The Press is a small, fiercely local shop--local beans, local milk and cream, and if your in the mood for a smoothie--locally grown fruits. Because of this vibe and business practice--combined with the people who work (and visit) there--The Press is a place for coffee lovers to relax and enjoy a cup of their favorite brew. My aim was to capture this feeling with warm, inviting colors and a simple, friendly icon to go with it. It's also important to keep in mind the use of the design in much smaller formats--such as icons. Obviously, the entire design wouldn't translate too well to smaller sizes--the text would be illegible. Instead, the 'heart bubble' becomes a recognizable symbol that can be sized all the way down to a 16 x 16 favicon without losing impact.
Here and There is a hand-painted pottery studio based out of the Lakes Region in New Hampshire. With years of experience in this field, their goal is to create beautiful, timeless and custom-made to order pieces ranging from mugs, to bowls, plates and coasters. In designing an identity for Here and There's Etsy shop, there were many things to take into account, from the target market (described to me as the eclectic, funky "hippie" crowd,) to future applications of the design. Primarily to be used on the shop's page, there was also potential for the image to be printed and used for stickers or postcards, so the overall design had to be relatively simple and easy to reproduce. Because of the crowd this was to be aimed at, I opted to avoid a corporate looking symbol and stiff typography, instead deciding to create my own typeface using Illustrator and my Intuos4 tablet. Tweaking the text slightly for size variations and a mild degree of tilt, the end feel is one of fun and a free spirit, with the arrows keeping your eye moving around the design and giving a wink to the name 'Here and There.' The simple brown and blue color scheme was chosen to reflect the earthy nature of the business, while also giving a professional feel without losing the genuine, friendly air of the studio.
This is a an unused proposal that I presented to a former client considering taking her realty company 'boutique.' The idea here was to move away from the traditionally dry feel that much of the real estate market has in its branding, and going for a more bubbly and welcoming feel for the realtor. Her concept has always been real estate as a family business, and she has built a reputation on that concept, so I chose to continue moving forward with that idea. Instead of using 'so and so realty' like every other realtor in her area. I gave her the name 'Hearts and Homes,' to reinforce the idea of real estate as a friendly, family focused business. The name also makes you think of the old saying--home is where the heart is. This is where the branding evolved from: most people in the market for a house are not looking for 'just another house,' but for a house that can become their home: something they can grown and evolve with. This image and message would set you apart in the sea of sameness that is the realty market.
This is a concept that I had created while working with DPaR on an unrelated project--being the brand identity geek that I am, I decided to create a rebrand for them that would position them in a more professional, trustworthy light. This was intended to replace their current logo.