I'm not a big fan of design contests, sometimes I feel that it takes away a little bit of merit to the work and effort of the designers; But this particular one had something that I liked, besides the prize, I wanted to take the challenge to participate.
Studying the project is one of the first things to do before designing, asking the objectives, understanding the concept and all that it involves; but we know just enough about Ragnarok and what the working group shares publicly with us.
While Ragnarok comes from the Nordic mythology, it has been established that other mythological creatures and cultures will be involved; If I summarize the concept of Ragnarok too well, we could say that is the final battle that will end with the whole universe, a destiny written in rock despite being aware of it, the gods can't avoid it; Ragnarok can be understood as an apocalyptic concept, but the Nordic poets assumed that knowing the fate of the world and the gods, the warriors saw in Ragnarok the opportunity to find a light and die in combat, in an honorable way, taking into account that not even the supreme entities (Gods) would escape their destiny.
I took my notebook after much reading and debate, and decided to sketch a logo; rather than isotypes, icons, mascots and isologs, most games occupy logos, only name texts that do not distract and that accompany well. And for that I looked for a couple of references, to understand what is attractive in a logo.
Once I had my sketch, I decided to take it to digital as usual... Once in digital I started to question having only one logo. It was then when I put in a balance the pros and cons of this style, while on the one hand I feel that something simple does not cover the concept well, adding symbols, weapons and other concepts could make one mythology stand out over another, or that the concept is closed to the mentioned mythologies.
I did not want under any circumstances a closed logo, so that the project can continue moving forward without the need to modify it, whether in future updates include Mayan, Chinese mythology or Celtic culture, and that none of these is represented by a symbol of another culture...
First, I was stuck with a concept from the beginning, of a destiny written in rock.... So I wanted to make the word Ragnarok as if each letter was carved, to represent the solidity of the concept and a destiny that transcends.
I wanted a rock with ochre tones, this color so popular in history used in leather, seen in copper, similar to wood, however, different from the glorious golds, silvers and grays, or the pure ivory and white colors. With bluish grey tones I wanted to represent another concept (Stone) and also to achieve contrast using analogy.
Finally, I wanted an abstract figure like a slab of rock to group the logo and an effect on the back; the idea of this is to allow the logo to be used over light, dark or colorful images.
While the project aspires to be a NFT play2earn game, I wanted to create a logo that they can print on a t-shirt for future Meet-Up, or Developer Videos, something that they can print on banners and cards, something that another designer can animate, something that will work in the long term.
I also decided to cut out the initial R of Ragnarok, and create it as a reduction of the logo, so that it can be used as an avatar image in social networks;
I like the concept that currently has the project of using illustrations as an icon or avatar, and this is really functional considering that it can be modified to represent updates, new seasons and special occasions, but I didn't want to leave the logo half done and inspired by one of the most popular MMORPG in the world, I thought it wouldn't hurt to have an icon as well.
I don't want to make this post longer, that's why I'm going to conclude by thanking the whole community, developers and sponsors for the opportunity they provide, wishing the best of success for this game in which I will certainly participate and hoping that my work will be to everyone's liking.
I want to make clear that as in all my posts, the comments remain open waiting for any kind of feedback, criticism or suggestions, as a designer I am always learning and it is through the public and other visions, that you can learn more.