Filter: Branding

Because of their location and the type of business this is, it was established right away that a “beachy” feel was the way to go. The client informed me that their physical space would be going a distressed wood route flooring-wise, and that they were imagining a blue and/or gray palette, so it was important to keep all of this in mind as I put my concepts together. In addition, a sans serif logotype was in order, as part of a desire for a clean, timeless aesthetic, and to appeal to a broad audience (comprised of lawyers and prom-goers alike). Ultimately, with the inclusion of some brilliant input from S’more Brands Camp Director, Erik, we arrived at the version you see here.

Oh, and I also wanted to sneak in one of the other options we had included along the way—just because it’s another personal favorite of mine (see “Additional Views” down below).

The website is a responsive WordPress one (like pretty much every site we do these days), and I used the Divi theme, starting from scratch using the Divi Builder for an easy editing experience on the client side in the future. Overall the website is on the small and minimal in fancy functionality, serving as a means of linking to their tuxedo catalog so users could find out how to reserve tuxes from them, as well as find out a bit about the services they offer, what specials are going on, and how to contact them. I also wanted to dress up the newsletter sign-up area a bit to get people in the loop with all things Starlight. All the while, I got to do my favorite thing which means brand the website from head to toe, so no complaints on the fun scale for me over here. 🙂

The same was the case with the business cards and other collateral—fully branded; full of Starlight personality. The logomark made for a playful and eye-catching pattern so we didn’t skimp on implementing it in different ways whether on the business cards or social covers. We balanced out the heavily-applied blue-toned palette with bright, colorful photography and clean line icons where appropriate. I think it’s safe to say we met our objective with a professional yet catchy identity, while putting the “clean” in “cleaners”… (Sorry, had to!)

Role(s): design; development

Dan liked the idea of something clean, and that worked well as a standalone icon, but also something that acknowledged his outside-the-box nature, and the logo that we crafted for him possessed these traits with its geometric aesthetic and—of course—subject itself.

The color palette was for the most part black and white but with touches of bright “highlighter” yellow when the occasion called for it, except for in his new pricing booklet where we made the yellow a key player in the bright and lively presentation. (We also brought in other classic “highlight” colors when it came to his Instagram Story Highlight covers.) When it came to the typography, a rounded sans serif typeface was the ideal choice, to literally soften out and complement the clean lines throughout the branding collateral. Similarly, we introduced some “organized chaos” with crisscrossed line graphics in some of his materials, balancing out the logo’s more structured nature.

Following our classic S’more Brands protocol, the website along with other items were built in real time with Dan there with us through video chat (more about the process here), which allowed us to work with full transparency and step by step feedback to ensure he was happy with everything by the end of the day. Photography was of course the focal point throughout the website build, and using the WordPress Divi theme, we worked diligently as a team to showcase his photos in a fun and organized manner.

Role(s): design; development assistance