I ❤️ IDENTITY SYSTEMS.
I put a great deal of thought and care into my visual identity work and especially enjoyed the process of coming up with a logo and visual branding that was relatively simple yet packed full of meaning to represent me to the world.
I designed my logo to reflect my professionalism, steadfast nature, meticulous and analytical nature, and the value of myself and my work. I wanted anybody who viewed it to get “designer” from it loud and clear. I considered everything from what makes me who I am, to the tools I use when I’m designing, to how others see me.
Color
I included a deep blue to convey trust and professionalism. To reflect my affinity for nature I included some earthy copper and red colors as well. To keep from being too serious I also included a golden yellow color to reflect friendliness and give a bit of spark.
Shape
I decided that a solid geometric shape would suit me best to convey stability and dependability, not to mention the order inherent to such shapes as compared with organic shape or a circle that may roll away at any moment. I thought perhaps a hexagon, pentagon, square, or rectangle.
Sketches & Ideation
I sketched out more ideas than I care to count, and performed over half-a-dozen different branding exercises to determine what values I wanted to get across, and what my needs were. I treated myself like a client to determine my direction. 20 pages in total just for this this process.
Logo Refinement
After selecting my favorite came the long process of refining the symbol for important aspects things like scalability.
An example of this is the difference between the 2nd and 3rd versions with the 4th, and the way the slightly thicker grid and ruler lines in combination with the way the logo contrasts with a white background.
I intentionally broke some conventions of simplicity with my color and design choices, but without having broken these, my logo would not be a reflection of me.
If you’re curious about what sort of ideas I jam-packed into this little hexagon, I’ll lay it out here.
- The use of a geometric shape reflects my love of organization and stability.
- The slightly rounded corners reflect that though I am structured, I am not harsh.
- The dimensions of the shape are solid and sturdy thanks to the width being greater than the height. Normally a shape that stands on a rounded point like this might seem as though it could topple over, but the width in this shape at this dimension gives it so much stability that it instead could be seen as levitating rather than resting dangerously on it’s edge.
- The shape itself is reminiscent of a gem, as is the white space in the center, in order to reflect my value.
- The incorporation of a ruler and a grid not only reflect that I am a designer, but are my favorite tools whether I’m working in digital or analog.
- The colors again represent my professionalism and stability, my friendly nature, my passion, and my earthyiness.
- Finally, the way the panels overlap each other subtly mimic the recycling symbol to give the feeling of something that is eternally turning, which is reflective of the way I’m always learning and thinking in an effort to improve.
Typeface Choice
I settled on Industry by the good folks over at FortFoundry, which is the same font you can see being used on this site in all header text.
I chose Industry because the geometric shapes with some slight rounding worked in work very well next to my similarly geometric but round-cornered logo symbol, because it looks both old-school industrial era and space-age appropriate, because I just plain like the way it looks, and most importantly because the personality and name of the typeface fit something that I feel describes me perfectly which you’ve probably already seen on the main page of my site…
That’s me without a doubt.
Abstraction
I devised an abstraction of my logo in order to add some artistic but structured flair and create something for the eye to contemplate. I think this reflects me very well because though I am somewhat artistic, I am dominantly organizational and structured.
The pieces of the abstraction also serve a functional purpose in my letterhead, providing guidelines for quickly folding the page into thirds and fourths. (I love that sort of thing.)
Final Visual Identity Pieces
Each of these went through a process of refinement but this page is probably long enough as-is, so here is a concise mock-up of the final pieces and a gallery of the real photographed versions.
Further Revisions
Please note that I have recently made revisions to the spacing of my wordmark after noticing in print that it was far too tight, particularly at small scales. The most recent version is reflected in the header of this website, but here is the before & after.
I’ve also revised the design of my business cards. Once I had some time to revisit it, my old design felt boring to me. It lacked contrast, felt too symmetrical and as if the information was running away from the center. I think the result of remedying these issues is much cleaner and a bit more interesting to look at, as far as little pieces of cardboard go.
Leave-Behind Package
These are some ideas for a leave-behind package which I could give to clients. These ideas include:
- A copy of my Permaculture In A Nutshell booklet (depicted below)
- A pair of business cards
- A bookmark (depicted below)
- A pair of circular cork coasters (depicted below)
- A folding cardboard package to snugly and securely encase everything
All of the above materials would be printed on 100% post-consumer recycled product except for the cork coasters, and will be 100% compostable. The package itself would be wrapped with a white belly-band bearing my logo in the center.
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