Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Case Study: Paddle Works Brand

Hello everyone and Happy Tuesday. It's that time of the year when I decide to stick it out with my current PC or bite the bullet and get the newest Mac. I know that I should have a Mac. I make art for a living, the Mac is stylish and sexy and oh so well designed, but still here I am. Clacking away on my archaic, loud-ass PC keyboard, waking the neighborhood. Using the PC Tune-Up programs to make room for my new PSD files and videos. 

Alas, that discussion is for another day. I'm here to continue my 'Case Study' series and to show you a newish sample project. 

I was contacted by a talented friend of mine in Orlando, Jessica Gwinn, about knocking out a logo for a company called 'Paddle Works' that makes paddles and boards for, guess what? Paddle boarding. She wanted me to design the logo and brand for this existing brand, to revitalize them a bit, in essence.

I did some research on paddle boarding companies similar to Paddle Works and it seemed that quite a few of them suffer from the same bland, mundane sickness; the ol' lack of design flu. Oh, Paddle Works competitor's have logos, and websites, and decent products, but they all look so damn similar and so stinkin' boring. There's no style. No flair for the product, or better yet, the lifestyle. It's disrespectful, honestly. Their disrespecting the new art of paddle boarding with some of their logos.

Paddle boarding is a lifestyle. The paddle boarder is dedicated. Sure, it's recreational, but many folks own quite a few boards and some do it every day. These folks need a brand to be proud of. 

I've been inspired recently by the mid-century modern, minimalist vibe of so many old school marks and logos and thought this was project called for that option. Timeless, clean, simple. The brand stems from a mark cemented in classic design. 

The following marks were some of my first, but they were the ones chosen by the client. I tried to make a logo that I would like to have on my shirt, or on my shirt's tag, or on my board, or just about anywhere else. I wanted to make a decal that folks wouldn't mind slappin' on the back of their car.



I love circles. I love X's. This one came together pretty quick.
I chose a serifed typeface to accent the simplicity of the mark, to hopefully make the overall design more dynamic. Using the deep navy blue minimal color palette gives us lots of room to maneuver as we progress with the brand.

As always, thanks for reading!






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