This was a client project for Wayne Bond of Western Michigan University's faculty, entrusted to me individually by WMU's Design Center art director.
In his free time, Wayne is one of the main minds behind the Runaway Warlords youtube channel. Runaway Warlords is an anime and manga focused discussion channel. The channel does reviews, discussions, analyses, and even a weekly analysis of the ongoing One Piece manga. Wayne approached the Design Center to get a facelift for the Runaway Warlords youtube channel in the form of a banner image that would display at the top of the channel page when visited by viewers. As a big anime fan myself, I knew I was a good fit for this project and could accurately assess the needs of the client.
The client expressed I would have full creative freedom for the project. The only stipulation was the inclusion of the channels slogan "Anime is Adulting". I created a few concepts for the client to get an idea of a direction they wanted to go in.
The idea behind concept 1 is graphic portraits. A grid of minimalist icons of recognizable characters' faces surrounds the channels slogan. For the mock concept, icons for two characters were created and repeated. The final result would be a grid of unique characters selected by the client. 1a and 1b feature different type options.
The idea behind concept 2 is a reference to manga, the source material for many anime. This concept features manga imagery within the words of the channel's slogan. In the final result, various images from a variety of manga would be displayed. 2a and 2b feature different formatting with wide bodied type.
The client went with option 1b, and provided a list of 50 characters from a wide range of shows to turn into icons.
The wide bodied typeface, Fit, was adjusted and rebuilt to be more readable. Care was also taken to ensure the banner was compatible with the youtube banner format, and character placement was adjusted accordingly due to the banner being displayed with different cropping depending on context such as Youtube for TV versus Youtube for mobile. More well known characters gravitate towards the center of the banner while side characters and obscure characters hug the outer edges. Extra care was also taken in ensuring the color palette was toned down and the background color did not disrupt the presence of any icons due to the wide range of colors within the designs of the characters.
In addition to the new banner, I pitched the concept of a new icon to go with the banner due to the resulting disparity of the channels identity. The original icon, which can be seen in the previous concept examples, did not match the new aesthetic of the banner.
The philosophy behind the icons is based on the original design, the skulls and crossbones are repurposed from the original, with the samurai theme added to represent the cultural aspect of the channel. The skulls return in three as a reference to the three minds behind the Runaway Warlords channel.
