Project
Play Wild! Logo
Client: WildWorks
Scope: Logo design
Art Direction: Tom Tolman, Jaimee Christensen
Animal Jam – Play Wild! is the mobile version of WildWorks’ most popular web game, Animal Jam. During my time at WildWorks as marketing graphic designer, we realized that some applications of the Play Wild! logo called for a different logo treatment than the standard lockup, one that was equal to the Animal Jam logo instead of subordinate. I was given the task to take the existing Play Wild! branding (below) and expand it into a full-fledged wordmark of its own.
I had a lot of issues with the existing lockup, but unfortunately I couldn’t change that. That logo would continue to be used in most cases when the logo is by itself, like on the app’s splash screen. My task was to create a logo that could be used alongside the Animal Jam logo without clashing or being redundant.
Process
I was given total control at the beginning of the project to come up with wildly different visual directions, just to see what was possible. Ultimately I knew I needed to create something that could be applied in every way that the Animal Jam logo is used (stacked or horizontal, with leaves or without).
My first round of rough concepts was purely exploratory to get feedback on what was appropriate for the brand:
None of these concepts really spoke to the spirit of Play Wild!, so I went back to the drawing board and made some refinements to the concepts. One major point of feedback that I incorporated in this round was to keep the logo blue (the existing Play Wild! color) and to play around with incorporating the gecko mascot. The gecko was something that I overlooked before, but in hindsight he was the perfect visual identifier for the game. Every time you open the app you’re greeted with a gecko on the loading screen, so he was definitely here to stay.
I ignored the leaves for the next round because they were getting in the way of judging the strength of the wordmark on its own. I also played around with a new cursive variant.
After submitting these ideas to the game team and incorporating their feedback, it was clear that the top left option was the most compatible with the existing Animal Jam logo.
We ultimately decided that we would only use the AJ badge identifier in very limited cases, and that the badge wouldn’t be used in tandem with the gecko in the same application. With that information, I was able to finalize the logo designs into the set of wordmarks that were ready for use!
I also translated the new Play Wild! logos into horizontal formats for future applications what might call for a lower profile:
A final self-imposed requirement for the project was to create a PW badge as well. Perfect for a watermark, video bug, or favicon.
Results
My Play Wild! logo is currently in use on Animal Jam retail cards and other limited applications. It was such a rewarding process to go through and I’m very proud of the solution I landed on. Hopefully it will see more use in the future!
