adrianne smith floral design branding by delphine

 

I absolutely loved designing the branding for Adrianne Smith Floral Design. Adrianne is one of the sweetest people around. When she came over to pick up her new business cards she brought homemade pesto, made from basil and peppery arugula. From her own garden, no less. Mmmm.

To match the natural style of her floral designs, I went with a toned down green, brown and taupe color palette and pulled in some linen and canvas textures. Another reason we went with green and brown is that the natural palette will complement all photos of her work.

Adrianne picked out the gorgeous 18th century botanical illustration, which adds a bit of romance and drama to the design. We wanted to keep the entire look and feel on the casual side (A is a “no foofy stuff” kind of gal), so the typographic logo has a hand stamped look, inspired by the markings on wood wine crates.

Still to come: her ad materials, updating her blog, tweaking the website, avatars, postcards, and other fun goodies. 

couldn't resist the packaging

I simply could not resist the packaging and had to buy this super cute chocolate toffee bar from Trader Joe’s. I’m glad I did, too, because it’s delicious! 

branded by delphine: mediterranean cruise

This is one of the more unusual logo projects I’ve ever done. A regular client is headed off for a big birthday celebration private cruise with her husband and their friends, and she wanted a logo to help brand the trip. I had a lot of fun doing the research, and came up with an anchor as the main theme for the logo. I incorporated classic nautical hues: navy blue, foul weather gear yellow, and squid ink black, as well as a fun bright yellow stripe pattern. 

I found some fabulous nautical tote bags, complete with painted rubber bases and real rope handles, at Lands End, and had the logo embroidered onto them. Of course we had to embroider the logo onto a few beach towels and terry cloth shirts for all the guests, too.

Watch out, Marina. I may stow away yet! 

branded by delphine: given

Congrats to the ladies of GIVEN, who are the proud new owners of a lovely logo designed by Delphine! GIVEN combines jewelry with the power of community and commerce to markedly contribute to global healing. Can’t wait to tell you more about it … their website isn’t quite ready yet, but I’ll be sure to share once it’s ready for business. In the logo, I used an elegant color palette of metallic champagne (not quite gold, not quite silver) for the “rings” and earthy rich mushroom brown to ground the name. 

logo crush: domestica

I first spied Domestica’s fabulous logo via a Tweet. It’s difficult to make a little 50 pixel square stand out, but they’ve done it for sure! After I saw their avatar I HAD to click through to their website. It was love at first sight, and their logo has been sitting in my inspiration folder on my desktop for about a year now. I love the color palette, the use of transparency, the perfect font choice. So fresh and retro at the same time. 

I emailed the shop owner, Chrissy Jensen, for a little more info about the logo and was surprised to hear that she came up with the concept herself. It looks like it was commissioned by a fancypants agency, right?!? Here’s what she said: 

The logo was inspired by the 60’s artwork for a chemical. I didn’t really think about using a bird til I noticed that the symbol looked like a two sides of a heart overlapping. I loved that it was a heart if you put it back together. The colors just happened to be the colors I wanted, too. I turned it on its side  (if you look at my logo sideways, you might see where I was going) and added a bird head and beak.  You Work For Them had just posted a few new fonts, including Lodge - it was perfect, so I bought it.

That was it.  I thought it was pretty good, but wanted to run it by my friend, Joe Williams. His wife, Danelle, and I were originally going to open Domestica together and we spent SO much time coming up with the name + had spent hours looking at logos and I just trusted their judgement. Joe said it was a good start, but thought if I left him with it for a few, he’d if he couldn’t refine it a bit. He designs a ton of stuff, including a lot of the flyers for Craft Saturday, a craft show they run here in Des Moines, so I totally wanted his help.  What he sent back is the logo we have today. 

I owe him so much thanks because I really believe that our logo opened a lot of doors and gave people a lot of confidence in us when we were nothing more than an idea and a signature on a storefront lease. People comment on it all the time and I love how it looks on the store window. Some people call it the Partridge Family bird, but I like to think it would fit in your hand like a Dove. For Christmas, Joe designed a wreath sticker for us using a repeat of the bird.  It was beautiful.

Photos courtesy Domestica

ADORE what Chrissy said about the logo opening doors for her new business. I whole heartedly agree that a good logo inspires confidence and helps get a new venture off the ground. This is something I’m constantly telling my clients.

Needless to say, I have a huge crush on the Domestica logo. Isn’t it lovely? Don’t you wish you lived in Des Moines so you could go visit in person? If that’s not convenient, you can shop online for modern home décor, paper goods, art and gifts. Check out their cool blog, too, for some fun inspiration. 

nice package: trader joe's chocolate

Although my shopping cart was already completely overflowing, I HAD to buy this amazing looking chocolate from Trader Joe’s. Isn’t the packaging marvelous? I love the bold graphics. Although they didn’t need to, they carried the design inside the package, to the inner wrapping. Little surprises and attention to detail like this are part of what make this store so special. (By the way, the chocolate is pretty amazing, too.)

nice package: japanese fish snacks

Sometimes when I’m seeking a quick, “sure thing” jolt of design inspiration I head to Ranch 99, our local Asian food market. It’s full of visual treats like the restrained packaging of these fish strips. (So restrained, they held off on using a “s” in the word Fishnacks).

Some of my other go-to spots for inspiration are the beach, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, my back yard, indie boutiques shops, and my local park. I just noticed that none of these spots are plugged in. Where do you go to get a quick fix of inspiration?

"green" logos by Delphine

I was just finishing up the logo I designed for Little Green Beans (we have yet to finalize the shade of green, but the mark is done) and realized I have designed logos for three companies with the word “Green” in their name. Just another reason why green is my very favorite color.

upcoming event: brand you seminar

photo: Vallentyne Photography

Most people don't realize this, but Delphine is a pretty small (as in short staffed) studio. Besides John and I, everyone else works remotely--from all over the state. So it can be a little isolating. Lately I've started getting out of the studio more: working in coffee shops, meeting with clients outside my own studio, mingling with fellow creatives, co-working with friends, and it has been fabulous. I've also co-founded North County Graphic Designers, a group that meets up every so often to chat about the business of graphic design. Now that I am well past my grad school days, it's fun to attend lectures and seminars (no homework -- yaaaay). This month I'm going to watch the TEDx San Diego conference with fellow designers (let me know if you'd like the scoop--we'll be meeting in Oceanside), and attend the Brand You seminar ...

One of the people I've been fortunate to get to know a little better lately is David Lecours (remember last week's logo crush?). Besides being a fabulous designer, David is also a creative coach and speaker. I've signed up to attend his seminar this weekend (Saturday, November 6 2010 9am - noon). David will be speaking about:
1) How to Identify and Refine Your Core Genius
2) Positioning Your Brand in the Market
3) How to Promote Your Brand to Attract Clients That Value Your Brilliance

There are still a few slots available (and today is last day for early bird $20 discount). Please visit http://brandyou.eventbrite.com for more information and to register. Hope to see you there!

logo crush: holly lecours

I have a crush on the Holly Lecours Interior Design logo, designed by the extraordinarily talented David Lecours, creative director at LecoursDesign. All of David's work has a restrained, understated elegance that I truly admire. LecoursDesign provides marketing and brand communications guidance, specializing in architecture, engineering, and construction firms.

"Holly also does professional organizing within her interior design projects, so the efficiently stacked chairs/lowercase h's have double meaning," David says about the logo.

I extend extra special props to David for this logo, because designing for family (Holly is David's wife) is most definitely NOT the easiest thing to do.

David is also a wonderful coach and speaker. If you're in the San Diego area, look into his upcoming Brand You seminar, which promises to be a "seminar of awesomeness." From the seminar description: An authentic personal brand is the epicenter from which all your marketing activity should reverberate.

Awesome job, David!

logo crush (ed): gap

I am so not loving the new Gap logo. I'm not the only one (read this Advertising Age article).  I'm not saying the old logo was perfect, but the new one is lame.

 

UPDATE 10/11/10: Gap Inc. announced it will return to the old logo, and also admitted that the crowdsourcing idea (to replace the new logo) was a bad idea. Read the Gap press release.

shop we love: sweet paper

It sort of goes with out saying, but I absolutely LOVE stationery shops. Even more so when they are beautifully curated, like Sweet Paper is. Here are a few photos from their very fist day that they were open.

 Sweet Paper founders (and sisters) Theresa Anderson (left) and Julie O'Brien (right).

A very happy customer.

All photos ©Delphine.

inspired by pbr: a logo design

I am in the final stages of an identity design for a new gift boutique (sorry, no more details just yet ... you'll just have to wait for their big announcement). Along the way, the circle seal logo shown above was a concept in the running, though they ended up choosing something entirely different. (That is not the real name of the company, by the way).

The identity idea is a modern take on a bakeshop (no, the boutique will not sell baked goods). We tossed around some fun bright colors, like red, tangerine, and kelley green. But when I did the navy blue mockup it was immediately my favorite. And it reminded me of something, but couldn't quite put my finger on it.

Later it occurred to me that it looks a bit like the Pabst Blue Ribbon logo. Funny how that happens sometimes, isn't it? We're constantly being bombarded by advertisements so it's no surprise that some of the strongest looks end up in our collective consciousness (and in our work).

branded by delphine: the humble abode

Check out one of my latest branding projects: Humble Abode, a wedding and event studio in San Clemente, California. I designed the logo, business system and website (still a work in progress, but launched today).

time out for technology

I love technology. I didn't say I was good at it, and certainly don't qualify as an early adopter (just yesterday, with the help of a friend, I set up the Delphine Facebook page) ... but I heart the new Stickybits app and can't wait to try it. The concept is brilliant, and the branding on the Stickybits website is adorable, to boot.