Company: Kelley Blue Book
Project: 5-Year Cost To Own Awards Logo Objective: Kelley Blue Book is a 90 year old company who is seen as the "bible" of vehicle valuation. Throughout the years, they have reinvented themselves to be a technology company with leading information in the car buying market. When asked to create a logo for the 5-Year Cost To Own Awards, I sat down with the PR team and mapped out what the intention of the logo was and how long they saw this logo living in the market. Once I had the information, I took the current KBB logo seal and ribbon, made it more metallic in appearance and created something resembling a branding badge seen on a vehicle. The logo was a success and has been featured in numerous OEM national commercial campaigns. |
Company: Lender Funnel
Project: Lender Funnel Logo Objective: Lender Funnel separates themselves from the average mortgage lending company by treating their clients as a concierge. They do all the hard work and guide you through it every step of the way. Through this process, customers have a much more satisfying experience and feeling as if they are important. When I was asked to create a logo to embody this experience, the first thing that came to mind is that it had to be first-class and have a concierge style to it. Choosing a Black, Gold and Gray color palette was a given. Using a bold-face font for the name was a way to convey a sense of strength and stability. Having it be a sans-serif typeface gives it a sense of friendliness and being progressive. Incorporating the cyclone as the "L" was a visual cue to show how all the complicated, whirlwind of things get funneled down into one simple process. |
Company: Zack Caspary Photography
Project: Zack Caspary Photography Logo Objective: Zack Caspary is a photographer that is quickly on the rise for all his work being the exclusive on-tour photographer for the boy band sensation, "Why Don't We". The logo was easy to create because the "Z" and "C" lended itself to become the body and lens for the camera icon. The idea was to keep the logo simple in design and prominently one-color so it could be used as a watermark on top of his images as well as not distract from the quality of work while standing alongside the photos. |
Company: INSPIRE Dance Company
Project: INSPIRE Dance Company Logo Objective: INSPIRE Dance Company is a dance studio based out of Las Vegas. The director, Robert Contreras has made a name for himself in the contemporary dance world as a visionary and top-class choreographer. When he approached me to design the logo and branding for the company, he told me that it needed to be clean and eye-catchy since there are many forms of art to compete with in Las Vegas. My first thought was to use a typeface that was simple in nature but was fluid and had movement that could represent the dance for the studio it was created for. The students and parents of the dance company were ecstatic about the logo and stickers, sweats, jackets etc. were created to get the branding out there. |
Company: Kelley Blue Book
Project: The Huddle Objective: At Kelley Blue Book, it was very important to the executives to have a bi-weekly update on things going on with the organization with the rest of the employees. They didn't want it to be labeled another town hall or something stuffy. They wanted to create a gathering that was seen as a discussion when it was low-pressure and people felt compelled to be part of the conversations. With this, they decided to create "The Huddle" with the same concept in mind that sports teams get in a huddle, to discuss plans of attack together. I was asked by the CEO of the company to create a logo that embodied all they were hoping to accomplish with these meetings. I first created the square icon that is symbolic of 4 people, arms around each other in a huddle. Once I created that, I found a typeface that not only fit with that style but also, was rounded and lowercase so it portrayed informality and less structured. The spacey white background reminded me of a hall of some sort where people would gather to meet. It was a hit and used for signage both digitally on the company intranet and posted signs around the organization. |
Company: Corinthians SC
Project: Soccer Club Logo Objective: Corinthians SC is a premier soccer club in the Inland Empire that was originally founded with the name of Corona Eagles. Once ownership changed and decided to move to the new name of Corinthians SC, they wanted to keep something in the brand identity to reflect the club's roots. When asked to created the club's new identity, It was stated that I needed to tie in the Corona Eagles 'nod' and make it in a shield or crest format so it could reside on jerseys, fan gear, bags etc. The shape of the crest is a slightly modified version of the US Soccer crest so it had a tie to that organization. The black and red color palette comes from the SC Corinthians Paulista club from Brazil (who the owners were partnering with) and I put a silhouette of an eagle carrying a soccer ball as the tie back to the club's roots. Everyone on the staff loved the badge and immediately started making fan gear, stickers, new jerseys and more. It has become one of the most recognizable logos around the Southern California region. |
Company: Mather Dance Company
Project: Dance Company Logo Objective: Mather Dance Company is a formidable studio in the dance industry. They have turned out many routines and students that have appeared on hit television shows such as So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing With The Stars, Kids Say The Darnedest Things and many news channels. Their studio alums have gone on to be highly sought after dancers backing artists such as Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, Kylie Minogue, Beyonce and more. When Shannon Mather (company owner) contacted me to create the brand's identity, she said she didn't want it to be elementary or flashy like most dance studio logos are. I decided to keep it very clean and played with combining the letters "MDC" so they could stand out on their own and be recognizable. 10 years later, the logo is recognized around the globe due to the amount of social followers the company has and the national recognition it has received. Other studios have tried to create their own "knock-off" version of the logo because it has become so well known. |
Company: SweetTooth Confections
Project: Custom Cake Decorating Business Logo Objective: SweetTooth Confections is a custom cake decorating business who's focus is to tailor confectionary delights to the specific needs/desires of their clients. They wanted a brand identity that was whimsical and visually compelling that conveyed exactly what the business is about. I started off creating a tooth shape that I played with to resemble a cake with frosting then found a font that had a similar look to the lines I used in the tooth. Once placed together, I thought of combining the two "T's" to create a cake stand. It was a fun logo to create and very well received by the owner who mentioned that all her clients commented on how great it was. |
Company: Brand New Day Creative
Project: Design Agency Logo Objective: Brand New Day Creative is an Orange County based design agency that helps small to midsized companies with their project needs that their in-house teams don't have the bandwidth to handle. The idea of the agency is to be fun and a "breath of fresh air" in a stale corporate driven world. They also seek to have the brands they work with, change their mindset and look forward to a new day to create and influence the world. When approached to create the identity, I searched for a font that could be viewed as serious, yet was rounded and less institutional and intimidating. Once the perfect font was created, then began the many versions of the sun-rays. It wasn't until I created this version using the same rounded strokes as on the typeface, that it began to feel cohesive. Using a more subtle blue and various shades of oranges, gave the identity life and energy...just like the model of the agency. |
Company: CHIEF Apparel
Project: Apparel Brand Identity Objective: CHEIF Apparel is a local Orange County brand that is on the rise. The creator of the brand wanted to create an identity that sounded cool and looked as simplistic as some other major fashion brands such as: Supreme, Bape etc. When approaching the logo creation, I really wanted to find an icon or visual signifier that would be easily identified on it's own or integrated with the name. Once I started playing with the angles on the typeface edges, I found I had created an arrowhead in the negative space. It only made sense to finish the arrow off and have the quill finish off in the "F". I had found a very simplistic element that could now reside on it's own. The owner did some ground testing in his local high schools and it was a hit with the students. |
Company: Pacific Green Supply
Project: Cannabis Brand Identity Objective: Pacific Green Supply is a startup company that sells and distributes humidity packets that are used to keep cannabis fresh for lengthy periods of time. The owner wanted to clearly convey the industry they market to through the brand mark without having to use the stereotypical pot leaf in it. He also wanted to incorporate ocean waves and colors that represent the West Coast. I created a simplified image of a lotus flower and colored it green since the look of it was similar to a cannabis leaf. Once we agreed on that image, I started playing with the waves and incorporating them as part of the leaf. Once the shapes felt right and were incorporated into the image, it felt like it was missing another element. I chose to place a setting sun behind the leaf which then truly embodied the "West Coast" feel. The owner wanted to use a graffiti script to give it a youthful look and also resemble some of the amazing street/graffiti artwork often found in Southern California. |