Brand
A well-designed brand effectively communicates a company's values and mission while creating a solid emotional connection with customers. It deserves considerable time spent on meticulous sketching, thought, and client reviews.
FaithFull Magazine Cover
Echo Students Logo Apparel Design
Echo Students Logo Graffiti Design
Facebook Blueprint Logo Design
Echo Students Logo Design Direction
Echo Church Logo Apparel Design
Case Study
Echo Students
Echo.church is a Bay Area Christian church comprised of multiple campuses throughout Northern California. Echo Students is a community within the church designed around student ministry and mentorship. Their identity needed a refresh to connect the branding of Echo with something that would speak to the teen and young-adult demographic.
Existing Logo
The previous logo was a mix of the Echo.Church logo and a randomly chosen font style. Using the overarching corporate brand minimized the program, while the stylized text treatment didn’t succeed in appealing to the target student audience.
New Logo
The final iteration of the new logo removed the literal reliance on the church logo, giving it a more fresh and relevant look that didn’t alienate students. The treatment of the “e” hints at the echo brand while still providing the program with a unique identity.
Process
Sketching
I started with sketches on paper and quick iterations of ideas in Adobe Illustrator. This example shows some brainstorming on negative space and graffiti motives.
Audience trends
Talking with teens about the latest fashion trends, I learned that they gravitated to a combination of 80’s retro, video games, anime, handwriting, and horizontal and geometric patterns.
Narrowing down directions
More research and brainstorming narrowed the options to three different directions, shown to the client in the context of apparel. This example shows the “Minecraft” direction, which favored a more abstract use of negative space with a hint of anime and video game references.
Details
Though eventually choosing a more handwritten style, the lean toward order and balance has become an intentional part of my logo design process. Even with more organic shapes, designs have an underpinning of geometrical thought.
This was my favorite direction because of the negative space and the strict adherence to the line width. Hidden within the abstract forms is a delightful and inclusive experience. The shapes created by filling in the negative space are both unique and iconic.
Final logo design
The final design chosen represents youth and self-expression. It’s cool to wear and describes the church as a more inclusive environment.
Inspiration
The craftsmanship of traditional logo design inspires me. Collaborating with clients, coming up with hundreds of iterations, and not focusing on perfection. I’ve come to find that the best ideas start from pencil and paper, research, and inspiration from iconic and timeless masters such as Paul Rand and Saul Bass. I’m inspired by logos which combine balance, negative space, and mathematical thought.
British Steel designed by David Gentleman in 1969, Copyright British Steel Corp
Negative Space and Mathematical Balance
David Gentleman’s logo design for British Steel is timeless in its simplicity. His use of negative space and mathematical thinking is used to define proportions.
Saul Bass designing the Bell System identity in 1969. Copyright Bell Systems
Saul Bass
Saul Bass was a true pioneer of design communication and innovation. His design of the Bell system logo and unique cinematic pitch has influenced my logo design and artistic approach.
Saul Bass Pitch Video For Bell System Logo Redesign.
Designing the the Piccadilly Circus sign in London in 1954. Copyright Coca-Cola
Craftmanship
This image always appears in my mind whenever I think about logo design. Oftentimes, organic hand-drawn shapes have underpinnings of order and ratios.