So this is my design for my topic!
I really liked working on this aspect of class, and the creative freedom that I could easily express, because Illustrator is such an easy software to use.
Since my topic is about my religion, and my journey at the institute class that they offer, I wanted to show a sense of light in my design. This would be referencing the light that this gospel brings me, and that it could bring to others through this class. I wanted to make my logo bright, and full of life. My inspiration for this was the sun. I liked the idea of the brightness and hope that is symbolized in the sun, and wanted people to feel that through my design.
I really liked the dashing technique from the Illustrator tutorials, and wanted to use that as a base to my design. So I started off with creating three circles. I had attached guides to the art board, so that my design would be centered, and that the circles would be similar, but could be sized up. This also allowed for me to make them equidistant from each other. Then, I changed the stroke on each. I gave the inner one about a 45 pt stroke, then increased the following ones by 10-15 pt. This created a gradual change of length that allow for the stroke lines to look more like rays. I also changed the colors to be more analogous, so that they offered a slight gradient from the middle to the outside. I then decided that I wanted to add another ring around the very outside of the sun figure to better define the endpoints of the logo. For the lettering, I wanted to place more emphasis on the “Institute” because that is my main topic. I played with the character settings so that the letters were more spread out, and stretched across the logo. I also added an outside stroke to this, to help define the edges against the sun in the background. I also didn’t want to just have “Institute” written on the logo without some context, so I added the “LDS” to emphasize that it was affiliated with this religion.
Overall, I really like my design so far. I see a few minor changes that I will make on my final draft, but I am pleased with how this draft came out.
Mackenzie Larsen 
Lauren, I really like the aspect of bringing in the sun into your design, I felt it be very fitting for your topic. As far as constructive criticism, maybe try and leave a little bit more of a gap between each circle of rays. That way it gives your design more of an area for the rays to “shine through” instead of just circles with lines because for me it looks similar to a lemon sliced open, just because there is no gaps in between and everything sort of runs together. I really liked your use of the cursive looking font because it makes the wording really stand out. The LDS part with a smaller font as you have used give your design a focus point in the sun you designed. I really like the use of gradient that is in your design, maybe increase the inner gradient coloring that way it gets brighter throughout the design.
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I liked how you used elements from the tutorial of using the circles and creating the dashed lines to create this logo. I also liked how personal this assignment and logo means to you with your religion and the fact that you wanted to showcase the “sense of light in [your] design.” The fact that you made it personal brings it to means a lot more than a random drawing to get the grade. When you said that your inspiration was the sun and you wanted people to feel the symbolization of the sun through your design is what I got out of the picture. The image behind the text reminds me of sun rays, and the overall tone of the logo was bight and vibrant. I think that was your intention, but maybe you could change the main font of “Institute” because at first looks, the “I” looks like a “G.” Other than that, your logo is pretty good!
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Overall, I really like my design. I think that it encompasses exactly what I wanted it to and conveys the right message. My logo brings the light that I wanted the audience to see in relation to the light that I get from my religion. I think that other people also liked my design, though they did have a few critiques that I want to take into account. I was told that I should maybe find a font that would still have the same effect that the cursive has on the whole design, because the I looks more like a G. I will also make the gaps between the rays a little bit bigger, so that it looks more like a sun, and less like a lemon. I think that is a great idea. Also, I will have to fix the gradient that I made from the center of the sun out, a little more prominent, so it gives more of the sun effect. I think that after these changes, I will have a really solid design for my logo.
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