Photo Buzz Studios’ Split Identity

You might have seen on my Instagram that I posted some insanely beautiful business cards:

You see, Photo Buzz Studios works with a lot of exclusive clientele. They aren’t setting up photo booths with goofy hats and wonky glasses at weddings, these rock stars set their aspirations even higher. To align with their goals, I suggested truly eye-catching, memorable pieces which would feel like gifts. My idea would most certainly catch the eye of industry executives, but this was not going to be a cheap venture. For these “gifts,” I designed ultra-thick, metallic-edged, suede-coated black cards stamped with two foil colors.  They were, indeed, as exquisite as they sound.

White, suede-coated business cards.

But you probably also noticed in my portfolio the white business cards. There was a strategy to designing two sets of cards, each with a very different price point and purpose.

I surmised that, in addition to the un-economical idea of doling out the black business cards willy-nilly, they also needed less expensive cards they could hand out indiscriminately. These cards still needed to feel “high-end.” Enter here the second set of business cards: suede-coated, white business cards. The white set has the same basic design as the black set, but the white cards are printed with two Pantone colors on 16pt stock. Each set shared a non-traditional size, butter-soft suede coating, and matching layouts to connect them conceptually.

Photo Buzz Studios is gonna blow their clients away with their attention to detail, and I know they have many years of success ahead of them. I was honored to be a part of their story and look forward to seeing their name in lights someday. Good luck, Photo Buzz Studios!

 

Have a gander at the gallery:

White, suede-coated business cards
Suede-coated black paper with 2-color foil stamping
Metallic edge painting
Cards side-by-side with minimal size differences
Front and backs of each
Thickness difference, stacks of 6 cards each.

 

Posted on by Lacey Pyle

Label Design for Cone Heads 8020 in Cape San Blas, FL

Coneheads 8020 hired me to design their exclusive beer, 30E Lager.

Fresh off the artboard is Cone Head 8020’s label design for 30E Lager, so-named for the state route running through eco-conscious Cape San Blas. This label features sights from St. Joseph Bay, including the its pristine beaches, underwater sea grass, and scallops.

“Scalloping is huge here,” says Dwayne Piergiovanni, owner of ConeHeads 8020. “I would like the label to be indicative of St. Joseph Bay, without being cluttered, including the seagrass, scallops, sand, urchins, crabs, etc…things under the water.”

The phrase at the top, though, is a bit of locals-only knowledge. “It is one of the few places on earth where the sun rises from the water and sets back into the water,” says Piergiovanni.  The phrase could also serve another meaning: the beer is a “session beer;” not some monstrous 7% beer, so you can responsibly sip while fishing during the day.

Since 30E was brewed especially for Cone Heads 8020 by a local brewery, my strategy was to keep the look somewhat similar to their labels yet still include elements from Piergiovanni’s vision and the beer’s pre-existing tap handle.

If you’re looking for local beer in Cape San Blas, check out 30E at Cone Heads 8020. They also have ice cream for the little ones and burgers, pizzas, soups, salads, and appetizers for the hungry ones. Cheers!

Posted on by Lacey Pyle

Photo Buzz Studios’ Identity & Branding Package

Photo Buzz Studio Logo Design
Photo Buzz Studio Logo Design

When Photo Buzz Studios sought to hire a graphic designer to help them develop their new logo and branding package, they turned to me. Eager to get it right the first time, but also on a short timeline, Kelly Williams shot me an e-mail detailing her needs. In short, Photo Buzz Studios is an exclusive mobile photography studio serving professional, and formal occasions, including classy corporate gatherings and full-service event planning agencies. Photo Buzz needed to be recognized as an creative experiential firm. Quite abstract, yes? That’s okay.

“A graphic strategist is truly what I’m looking for!”

We exchanged thoughts and talked about the process, she shared a mood board with me to help me understand her vision for Photo Buzz. I boiled all this in a cauldron and poured out a feast for your eyes. Their logo focuses its inspiration on the understated, sleek look of exclusive night clubs in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and Atlanta. The breaks in the letters are a subtle reference to neon lights and the purple is a color common to high-end nightclubs. The forward slash is a reference to Photo Buzz Studios’ more edgy, after-dark approach.

This is a web-resolution version of the fully printable branding guide book Photo Buzz received. This branding book offers tips for using the elements in the new identity package plus guidance and exmaples for creating a clear, consistent brand.

The Cover
Implementation of the various logos
The Pantone Color Palette
Accent marks

Photo Buzz Studios’ color palette represents colors commonly seen in night life and neon lights. Their colors communicate energy, vibrancy, dynamism, and contrast. The typefaces complement a “feel” Williams sought in our discussions, and each typeface is available for free as part of the Google Fonts project. Using Google Fonts makes the typefaces easily accessible for all her employees and presents no licensing issues. Plus, they are suitable for both web and print applications. Finally, I conceptualized the accent marks for use wherever and however Photo Buzz sees fit.

Photo Buzz Studios also received an easily shareable reference page for their new identity.

This is the branding reference sheet for Photo Buzz Studios. It includes typography, color palette, accent marks, and inspirational imagery.

Featured photo by Gansevoort-Provocateur-Club-NYC, of CityGasm.

Posted on by Lacey Pyle

Fort Walton Brewing Company Logo

As you may (or may not) already know, brewing, serving, and educating others about craft beer is one of my favorite hobbies. The people I met in craft beer are some of the best folks I know.

Fort Walton Brewing Company's logo
Fort Walton Brewing company, a new craft brewery up-and-coming to Fort Walton.

That being said, you can imagine how honored I felt when I was hired to produce Fort Walton Brewing Company’s logo. Fort Walton Brewing company intends to be a central location where homebrewers, small-batch craft brewers, and beer lovers can congregate to brew and sample beer. I did some research on Fort Walton, asked locals what they thought about the city, and considered my own intuitions about it. The consensus was that there was no consensus; Fort Walton Beach is viewed by many as a somewhat difficult to define. And I put that in the logo.

This logo focuses primarily on the city of Fort Walton Beach. Being a historic city built on military, tourism, and a dash of pirate folklore, the variety of typefaces in this logo take root in the variety of experiences one finds in Fort Walton Beach. The word “Fort” gives a nod to the U.S. Air Force with the use of it’s official typeface, Berthold Akzidenz Bold Extended. “Walton” takes on and older, more established yet whimsical look in honor of the town’s 1838 name, Camp Walton, and its pirate folklore. “Brewing” uses a font with terminals that are reminiscent of germinated malts: where the hull splits. Some letters are slightly out-of-place, recognizing that Fort Walton Beach refuses to conform to any singular idea.

You go, Fort Walton Brewing. You go.

Posted on by Lacey Pyle

Text versus Iconography in Logos

A logo is your story in a single mark: the essence of your business, if you will. Some folks can get away with text-based logos. Other people need some sort of icon or visual cue to help them remember who the logo belongs to or what the business does. Not all logos need icons. Not all text-based logos are successful. It’s not my job to tell you what to choose, but it is my job to dig into the meat of your business, find out what you like, what’s already out there, then present you with well-informed and meaningful logos that you’ll enjoy using.

Let me illustrate (I swear that was the only pun!).

Imagine a business that says everything it does in the name: Pensacola Pressure Washing, for example. The words already say everything that needs to be said, so additional information might seem redundant or unnecessary. Sure, it’s a pretty generic name, but it’s an easy one to remember. It could be also argued that a highly-stylized or uniquely arranged text-based logo itself becomes an image to the brain; the brain no longer reads the letters for what they literally represent and instead sees a shape or a picture. A prime example of this is “Disney.”pensacola-pressure-washing-01

Now imagine a business with a person’s name or unclear mission, such as Jack Dawson, M.D., or UprightPro, Inc. Studies agree that imagery paired with text helps people with recognition and recall in memory tests. That’s why lots of logos include icons, imagery, or objects in place of or in addition to words. This approach makes sense in cases where names are forgotten, or what your business does or sells is ambiguous. In these cases, it would be prudent to consider imagery, icons, or some other visual cue for onlookers.

pensacola-pressure-washing-02
You’ll likely remember that Dr. Dawson is a pediatrician.

 

pensacola-pressure-washing-03
OH! Upright makes chairs, not bicycles or tanning beds.

 

Posted on by Lacey Pyle

Things to consider when re-designing your website

It’s 2016, and some folks are still using table- or or Adobe Flash-based web design. What is that, exactly? Well, here is an example of table-based design:

website-redesign
Table-based web design

Table-based web design is a boxy layout, with a clear separation between content, background, and images. Adobe Flash sites flicker, move and exhibit large, full-screen animations–difficult to convey with a screenshot.

What, exactly, do viewers think when they see table-based layout web design? The general consensus is, “outdated.” This style of web design was popular 10+ years ago because it enabled designers to control–with absolute certainty–the arrangement of the page elements with respect to a viewer’s desktop monitor. And, most influential, smartphones were not nearly as ubiquitous, so mobile-friendly websites were barely a twinkle in our eyes.

Today, with the variety of screen sizes and devices used to browse the web, we don’t want a rigid design like that. You want a layout that will cater to your user’s device. Not only is a responsive site easier to navigate, but it’s also a much more practical design. Responsive sites also use open-source coding, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. You want to avoid certain things in today’s web design. Here are three of them:

Adobe Flash

If you have an iPhone, you know it doesn’t play nice with Flash video and animations. Google Chrome and Firefox disable Flash by default. Even Steve Jobs had an opinion about its use back in 2010. If that wasn’t an omen, I don’t know what is. Flash is a vulnerable plug-in, prone to security issues, reliability failures, and bogged-down performance. Sure: a slick animation looks great, but be sure your designer doesn’t rely on Flash for that. Further, full-Flash websites are difficult and expensive to update.

Auto-Play

Whether background music or an embedded video, let your users decide if they want the noise. They could be riding on the subway, shopping while nursing a newborn, in a public restroom–or not paying attention in a meeting! I always strongly discourage background music on websites because it’s often disruptive or intrusive for viewers.

Contact Forms

You might think I’m nuts, but if you don’t plan to monitor and respond to the e-mails that come through that web contact form, don’t bother adding one. Not only will your lack of response hurt the professionalism with which people view your business, but also your pocketbook–you’ll pay for it in lost sales leads!

I’m always happy to offer free evaluations of your current or prospective website. If you’d like to have a no-strings-attached chat, gimme a shout.

Posted on by Lacey Pyle