Logo Design
Paper Plus Cloth
After seizing an opportunity to open her new storefront in Toronto’s burgeoning West end, this flourishing online retailer was eager to update her shop image. She wanted a new logo that reflected her highly curated collection of rare Japanese Washi tapes and stationery goods connecting the shop to her vintage-loving and hand-craft-enthusiast customers. The final design would also need to work as a stamp seal so she could brand her shop packaging and shipping labels quickly and consistently, while still maintaining her brand’s feeling of nostalgia and human correspondence.
Rushing to get the shop open in time for the busy holiday season, and having it ready for an unexpected invitation to an exclusive Instagram event, the resourceful owner turned to online design templates for a quick turnkey solution. Now, more than halfway into a successful first year, the business was ready for another look at its logo identity. Yet, having already built some equity into the current design, the owner wanted to be able to slowly transition a new look so as to maintain recognition among her newest fans and regular shop visitors.
Drawing inspiration from my client’s collection of vintage milk caps and stamp seals, I started from the current design, looking at its ineffective points and trying to improve on them—the awkward shape, the unbalanced proportions, the illegibility of the details at small sizes...
Starting with a sketch, I began by organizing all the letters and spaces, measuring out type proportions while keeping related groups of information together. I added an open scissors icon opposite a trimmed ribbon icon to convey a notion of active crafting. My goal was to define an aesthetically pleasing hierarchy of information by giving the type a more balanced rhythm to create a textured imprint of information. Gradually, I carved away at clutter, applied the shop’s existing licensed brand fonts, and found order within the cluster of letters.
Looking forward to updating this project case study once images of the finished production pieces are available. Thanks for checking out this project. Be sure to visit the shop at PaperPlusCloth.ca
Fonts licensed by client from Hustle Supply Co., via creativemarket.com
