Merit Media
Naming, Logo Design, Brand Identity
Merit Media is the brainchild of Connor Cleveland, a talented filmmaker and photographer. Once launched it will be both a film production company and a production house, renting out high-spec video production gear in the Austin, Texas area and creating original content as well.
Connor made it clear that he desired a certain visual feel for the brand, in fact, he told me he wanted it to look like an airliner designed by Saul Bass in the 1970's. It's not every day that a client tells you something like that - but when they do, you know you're about to have a lot of fun.
I was also given the opportunity to work on the name of the brand. I wrote down “Merit” and it stuck. Connor’s goal is to make great content with great stories, and great stories need a reason to exist - the merit to stand on their own.
The logo itself was designed to carefully fit into the visual space that I outlined with Connor at the beginning of the project. The sharp terminals on the abstract letter M result in something very strong, but the curve at the center calms everything down a bit, adding a human touch.
Merit's primary color palette is built on three hues that I often found when studying Connor's work at the start of the project. The turquoise green comes from Ektar, a kind of film stock he tends to use that has a strong effect on the color of the photographs.
The primary graphic device within the identity are what I call the leading lines, which flow into the mark, matching the width of the legs within the M.
These work to cement Merit's presence on a wide variety of applications, and can be easily deployed on every touchpoint.
"Working with Joseph Hillenbrand was an absolute pleasure. From the start he was extremely detail oriented, determined to create a unique identity for my film production company. In a sense, he was able to legitimize my ideas and establish my business as a professional workplace through his stellar branding and graphic design."
