Chapter 35: Design, Logo, and Brand

The three of them arrived at the workshop and immediately began discussing the design of the magic tool.

“Well, when you say ‘a design like no other,’ it’s quite a broad concept, and not just anything will do… We should start by determining the direction,” 

Indeed, wanting a design unlike any other didn’t mean just anything would work.

“Yes… Since we are targeting nobles with this unique design, I believe it should exude a certain level of luxury.”

“Luxury sounds right… If we just go along with that, it might not differ much from the current flashy decorations.”

“Hey, Isamu. How about the tools from your country? Weren’t there any items similar to magic tool? I recall you mentioning something about a tool that can tell time, didn’t you?”

“My country… I see, it might be a good reference. My wristwatch here can be considered a luxury item over there. Roughly 40,000 to 50,000 Ruins, I suppose.”

“40,000 Ruins?! I thought it was expensive, but it’s incredibly luxurious…”

Eto’s eyes widened at the unexpected price. Annemarie was also astonished. Although the exchange rate wasn’t precise due to differences in the cost of living, with an approximate list price of 4.5 million yen, it wasn’t an entirely unreasonable price.

“This tool, the wristwatch, belongs to a remarkable brand in my world, and they have an extensive product lineup. I haven’t counted them, but I believe there are over ten thousand variations. The prices vary from things that don’t even cost 10 Ruins to super-luxurious items exceeding one million Ruins.”

“Over ten thousand variations… I can’t even imagine…”

“Haha, well, the world’s population exceeded seven billion, you know. With that many people, there might be a wide variety of things.”

“Seven billion…”

Annemarie and Eto were left speechless by the incredibly massive scale of the stories pouring out of Isamu’s mouth.

“Oh, I got off track there. Well, regarding the design of such luxury items, roughly speaking, it divided into two patterns.”

“Two patterns?”

“Yes, one is similar to the magic tool we have, with elaborate decorations and sometimes even gemstones. The other is a deliberately simple design. My watch leans more towards this. It seems that places with high technological prowess, which was a selling point, often adopted the simple design.”

“A deliberately simple design… Certainly, Isamu’s clock doesn’t have gemstones, but it looks undeniably luxurious.”

“Yes, it undeniably exudes a sense of luxury, not necessarily because of the price you paid, but it has the right appearance. I think emphasizing the technological aspect is a good direction. It’s quite similar to our magic tools.”

“So, should we go with the deliberately simple route then?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, that sounds good!”

And so, they decided to start with a simple design route.

“However, the challenge with a simple design is that if you get it wrong, it might end up looking cheap… We can’t use easily recognizable expensive materials like gemstones or gold. I’m not an expert in design myself, so I don’t have much confidence. So, I’d like to start with well-established patterns.”

“Well-established patterns?”

“Yes. There are so-called ‘typical’ designs. They may lack uniqueness, but if you stick to the key elements, there’s relatively little room for mistakes, and they’re often well-received.”

It’s what you might call “conventional” designs, easy to create a passable appearance without putting too much effort into the design.

“First, the overall design is based on a single color. I recommend black or white. Then, use silver or gold as accents. Limit the use of decorations and add thin lines or cut some parts to serve as accents. The surface should have a glossy finish. The overall shape should be sharp, with slightly beveled edges. It’s even better if it’s thin and compact, like a thin, small cube. Finally, add a modest logo and text, and it’s done.”

“I see… From your description, it doesn’t sound overly complex. But since it’s a design I’ve never seen before, it’s hard to imagine… Well, let’s see if I can create something resembling it with the materials I have.”

After listening to Isamu’s explanation, Eto immediately began making a prototype with the available materials.

“Black with a glossy finish, polished black steel is the most suitable, but it’s quite expensive… So, I’ll substitute it with Solid Beetle’s carapace. It’s thin, and it doesn’t need to be too thick.”

Eto said this as he took out a thin, glossy black plate.

Solid Beetle is a massive beetle-like magic creature known for its exoskeleton, which is light and durable, making it suitable for reinforcing armor and similar uses. More importantly, despite being an insect, its boxy shape with minimal curved surfaces made it a convenient material to work with.

“I’ll cut this piece to match the size of the current casing…”

Eto swiftly cut the carapace into shape and applied it to the prototype. To fill the lines visible at the corners, which were hard to avoid, he thickened the areas with magic ink and hardened them, then trimmed the excess.

“Haha, there’s an abundance of magic ink to use.”

With a laugh, Eto steadily added silver lines to the corners.

In about 30 minutes, a glossy black box with silver-lined edges was completed.

“Wow, Eto-san, this is amazing! It looks just like this!”

“Yes, it’s indeed as Isamu described. It exudes a sense of luxury. It feels substantial, and the lack of halfway decorations adds to its impressiveness.”

Isamu’s straightforward luxury item method seemed to work for the inhabitants of this world. The finished box resembled high-end black appliances and didn’t look cheap. Unlike Earth, where a similar color scheme was prevalent and felt commonplace, in this world, it felt unique.

“As for the final touches, I’d like to add a logo and series name.”

“What do you mean by ‘logo’?”

“It’s like a crest, nothing too complicated, just a simple emblem. You can think of it as a ‘logo’ that’s less elaborate than that. The ‘series name’ refers to the name applied across multiple products made with the same approach or design philosophy. So… if the guild’s name is like a family name, the ‘Royal Guard’ or ‘Magic Corps’ can be considered series names. Then, individual product names can be like ‘Felix’ and so on.”

“I see. First, we need to decide on the guild name. In many cases, they use the founder’s family name. How about ‘Matsumoto Guild’?” 

“Hmm, that’s clear and not a bad idea, but I already have a guild name…”

“Oh, I see.”

“Please don’t laugh at it, okay?… It’s ‘Orihime Guild.'”

“Nyaa…”

Upon realizing that her name was mentioned, Orihime let out a single meow.

“Orihime Guild!! I think it’s great! Since I know Orihime-chan beforehand, I have a cute impression, but… since it’s a word with an unfamiliar ring to it here, it might sound mysterious to those who hear it for the first time.”

“Haha, thank you. In my country, cats are considered auspicious animals that bring good fortune, so it seemed fitting… And for the first series name, I want to name it ‘Bastet Series’ after Orihime. Bastet is a goddess, and she’s the guardian of the home, so I thought it was perfect for magic tools rooted in daily life.”

“That sounds wonderful! Should we also base the logo on Orihime-chan?”

“Yes, how about something like this… A silhouette of Orihime, sitting and facing to the side? I added ‘ORIHIME’ in alphabets in an italic serif font beside it.”

As he explained, Isamu sketched a rough version on a piece of paper.

“These characters… Is it perhaps the writing from your country, Isamu-san?”

“Yes, it’s not precisely the script from my home country, but more like a common script used across the world, including my country.”

“I see… It has an atmosphere we don’t see around here, so I think it’s good!”

“Thank you. Eto-san, could you write this mark slightly larger on the back of the product in the center?”

“On the back, you say?”

“Yes. We’ll write it on the front as well, but we plan to make it very small there, so I thought it would be stylish to place a larger one in a place that isn’t usually visible.”

It was nothing more than a rip-off of “Apple Computer.”

“I see… Is it okay like this?”

“Perfect! And please add the logo and guild name small, around the upper-left corner of the front… Yes, just like that!”

“Just by adding the name in a small font, the balance suddenly improved.”

“I agree; this is impressive.”

“With this, the overall design is complete.”

And so, the prototype of a magic tool with a high-end black appliance-like design, unlike anything else in this world, was created.

After that, they spent until midnight refining the design further. In the end, they added decorative elements by applying a strip of magic ink to the lower part of the front, followed by hairline processing. This served the purpose of indicating the firepower, with a wider strip representing higher firepower. The highest firepower models extended halfway up the front, the lowest had a strip of about 5mm from the bottom, and the mid-range models had a strip extending about a quarter of the way up.

They also added small slits in positions where the light of the flame magic stone was visible. When activated, a faint light from inside could now be seen. With these two additions, the Orihime Guild’s Bastet Series, first-generation magic stove Type I, was complete.

*Note: Serif font refers to the classification of Western fonts that are part of the Roman family, with serifs (small lines or decorative strokes) at the end of each character. On the other hand, sans-serif fonts belong to the Gothic family and do not have these decorative strokes.*

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