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Seal Team Derp is a YouTube Channel started by a group of friends wanting to showcase their gaming antics on a shared channel after a year of successfully working together on one the friend’s Twitch stream. I played a role in the branding of the channel by being their graphic designer.
While discussing the creation of the channel, they began brainstorming a channel name that would represent all of them as a team, rather than individuals. They agreed on “Seal Team Derp” which represented that as a team they sometimes play tactically but sometimes they just do crazy things for the “lols”.
From there we began discussing doing a logo/mascot for the channel. We decided the mascot should be a “derpy” seal. Once that decision was made I began my design process. With a quick online search I was able to find images of seals that I could use as inspiration.
The team said they wanted a seal in military gear link in the game Playerunknown’s Battleground (commonly known as PUBG) that they play together. They also want the seal to have a “derpy” look on its face. I sketched out a seal with a bandolier and a military beret on. I gave him a face like on of the seals I used for inspiration. The spatula was added as a nod to a walrus character named “Urf” in the game League of Legends that they all play.
After reviewing the sketch, it was clear to the team and myself that the seal wasn’t quite right. The face was too realistic and and the military gear wasn’t quite what the team wanted. I moved forward by gathering more inspiration. I searched for images of cartoon seals to help with my next sketch.
I began my next sketch by just sketching the seal. I gave him a cartoon face and made him give a salute. From that sketch I began to add the military gear to seal. I switched the bandolier to a vest and the beret to a helmet and removed the spatula. With that sketch we had a mascot.
With a finish mascot sketch, I began brainstorming an idea for a logo. The team wanted something that would include both the team name and the seal. I tried a stacking design but the logo would be too tall. I decided a round logo that frames the head of the seal and the team name along the outside would be best since it allows for the logo to be more confined. It also would work better for the YouTube profile picture.
Once all the sketching was done I was ready to begin making a digital version of the seal. I started by bringing the final sketch into Illustrator and I used the pen tool to create the outline. With that outline, I began adding color. I used a blueish grey color for the seal and used greens and browns typically found in camouflage. Once everything was colored, I added more dimension to the seal by adding effects and gradients. And with that we had a complete mascot.
With the complete mascot I was able to move on to the logo design. I used a clipping mask to frame the seals head and created a gold ring frame with a navy background as predetermined by the team. I made two separate logos for them: one with the text around the frame to use in video and one without the text to use as the YouTube profile picture. I also created a simple banner for the channel that included elements similar to the logo.
Once my design work was complete, the channel was able to go live with me continuing to make their video thumbnails.