by Spooky (Creative Director) and PurpleSnow (Game Director)

It’s been a busy few weeks for our newly christened Darkbright Studios.

We wanted to break down what we’ve been doing and how we do it in our second Dev Diary!

Studio Branding

Branding can be a long and constantly evolving process, but we have to start somewhere! First,  we decided on a studio name and logos. It’s important to keep in mind that designs and names should be created with great intention and embody your studio’s beliefs and values. A name especially needs to set the foundation for the immediate impression your studio gives off.

Here are the steps we take:

1. Come up with the key themes, cultural pillars, and vibes you’d want to have the studio to communicate
   1. Create lists of words and themes for inspiration
      1. Some example metaphors might be, discovering a treasure, or getting to the light (game) at the end of the tunnel (production)
      2. A key theme might be wanting a feeling of putting product / game first, lean towards inspiration, etc
   2. Set criteria: for example, not too long, welcoming but also easy to remember, global
2. Brainstorm options based on the motifs, and get feedback.
3. It was through this process that we arrived at the name DarkBright!
4. Then, it’s carrying the themes and names forward, and getting a logo doc with references together.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/1FU_UozRn2RgZmPUZ9nF6XcLx3rFqf2XC_NTrKSxnUXbgugzRc6WEkFyRwcUoxJTmYV2n9LI7wXARLyd13jW29PtsY7k7ZR97IQI_c7rYb8Br0e3NUi9CFs3tQZhnRkAKDoyIdHUi7l4NhJU4TkwcSo

Keywords

<aside> 📎 - Enlightening

• Shiny / treasure
• Builders
• Achievers
• Simplistic / Down to earth
• Welcoming / Friendly
• “Fun but sophisticated”
• Casual / chill people that work hard, play hard

</aside>

1. Now, we iterate with design on logo options (colors, vibe, negative space, etc etc) until we land on …

Darkbright stands for the treasure-hunting journey. We dig through the dark until we find the magic. We don’t have bright ideas – we have Darkbright ideas ;)