About

Dot415 Designs is a collaborative freelance design agency. The aim of this initiative is to cultivate a robust social media presence to attract prospective projects. Drawing from our collaborative experiences at BCIT and internships, my Co-CEO, Enkhzaya G., and I were inspired to embark on this venture and foster growth within our organization. Our objective is to leverage available free resources until we establish a solid visitor base.

The primary objective of this project is to establish a collaborative freelance design agency specializing in crafting brand designs tailored to businesses of various scales and industries.

Preparation & Organization

We conducted both in-person meetings at our local library and online meetups on Discord to review our progress. To commence, we allocated tasks based on skill level and knowledge, assisting and critiquing one another as necessary. For task organization, schedules, and meeting notes, we utilized Notion and Microsoft Loop so that we could collaborate in real time.

Research & Brainstorming

Before finalizing our business name, extensive research was conducted using Google and ChatGPT to ensure uniqueness. Once our business name was established, my focus shifted to developing a logo, favicon, and brand banner. Concurrently, Enhzaya concentrated on web design and identifying a suitable hosting solution for our needs. To create the logo, I created a mind map using Miro and a Moodboard within Adobe Indesign to articulate our brand identity and conceptualize visual elements that complemented our name. Subsequently, I collaborated with Enhzaya to select appropriate website headings, colors, styles, fonts, and more.

Mindmap

Moodboard

The left image is the moodboard I created, and on the right are the potential font choices that Enhzaya and I selected for the logo. Additionally, in the bottom right-hand corner, there are the top 6 logo sketches: the top 3 are my designs, and the bottom 3 are Enhzaya's, which will influence our final logo design.

Sketches

Over fifty sketches were meticulously developed design by me and refined over time to align with our web design objectives and maintain consistency. Following the completion of these sketches, each team member selected their top three designs (See image above), which were then integrated to form a cohesive combined design sketch, incorporating the preferred font type and ensuring a unified visual identity.

Final Design

I imported the final sketch into Adobe Illustrator as a template and commenced the creation of the definitive design within the application. Ensuring color consistency across the website was crucial, so I requested Enhzaya to provide several color palette options for consideration, keeping in mind the importance of user accessibility in selecting colors. Subsequently, I incorporated these colors into the logo using Adobe Illustrator, refining them to achieve the desired hue.

Once the design and colors were approved, I developed various adaptations tailored for print and social media platforms, including Instagram, LinkedIn, and Framer. To maintain cohesive branding, I also designed a banner specifically for LinkedIn.

Social Media Management & Content Creation

After finalizing our website, logo, and branding, we utilized Microsoft Loop for brainstorming sessions and to establish a structured content schedule, assigning tasks accordingly. We monitored social media analytics on platforms such as LinkedIn and Instagram while scheduling posts.

To create content videos, I employed an iPhone 13 for filming and utilized the CapCut application for video compilation, editing, and incorporating text overlays.

For posts featuring the message "Now Booking June 2024," I utilized Illustrator to effectively showcase our brand.

Observe the project in its live iteration:

Dot415 Designs LinkedIn Instagram

Recollect

Challenges

• Lots and lots of meetings to check-in our progress and make sure we were on track.
• Picking out a unique brand name that doesn't exist elsewhere, but still defined our brand.
• Getting excited with future ideas and then having to get motivation to actually push forward.
• Keeping a positive outlook, telling each other regardless of the outcome we will continue.
• For content creation videos, filming and editing videos that tell a story.
• Coming up with ideas for social media and making sure it generated enough views.
• Sticking with one logo design - While Enhzaya was designing the website, I wanted the logo to be more consistant, dynamic, while keeping the colors user accessible.

What I learnt

• Launching our Website and Logo took longer than we expected.
• Choosing one host that would fit what we needed, while having explored many.
• The logo is like portfolio a work in progress, there is never one perfect logo. As the designer progresses, so does the brand. And the logo could change drasticly or slightly to match the brand.
• Making sure to still have fun with this project.