself into the streetwear industry. The concept of mountains also creates a multiple meaning of creating an illusion of life which I thought was appropriate towards the word Embattle. The graphical imagery introduces a more graphical contemporary, modern approach towards the brand.

Obey: Obey clothing was founded in 2001 by Street artist and illustrator Shepard Fairey as an extension to his work of activism. The clothing is heavily inspired by classic military design.

“Obey, thinking about the surroundings and questioning the purpose”

With the Obey san serif typeface it is bold, thick, strong, includes a close kerning which reflects power, importance, identity, hierarchy. I personally feel Obey is the most successful as the logo stands out more due to the bold font. I could incorporate this into my work by creating my logo to be San Serif and play around with creating fonts which are bold.

I wanted to research into these companies as Stussy reflects Edginess, Alpha -empowerment, Patagonia- Life and Obey is an order. These words all create connection to the contextual understanding of Embattle.

Alpha and Stussy are my least favourites as I feel they are more hard to read. The idea of clocked lettering works more effectively as it is more clean and finished.

The target market: The individual will contain importance, hierarchy, power, between the age ranges of 16-25.

I then researched into context. Researching into military type and army camouflages, where I created mind maps into my sketchbook. These are images I have selected from my mind map.  

I also researched into army labels.

Research into context, the idea of bravery, empowerment, identity. I also researched into army camouflages.