Client: Anthony-Scott Contracting

Project Details: A logo design for a contracting firm in the Northern Virginia area.

Client: Buzonya

Project Details: Click here to read the full project write-up.

Project Details: A logo design for a fitness program entitled “The Quest”.

The client gave me the initial brief to work with:

“The exerciser is the individual setting out on the journey.  Once they begin “The Quest”, they will be tied to a points system which will determine when they are able to attempt an exercise challenge that will get them to the next level.  They receive points for completing workouts and additional points for successful completion of the challenges.  If they fail the complete a challenge successfully, they will lose points and have to re-earn them in order to attempt the challenge again.  To help recover from fatigue and repetitive stress, corrective exercise and mobility programs will be incorporated throughout. When I think of a quest, I picture someone (a knight, perhaps?) in medieval times setting out on a journey, overcoming obstacles and challenges along the way in order to complete a task.  Before they head out, they prepare themselves physically for what they may endure along the way.  Since they will need to remain lean on their quest, they are not able to carry tons of weapons/tools.  They travel light.” 

Project Details: The president of LFCC requested that I design a new logo and branding for the College. The old logo had become quite outdated and held no significance to the college in that many community members, students and employees did not know what the old logo portrayed or represented.

My rationale for the new logo shows the symbolism of the College as a “ripple” in the local community. LFCC is able to foster change in the community by educating, teaching and graduating its students. Those graduates are then able to create a “ripple effect” in that they then contribute to the local area workforce and bring positive change to the community using the skills they have learned at LFCC.

Old Logo:

New Logo: 

Client: Local Phi Theta Kappa Chapter

Project Details: A local Phi Theta Kappa chapter (PTK student honor society) at a nearby community college requested that I design a logo for their fundraising campaign to be launched in the fall of 2009. The premise and slogan behind the campaign is “Your change can change lives”. This slogan comes from a story told by the chapter’s advisor of how he collected spare change in a jar to help fund a family member’s College education from when she was born until she graduated high school.

The exact dollar figure he raised escapes me at this moment, but it was quite significant (thousands of dollars). Inspired by this story of goodwill, the PTK chapter hopes to influence community members to donate their spare change to help out local students.

Concepts: To help brand their fundraising campaign, I developed three logo concepts for the PTK chapter to choose from. In presenting these logos, I informed them of the five traits every great logo should have:

1. It is describable
2. It is memorable
3. It is effective with one color
4. It is scalable (works at any size)
5. It is appropriate

The logo concepts were as follows:

I then left it up to the PTK group to choose. They picked choice number one and will have the following logo imprinted on all of their materials associated with the fundraising campaign:

Final Thoughts: The students were very happy and excited with the logo choices presented to them. It was very satisfying to see their eyes light up knowing they would have their own visual brand to apply to all of their fundraising materials. I wish them the best of luck and hope that their fundraising campaign is successful (and hopefully my logo design will play a small part in their success).

Client: Riddle’s Hedgehogs (Christie Riddle)

Project Details: My wife often likes to take advantage of my passion for design. She used to run a very successful rabbitry, but has since decided to migrate over into breeding hedgehogs. Whenever she established a new venture, she asks for me to design her logo and promotional materials. Being she is my wife, I naturally charge nothing (aside from maybe a day to lounge around the house and do what I want!). Her only requirements for the logo was that it try to include the colors of brown, grey (hedgehog colors) and maybe a hint of purple (her favorite color).

Initial Concepts

My first step was to flesh out the design of the hedgehog that would be featured in the logo. I knew that using only typography in the logo would not work that well, as most people are not even aware of what a hedgehog is. Below are my first concepts based off of my initial sketches:

It was my wife’s preference to go with the hedgehog figure that was a complete silhouette. As I was not very fond of the concepts featuring the silhouetted hedgehog without the face element, I proceeded to draft some more concepts:

We both agreed that the final concept (the lower-right version featuring the hedgehog in white) was the most eye-catching and iconic. From there it was just a matter of applying the final color scheme:

The final product:

Testimonial: “Aaron did an awesome job with my logo design. I gave him a rough idea of what I wanted and he provided me with multiple versions to help me determine what was best for me. The whole design process went so smoothly and I ended up with something I absolutely love.” – Christie Riddle, Owner, Riddle’s Hedgehogs

Final Thoughts: I’m pleased with the end result. I think that the reversed silhouette treatment of the hedgehog figure makes the logo pop and catch your eye. The logo will also work very well when applied to a variety of items my wife may plan on using in the future (brochures, letterhead, business cards, merchandise).

Client: Footprints of the Mind, LLC (Irene Antonoglu) - Posted with permission.

Project Details: The client, whom I have done illustrative work for in the past, expressed interest in having a logo designed for her business, Footprints of the Mind, LLC. I had the client fill out a questionnaire, and learned that the business targets parents that want something more for their kids and understand that young children are capable of critical thinking skills even when they cannot read or fully articulate their thoughts. Irene also stated that part of Footprints of the Mind’s mission is to help create a safe place on the internet for little children. The client hoped for the final logo to evoke feelings of playfulness and professionalism.

Initial Concepts

In thinking about the company philosophy, I associated Footprints of the Mind with a few items: footprints (obviously), learning, knowledge, children, education, thought and the brain (mind). My initial sketches are below, along with the initial concepts I provided to the client:

The client liked the idea of using child’s footprints within the logo and wanted to stray away from the “brain” images. I agreed and provided some refined concepts for review:

Ultimately the client decided on logo number two above, and with a few minor modifications (the addition of LLC to the company name being one of them), we moved onto the colorization stage.

Color Determination

In choosing colors, I settled with a bright and bold green and blue color (Pantone 368 Green and Pantone 299 Blue with an 85% screen to be exact). The blue and green make the logo brighter and bolder…an important qualifier when trying to attract parents in search of child-friendly material. Also, the color blue is said to elicit emotions such as peace, tranquility, calm, stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence, conservatism, and security.

Trust is a big one, as the client’s company will be dealing with parents. As all parents know, trust and security is important regarding their children.

Testimonial: “Aaron did a fantastic job with the logo for my business. He was able to bring a rough concept to life and perfectly encapsulate my company’s mission and target audience with his creative use of art and color for the logo.” – Irene Antonoglu, Footprints of the Mind, LLC

Final Thoughts: Irene is a terrific client to do work for, so I am very pleased with the outcome of this logo. I feel it helps mesh the “playfulness” of children, while still keeping a professional / business look.

Project Details: This is a logo that I created for an Educational Foundation’s fundraising campaign. The campaign started in 2007 and is scheduled to run through 2009. I was provided only with the text “Invest. Impact. Inspire.” to work with, and told to create a logo concept for the Foundation that would appear on fundraising materials, publications and solicitations.

Using typefaces already present within the established visual identity of Foundation, I decided to give the logo a simple treatment relying more on typography than symbolism. The idea behind the logo is that if you “invest” money in education, you can impact” a student’s life and therefore “inspire” them to give back to their community.

Given that it is a three-step process, to me the most important step of the three is the inspiration of students. To inspire someone is a powerful thing . . . therefore I chose the word “inspire” to be the main focal point of the logo.

Final Thoughts: The logo is simple, recognizable and scalable – three of the most important traits that a great logo should have. There is nothing overly-decorative about the logo, which is why I think it is a successful end-product.