Overview
This was a paid freelance brand design project conducted over the course of a few days. I was hired to create a logo and business card for a local welding subcontractor.
Problem
Nick is a welding subcontractor that services clients in Northern Virginia, but finds it difficult to market himself due to a lack of branding. Many of his clients learn of his business through word-of-mouth, but he lacks anything to provide prospective clients.
Solution
To both legitimize his business and facilitate easier marketing, I designed him a logo and printed business cards.
When I was contacted by my client, he provided me with a reference image for the style of logo he was most interested in. With his reference in mind, I conducted some research into local construction companies to better understand the standard for his industry and to further guide my sketches.
I found that most competitor logos featured the company name typed in full, also known as wordmark logos. Additionally, I noticed that the use of blues was frequent in construction branding. Personally, I found that most of the logos seemed clunky or were unnecessarily complex, giving me a place to differentiate in the creation of the Stonewall Steel branding.
I attempted to stay true to my client’s reference, while improving on the design appeal. While I thought the steel beam did pair well with the concept of wilding and construction, I thought the reference was a little over complex and bland. I also decided to stick with the wordmark style as it both appeared in the reference image and seemed to be the industry standard.
After I had some rough sketches, I moved into Adobe Illustrator to work on an early design. While I liked the direction of my initial design, I felt like it was still too overly complex and clunky. As I developed my design, I worked to simplify the logo and create an appropriate color palate for the company.
