The CIN Logo and banner
Through my connection with the Community Library Network, I was asked if I could do something to help the branding of CIN.
CIN is the acronym for Cooperative Information Network. It is a service used by all the local libraries to facilitate the movement of books from one library to another. The network includes a number of independent city libraries as well as a network of county libraries throughout Northern Idaho. (Over 20 libraries).
The old branding incorporated a low resolution picture of a lake with the letters CIN ghosted over the top. The picture had been over sharpened in Photoshop and re-saved so many times as a jpeg that the colors were muddy. Because the service is not part of the library system itself, most patrons are familiar with the logo but have very little knowledge of what it does.
The clients wanted a new web banner for a lending ebook service that the network will offer all Northern Idaho Libraires. They provided the old photograph logo and asked what we could do.
Hand drawn pieces of mountain ranges (Sketchbook Pro)
We started by creating a vector of the photograph. To keep the image flexible we hand drew a series of mountain ranges, using the photograph as a visual guide. We then auto-traced and cleaned up the independent pieces in Illustrator. Keeping the pieces separate, allows us the flexibility to adjust and move (or even remove) sections of the drawing to meet the requirements of different layouts.
For the logo, we moved the typeface from Garamond to Gills Sans and spelled out the acronym. Because the advising committee were concerned about introducing a completely new logo to the public, this minor evolution to the branding was something the committee was able to embrace.
To wrap up the project we created a mock-up of the ebook site that incorporated the banner, new logo, and color scheme. The coders at the Overdrive ebook web service then used that mock-up in theming our localized site.
