Lark & Vines: Brand Identity

Hello everyone! It has been a minute since I have posted a blog update! I am so excited for this one as I have been working on if for a while now. Now that it is finished I am excited to share! Lark & Vines is a home goods store opening up June 15th, in Fairview Park OH. One of my old co-workers and friends Leslie Choma is the owner of the business, and this is her vision I was so lucky to be able to bring to life.

Leslie came to me with a fantastic concept, and business model that really resonated with me. I think one reason why the outcome is fantastic is because of that solid idea, and reason behind the brand. I truly had a lot of fun working on this project and I hope you all have fun checking it out. I will be posting another blog post after the store opens with updates, and an interview with Leslie on her store, and brand. If you live in the Cleveland area and are able to go check out Lark & Vines June 15th, please do!

Logo Variations

The final logo for Lark & Vines is pictured above, but designing the logo was quite fun. I think the final logo has a nice balance of organic shapes, and visuals, that showcases the vibe of the brand well.

Usually when I share drafts to a client it is not this many, but I had a lot of fun playing around with the logo and wanted her to see the variety and make a choice for what was best for her business. These were refined from the 1st drafts sent over, and while I saw many that could be the final logo design, the final one speaks to the brand perfectly.

Icons

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Illustration

I had a lot of fun illustrating the larks, and their vines. The vines were taking from photos Leslie provided of vines her mother and grandmother gave her. This was a nice touch to tie in a personal meaning to a design, that also plays a part in the meaning behind the brand as well.

This is the main graphic is utilized in the patterns designed for the business.

Love Birds

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Brand Identity

The brand identity for Lark & Vines is very earthy and spring like but not being too over the top. The various tones of greens really help give the brand a calm nature feeling. I spent a lot of time exploring MANY green tones, going back and forth between bluer greens, and more warmer greens ultimately having a balance of the two.

Business Card Design.

Pattern designs on pillows.

Selfie Wall Design.

I am SO happy to have the opportunity to turn Leslie’s vision of Lark & Vines to life. Being able to bring in personal touches to a brand from the creator is really what gives brands that extra special feeling.

Thanks so much for reading, and please check out Lark & Vines June 15th, support local business, and let me know if there is any way I can help you bring your design needs to life.

Cheers,

Derek

Discover Estate Sales: Brand Idenity

Hello! Happy New Year! I am so so so hopeful that 2021 will be better for us all. I have been trying to be busy, working on various projects. My goal for myself this year is to post here on my blog at least every Friday. That is one of my new year goals for myself and I am going to try and stick to it.

I wanted to share this project I have been working on and off on, and actually am really excited for it. Discover Estate Sales is a website that shares where estate sales may be, I believe by location. While the website itself is still under construction, I have been working on the logo and brand identity for it. Here are some of the logo concepts, to refinements, and then fleshing out the brand identity for it. My goal was to keep true to a vintage style, but add a modern twist to the estate sale vibe.

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Logo 1st Drafts

These 6 options I sent over for consideration as a 1st round draft.

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Once I received word that they had chosen one of my logos, I went into refining and fleshing out the brand identity. This included per the client: visuals, color, and slight changes to the original logo they had chosen. The following pages are the brand guidelines sent over to the client.

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The brand identity is still potentially subject to change, but I have been having so much fun with it, I wanted to share the progress. When everything is complete, and the website is up, I will post another blog with all of that information so you all can check it out.

Happy Friday, and as I have committed to myself I will be posting a blog every Friday this year so until then!

As always, if you need graphic design work, or know someone who does I always appreciate any referral I receive. Take care!

Free Shipping on Print Shop till 2021!

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I am running free shipping till 2021 on all orders from my print shop on derekdoesdesign.com/shop. I am adding some fun new designs as well, so check them out. Some prints have framed and unframed options, so gifting them with frames is a nice full gift for the holidays. All packages come securely wrapped, whether it is a print, or framed piece. Shipping is about 7 days, so plenty of time still for the holidays. Some of the new prints are below.

New Print. Framed and non framed options available.

F*UCK Typography Print. Perfect holiday cheer. ;)

Industrial Bridge Print- Orange

Cleveland Circle Map Print- Red. Will come in multiple colors.

i will be adding a few more pieces, which I will post about as I launch them. I hope you all have a great and safe holiday! As always, if you need graphic design work completed please reach out to me and let me know! I look forward to working with you if you do!

Cheers!

-Derek

10 Great Books for Graphic Designers

Keeping up to date, and educating yourself as a graphic designer is so important in an ever changing industry. These 10 books I personally own, and find to be valuable resources to me as a graphic designer. In this list there are books on pricing, hand lettering, to motivation and lots of branding to really round out the education spectrum. I wanted to include a wide variety so I hope that helps. Each book has its own voice, vibe and messaging to deliver. If you are looking for a good read, many of these have great content by professionals with tons of experience to share. I recommend each on in there own right. Here we go!

1.Feck Perfuction by James Victore

James Victore is a genius. This book is filled with raw content and advice only someone with experience can offer. Being in the industry for as long as James has, his words ring true when it comes to breaking up with a client, learning along the way, and just jumping in and trying something new One of my favorite quotes in the book is this:

“You are an artist and a genius. Don’t fit in. Don’t even try.”

Fantastic words of encouragement through out the book. James Victore is fantastic.

2. Do the F*cking Work: Lowbrow Advice for High-Level Creativity

Failure is a part of life, and this book reminds us that. The guys at GDFA are raw, real and relatable as they share their journey starting out in a business, to where they are now. There are stories of failure, struggle, but overall the messages are clear, hard work pays off. Fair warning: if you do not like cuss words, this book isn’t for you. Seriously.

3. The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing by Michael Janda

Pricing is always a question on designers minds. This book has answers. Michael Janda does a great job talking through design pricing processes. I read this through, and it is an essential piece every designer who works for themselves should own and read. There are formulas, and ways to help you decide how to support yourself as a designer.

There are tons of real world scenarios and ways to calculate budgets, financials, and ultimately how to price your services. I cannot stress this enough, but this book is a great resource to help graphic designers find their pricing voice. Also, it is a quick read, being able to sit down in one, maybe two sittings is important to keeping things simple and not overwhelming the reader.

4. Branding in Five and a Half Steps by Michael Johnson

This is the big daddy of branding books. One of the newer books I have received so I am not fully through it yet, but what I have read is a great resource. Branding can be heavy and deep, but Michael tries to break things down for you in methods that work. From simple exercises you can do, to reminding us that a brand is an ever evolving message from business to customer.

5. Logo Modernism by Jens Müller and R. Roger Remington

The book is large, heavy and FULL of valuable resources to reference. There are TONS of pages of vector icons, and they are grouped together in strategic fashion. For anyone working with a lot of logo designs, or vector illustrations, this book is worth the money. I open this book whenever I feel stuck in a logo design, and it reminds me to keep things simple, but also to try something new. I highly recommend this book as a valuable reference material in any graphic designers arsenal.

When I said this book is heavy, I meant it. Its 7.91 lbs. Do some reps as you view this awesome resource.

6. Identity Designed:

The Definitive Guide to Visual Branding by David Airey

Branding is important. A brand is your connection to your followers, your customers and the dotted line to who you are. This book has so much knowledge wrapped in it to help you create fantastic deep brands for your clients. Definitely check this one out. Plus, I am also obsessed with how simple the cover is. Fantastic.

7.Lettering Manual by Ken Barber from House Industries

My handwriting is decent at best. My hand lettering is worse. This book I purchased to hopefully help me out in these departments. This book, not only is it pretty, but full of resources on typography and hand lettering. It talks about many techniques, and lots of beautiful visuals to be a fantastic resource for anyone getting into hand lettering and typography.

8. Logo Design: Global Brands by Ed Julius Wiedemann

This is a great reference for logo designs, with iconic name brand logos from all over the globe. This book is small, but filled with content to reference when researching for a design. Finding what works in the industry is valuable to know what may work for you and your client.

9. Design is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton

Sometimes I feel graphic designers want to make things look beautiful and that’s it, but the story is what connects us to our viewers. This book maps out story telling in an easy to digest way, with tools you can utilize to really give your story impact.

This book explores the many ways stories can be told. This book breaks it down in 3 acts, and the aftermath. I find this book to be important to remind myself that the story is the connections from creator, to viewer. Not everything needs to be pretty, but also have substance.

10. Logo Design Love by David Airey.

This book talks a lot of the process to get to iconic brand identifies. As designers we should all appreciate how the process works, and it is important to find one that works for you, but also to explore ones that work for others as well. This book mentions many methods such as mind mapping, to help you along in your creative process.

There it is! 10 fantastic books you can utilize in your graphic design arsenal. Also, if you have a graphic designer to buy for this holiday, all of these are great options as gifts as well. If you have any book recommendations for me to check out or share please shoot me an email and let me know at derek@derekdoesdesign.com! I am always on the hunt for new ways to educate myself, and share with others. I hope you all have a great rest of the week!

Derek

Hott Tarts Logo Design

Happy Monday! I wanted to share with you all this fun project I just completed. Hott Tarts is a Cleveland based and owned pop tart company started by my awesome client Michelle. She wanted a 90’s inspired logo, and really wanted the feel of 90’s pushed to the max. I grew up in the 90’s, but I really had to do some visual research, and play lots of 90’s music while getting this feeling right.

Final Logo v1.0

Variations

Pattern Variation 1

Triangle Variation with texture in circle.

Logo v2.0

Overall, I sent over quite a few logo concepts, and these two made the cut to be final logo. The concept behind this one was Neon lit signs were all the rage in the 90’s, so that is where this logo’s idea originated from.

V 2.0

v 2.0 Black

Patterns

Pattern mixed with logo.

Pop Tart Pattern

90’s inspired pattern.

Overall, this project was a TON of fun, and brought me back to my 90’s kid life of slap bracelets, SNES games and Capri Suns all day, every day. Please check out Hott Tart’s and their…

instagram here: @hott.tarts

Website: www.hotttarts.com

Thank you for reading, and as always if you need any graphic design, branding, or illustration help please reach out to me! I would love to help you and your business grow. I have had a BLAST working with other entrepreneurs in Cleveland and beyond, and would love to work with you as well. Drop be a email, and let’s get it started!

Cheers to a good week!

-Derek

THE BLACK BRAND Water Bottle Packaging Design

Happy Friday my friends! I wanted to share a project I completed a while ago, but am now able to share it. The Black Brand focuses on sleek merchandise and apparel in their shops online. I helped them with the packaging design for their water bottle.

Final Packaging Design

Flat design of box.

Check out The Black Brand’s website here

https://www.theblkbrand.com/

The link to this specific water bottle that comes in this packaging is here:

https://www.theblkbrand.com/product-page/stainless-steel-vacuum-seal-cup

As always, I hope you all are safe and well, taking time for yourself each day. If you need graphic design work, feel free to reach out to me! I would love to help.

Cornerstone Design & Renovation Branding

Happy Wednesday! I just completed a business card design, and branding project for Cornerstone Design & Renovation. One of my dear friends, Matt is the owner and starting his own home renovation consulting business. I was happy to help him with the design of his identity.

Final Design

Matt was able to send me some inspiration to pull from, a beautiful stained glass window and some colors on a mailbox. These colors laid the foundation for some of the concepts.

Draft Prototypes

Options are nice, right? When I sent over the prototypes, I wanted to include a variety of options for Matt to choose from. I played with stone textures in the backgrounds, faint but they add a bit of depth and dimension to the design. I also wanted to apply a real world look for how they would look produced, rather than flat graphics so I utilized a good mock up for that.

Early visuals and branding.

Logo

Logo Design

It is important to develop a brand, and a brand can develop over time. I wanted to create a simple logo for Cornerstone Design & Renovation that is clean, clear and easily changeable in typography and color.

Branding

This is some early branding concepts I sent over, and visual research. Ultimately we went with the more graphical corner shown below, which works really well in the design.

If you are in the Cleveland area and are thinking of doing some home renovations please reach out to Cornerstone Design & Renovations for help.

Cornerstone Design & Renovation

216-965-5549

MatthewKatz6531@gmail.com

Hope you all are having a fantastic week!

-Derek

CLVD HAIR STUDIO LOGO

Hello my friends! I am lucky and thankful to have such a nice referral base which brought me to work with Katie at CLVD HAIR STUDIO, located in Avon Ohio. If you all need your hair done and you are in the Cleveland area, please go visit her! Her Instagram is @hairbykatiekim so check her out Cleveland! Overall I really loved doing this project, and I love the Cleveland Guardian statues so it was a win for me. Katie had a clear idea of what she wanted, so it was fun to take her clear idea and make it a reality in my own way.

I wanted the guardian illustration to work in the logo, and on his own as well. I created various icons Katie could utilize on marketing materials, business cards or social media.

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Icons

Vertical Logo Version

Illustration Details

Illustration details.

© 2020 Derek Prince Wilson of Derekdoesdesign.