Holmers
The Mission
After being contacted through my Instagram by one of the Holmers team, I worked with them to understand their new products and goals for launch so I could provide an effective design solution. I was asked to create a “H” icon that would represent Holmers and was given a lot of creative freedom to achieve this task.
The Outcome
Overall this was a highly successful project, I was able to provide real value to an international brand and build a lasting relationship with the team. Since the completion of this project Holmers have sent me concept drawings of their products using their new branding. Also letting me know about their plans for manufacturing as well as setting up a crowdfunding platform to support their launch.
Software Used
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Illustrator
SERVICES
Branding
Identity Design
CLIENT
Holmers
DATE
2018-2019
overview
The Logotype & Icon
The final solution is both strong and elegant and would work well across many applications. The abstract “H” is comprised of two halves of an oval. The team chose this icon because of its simplicity and the potential for some great design elements throughout the branding.
Contrary to the smooth rounded geometry of the icon, the logotype has a strong, industrial aesthetic that will subconsciously suggest the durability of the product and reliability of the brand.
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The Font & Colour
Originally when Holmers contacted me they had already decided on black and white as their main brand colours. I expressed my belief that the use of black and white only would limit the design and the brand’s potential to reach their target market.
Their first line of products feature gold and silver dials, I suggested adding a touch of colour to their branding that would complement these precious metals. After some discussion we settled on this gold colour.
details
Research
Research is a massive part of all my projects, and although this was a passion project, I still wanted to ensure I was creating a functional design solution.
I usually like creating mood boards for research, dragging and dropping images from google. When doing this, I am looking for working examples of simple, appropriate and functional branding for brand in their industry. It is also important for me to understand the audience of my client, with Scarlet being a B2B business, their new branding had to be able to thrive in that market.
The logotypes in this image are all companies in the same industry as Scarlet. They all use a bold, modern, geometric sans font that is legible, recognisable and memorable. Logotypes like these are timeless due to their simplicity.
PROCESS
Exploration and Modification in Illustrator
I jumped into Illustrator so I could quickly explore different solutions for the Scarlet logotype. From my research, I knew I wanted to use a modern serif type face much like other companies in the VFX industry.
I chose the Montserrat font because of is modern geometric qualities. I adjusted the kerning (space between the letters) to make the text more optically balanced and then added the responsive part of the logo. I done this by simply writing the name of the company division 3x smaller and right aligned under the logotype. Once i was happy with the design I started exploring brand colours.
PROCESS
Application
Overall, the final solution is simple but it was through the application of this branding that it started to take form.
Although this logotype was made as part of a design challenge, I still wanted to apply the branding to a range of mock-ups so I could prove to myself that the logotype was functional.
With Scarlet being a B2B visual effects company, I knew their branding should be presented using corporate mock-ups. My biggest challenge at this stage was getting the colour to match across all the images and even now I believe I could improve it a little.
PROCESS
Sketching
This project allowed me to do a lot of exploration on H letter mark and sketching was the fastest way for me to conceptualise my ideas. I found myself exploring a lot of circular, square and hexagonal geometry throughout this phase and initially used grid paper to create my draft concepts.
Because of the detailed research Holmers conducted, I had a complete understanding of the direction they wanted to go in, making this part of the process a lot simpler.
Refining in Illustrator
I aimed to ensure the Holmers icon was as simple and functional as possible, to achieve this I used the ellipse tool to create all the rounded geometry.
Once I had the refined icon I started working on the horizontal and vertical pairings with the logotype and then finally the brand colours.
Application
To prove the functionality of my design, it was important for me to show examples of the Holmers branding in use when I was presenting the final designs to the team. I presented these images along with the shopping bag mock-up.
Both of these mock-ups allowed the Holmers team to fall in love with their new branding and got them super excited for their launch. It was an amazing feeling to be able to provide another client with a perfect service from start to finish.
