Role
Graphic Designer
Tools
Illustrator
DJ Peter Lo is a K-Pop video DJ local to the Bay Area. I initially reached out to Peter asking whether they would be interested in having me make a 3D animation for them to play during their DJ sets. Peter then mentioned that they have actually been consider a remake to aspects of his branding, and we decided to make this a two-part project. The first part consists of creating a new logo, and the second part consists of creating a 3D animation based on the logo we create. You can see more details about the 3D animation here.
I was motivated to reach out to Peter because I enjoyed many of the events he's played at. As an avid K-Pop enjoyer myself, I wanted to use my skills to help support the rapidly growing fan community.
It was important to Peter that his logo reflected who he is as a DJ. In contrast to a majority of male DJs, Peter wanted his persona and branding to come off as friendly and fun. Peter referenced designs such as Porter Robinson's logo and K-Pop references during our brainstorming sessions. It was also made clear that pink was going to be a big element.
It was important to Peter that his logo reflected who he is as a DJ. In contrast to a majority of male DJs, Peter wanted his persona and branding to come off as friendly and fun. Peter referenced designs such as Porter Robinson's logo and K-Pop references during our brainstorming sessions. It was also made clear that pink was going to be a big element.
For the typography, I took inspiration from the big, blocky letters of the Powerpuff Girls. One thing we struggled with was coming up with a design element that signaled that Peter was a part of the K-Pop community, but also subtle enough to be enjoyable to non-K-Pop audiences as well. As a solution, I added hearts and sparkles because while they increase the fun and cute factor, they're also common motifs in the K-Pop community.
We discussed whether or not it would be beneficial for Peter to have a simpler, more symbolic logo, such as that of Twice. I brought up that having his full name makes it easier to find him on social media, his main platform for promotion, since its identical to his social media handles. It might be difficult for new audiences find him on social media if they only have an abstract symbol to go off of. I also mentioned that my friends and I, who have attended his events and similar K-Pop events before, always refer to him as "DJ Peter Lo", and always introduce him as "DJ Peter Lo". We did throw out some potential ideas for symbols, but ultimately decided to stick with using his full DJ title.
This was an extremely rewarding project for me, as it combined both my skills and interests while supporting someone's work that I really enjoyed. Having completed the logo design, we then started on creating the 3D animation, which you can read about here.
