Project Description
levelmyb3d – Identity design for my 3D side projects
The genesis of a new hobby
Christmas day 2020 was an absolute game-changer for me. I had been dreaming of purchasing a 3D printer since the summertime, but this was becoming increasingly difficult having being made redundant that July due to the COVID pandemic. So when I was gifted the Prusa Mini 3D printer for Christmas, I couldn’t believe my luck. From this new hobby was born and with it a new identity to post under the guise of within social media hobbyist communities.
A breakdown of my 3D printing logo brand
The name ‘levelmyb3d’ was created in an attempt to tap into the meta language of the community. It’s a combination of the phrase ‘level your bed’ and ‘3d’, but adds a self-deprecating inward twist by making the phrase ‘level my bed’ as if to say, “I’m so new to this hobby, can you show me how to level my bed?” The phrase is so prevalent in the community it has become a go-to meme experienced users post to newbies asking why their prints are failing.
A meme playing on the phrase and meta rule of ‘level your bed’. Source: Imgur
So the inspiration came from tapping into a phrase that resonates around the community, but how did I form the identity? I literally just thought about expressing the phrase in a simple icon that would be universally understandable and recognisable. I tried playing with a few ideas around marrying a 3 and a B (the B being one of my name’s initials), or stacking the letters of my new pseudonym into a block, but it wasn’t until I considered just using simple lines that this final logo came about.
The colour palette was inspired by my printer and its branding. The orange and black combination was striking to me, and kind of works by identifying this new brand as an alter-ego against the pink and orange of my graphic design alias, Sublime Design.
My fast and dirty design process for this identity. I didn’t want it to drag out so I stuck to what I liked after about 15 minutes of ideating.
