STEP 1: THE FEEL

Since the feel for the company was already in place, all the research and mood boards I did were already routed in what our client had specified he wanted. Classic, American, Texas. And within that narrow scope, I saw a lot of strong, bold typography as the defining aspect so that is what I dived deep into.

MOOD BOARDS & RESEARCH

STEP 2: THE RED, WHITE, AND BLUE

I prefer to start brainstorming colors early in branding projects, because they are a great way to distinguish the brand in a competitive space, and often colors have deeper symbolic meaning that is independent from their use age. In this project, I was restricted to using red, white, and blue. So I spun up a bunch of different color options and variations. There were… a lot (Only some of which are pictured here!) I opted for some early feedback to get the right colors pushed forward.

COLOR STUDIES

STEP 3: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

Next, I started working on finding the base typeface to set the logo apart, while staying true to the mood and feel established in steps 1 and 2. In the end, I settled on the Knockout family. Specifically because the C’s are reminiscent of horseshoes, the Sumo weight has a sort of condensed thickness which makes it visible big or small, and it was easy to stack or place with other elements or type as layouts require.

TYPOGRAPHY

STEP 4: GETTING THE BALL ROLLING

While I have been sketching and reiterating all along, this step is where our featured logo got roughed out, and began to be refined into something presentable to the client. With wordmark logos I do roughs after typography, to give me a strong foundation to build off of. In these iterations I came across the idea to add elements to turn the M into a resemblance of a magazine spring. I also kept playing with the star element to pay homage to the origins of the brand “Shooting Star Industries” their iconic “Shooting Star Classic” magazine, and of course the Lone Star State.

SKETCHES & ROUGHS

STEP 5: ITERATE, ITERATE, AND COLOR AGAIN

In this last step, I kept experimenting with different ways to illustrate the magazine aspect, as well as playing with gradients, shading, and colors. Ultimately I ended up at the top left logo, because the darker, stronger colors fit better within the client’s market, and pre-existing elements the company had. Coupled with the fact that many of the intended logo uses would make it difficult to accurately and reliably use gradients (such as embroidery, or laser etching into metal). I wanted to make sure even in black & white the logo gave the same bold feel, and that was something the gradation just didn’t pull off.

FINALIZATION