O N E W A T E R
Designing the logo for Alexandria's water treatment network was a privilege and an awesome experience! Three organizations work together to provide water services to the public in Alexandria, Virginia. The challenge was to create a unified brand identity, providing a platform to explain what each entity does and how they work together. Marketing for Change conducted a synthesis session with the One Water team to define a voice for the brand. Next we designed and presented four logo options along an X-Y continuum ranging from modern to heritage and unity-emphasis to water-emphasis. Upon presenting we learned that modern/water-emphasis was the right direction but we needed another option that pushed these traits a little further and spoke to infrastructure. The logo above was the result of the design session that followed. The mark combines the infrastructure of water treatment with the "O." The cycle of water coveys perpetual cooperation required to treat water for the public. The three streams of water in the cycle are a nod to three entities that make up One Water Alexandria. The three water drops integrated into the stream help the logo to read as water when presented in one color and they are yet another hint at the three partners.
Shout out to Art Director, Jesse Taylor for producing excellent logo options for this process including the unique synthesis of the "1" and water droplet featured above in bottom-left corner.
Designing the logo for Alexandria's water treatment network was a privilege and an awesome experience! Three organizations work together to provide water services to the public in Alexandria, Virginia. The challenge was to create a unified brand identity, providing a platform to explain what each entity does and how they work together. Marketing for Change conducted a synthesis session with the One Water team to define a voice for the brand. Next we designed and presented four logo options along an X-Y continuum ranging from modern to heritage and unity-emphasis to water-emphasis. Upon presenting we learned that modern/water-emphasis was the right direction but we needed another option that pushed these traits a little further and spoke to infrastructure. The logo above was the result of the design session that followed. The mark combines the infrastructure of water treatment with the "O." The cycle of water coveys perpetual cooperation required to treat water for the public. The three streams of water in the cycle are a nod to three entities that make up One Water Alexandria. The three water drops integrated into the stream help the logo to read as water when presented in one color and they are yet another hint at the three partners.
Shout out to Art Director, Jesse Taylor for producing excellent logo options for this process including the unique synthesis of the "1" and water droplet featured above in bottom-left corner.
T Y P O G R A P H Y
Campton Bold
Campton Bold
S U C C E E D S A F E L Y
Marketing for Change was tasked with branding an organization that helps mid-sized to smaller construction contractors use safety to bolster business success. Essentially they provided equipment that assisted in lifting and moving heavy objects to reduce injury among laborers. They also provided guidance on when and how to use the equipment. For the research phase we created a set of logos and messaging to test with our target audience. One of the names we tested was "Succeed Safely." I created a geometric mark inspired by beams to convey structure and integrity. The positive and negative space each create an "S" to stand as a monogram for the company name. This logo helped us understand how contractors would react to a more conceptual approach in contrast with a concept that featured direct representations of the equipment that was the subject of our client's safety practices. We learned that contractors reacted more positively to the direct representation. Therefore the final deliverable we created featured a handcart. The logo concept above may have been cool but when it didn't test well we had to ditch it.
T Y P O G R A P H Y
TT Norms Extrabold
TT Norms Extrabold
C H I L D A D V O C A T E S
Child Advocates of Southern California matches Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) with children. CASA volunteers are sworn officers of the court appointed by a juvenile court judge to advocate for children who are living in foster care. The challenge was to refresh this organization's logo to something more bold and modern. During research and testing we discovered that the organization's original logo — which featured a hand drawn heart — felt a little too soft and dated so we set out to create a stronger, more modern design.
Being a CASA could be distilled into three words. Heart. Grit. Hope. Those three words were my prompt for this design. The rounded, left side of the mark indicates hope while the rigid, right side evokes grit. This logo also retains some brand equity from the heart in the original mark without feeling soft or fragile. The mark is versatile and scalable. The color palette inspires hope and strength. The typography echos the geometry of the mark while maintaining a friendly aesthetic. The forms atop the heart suggest "CA," the abbreviation for Child Advocates and California
Child Advocates of Southern California matches Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) with children. CASA volunteers are sworn officers of the court appointed by a juvenile court judge to advocate for children who are living in foster care. The challenge was to refresh this organization's logo to something more bold and modern. During research and testing we discovered that the organization's original logo — which featured a hand drawn heart — felt a little too soft and dated so we set out to create a stronger, more modern design.
Being a CASA could be distilled into three words. Heart. Grit. Hope. Those three words were my prompt for this design. The rounded, left side of the mark indicates hope while the rigid, right side evokes grit. This logo also retains some brand equity from the heart in the original mark without feeling soft or fragile. The mark is versatile and scalable. The color palette inspires hope and strength. The typography echos the geometry of the mark while maintaining a friendly aesthetic. The forms atop the heart suggest "CA," the abbreviation for Child Advocates and California
T Y P O G R A P H Y
Mont Heavy
T R U T H I N T R E A T M E N T
Truth in Treatment™ is an initiative to give people with life-threatening illnesses the support, opportunity and courage to live life to the fullest even as illnesses advance. The brand celebrates individuality. It recognizes that every person is unique and guided by his / her own set of values. Truth in Treatment™ won’t assume it knows what’s best for individual consumers. It will help people get the care they want. Truth in Treatment™ is consumer-driven putting consumers at the wheel.
After some sketching and concepting we chose a simple-type approach for this logo to allow the message to shine. The "U" in the Truth in Treatment™ logo represents individuality. The vibrance of orange stands out against the stormy steel-grey to convey living life to the fullest during advanced illness.
After some sketching and concepting we chose a simple-type approach for this logo to allow the message to shine. The "U" in the Truth in Treatment™ logo represents individuality. The vibrance of orange stands out against the stormy steel-grey to convey living life to the fullest during advanced illness.
T Y P O G R A P H Y
Gotham HTF Bold (Modified)
Gotham HTF Medium
Gotham HTF Bold (Modified)
Gotham HTF Medium
T W M O N O G R A M
Ok, picture this. I'm at my desk after a long day at work, brooding over my generic T.W. monogram. I felt like a scavenger. Looking for a spark of creativity to forge the path to a new, unique monogram, I rapidly scanned my desk. My eyes shifted back and forth like a starving hyena. My environment was akin to an arid desert, beset on all sides by dry, auburn sand. I was dehydrated and starving for inspiration. Suddenly I stumbled upon an oasis — my Exacto knife! I drank deeply of its sharp, angular form. I felt a twinge as I imagined the T cutting into the W as they formed one distinctive structure. Quenched and refreshed, I pawed wildly at my desk until my fingertips made contact with the dry, papery surface of my notebook. The graphite tip of my pencil landed squarely on an intersection within my gridded paper. This precision was quickly overtaken by the rapid transcendence of an imagined form taking shape on notepaper. A new monogram was born.
Ok, picture this. I'm at my desk after a long day at work, brooding over my generic T.W. monogram. I felt like a scavenger. Looking for a spark of creativity to forge the path to a new, unique monogram, I rapidly scanned my desk. My eyes shifted back and forth like a starving hyena. My environment was akin to an arid desert, beset on all sides by dry, auburn sand. I was dehydrated and starving for inspiration. Suddenly I stumbled upon an oasis — my Exacto knife! I drank deeply of its sharp, angular form. I felt a twinge as I imagined the T cutting into the W as they formed one distinctive structure. Quenched and refreshed, I pawed wildly at my desk until my fingertips made contact with the dry, papery surface of my notebook. The graphite tip of my pencil landed squarely on an intersection within my gridded paper. This precision was quickly overtaken by the rapid transcendence of an imagined form taking shape on notepaper. A new monogram was born.
Disclaimer* The above was me having fun with a writing exercise. Designing the monogram probably wasn't that epic.
T Y P O G R A P H Y
Custom Mark
HTF Mallory Book
Custom Mark
HTF Mallory Book
E V E R Y C H I L D
This logo was designed specifically for a brand synthesis session with a client whose mission is to place children with loving families. We wanted to show them concepts along a spectrum ranging from youth-focused to parent-focused. The EveryChild mark exhibits the extreme of a youth-focused direction. Showing logo concepts that target different demographics and showcase varying brand attributes helps guide a meaningful conversation. We often present logos during branding sessions with the sole purpose of providing a preliminary visual reference for different directions. After my Creative Director, Karen Ong gave me the brief for this task I did some rough sketching. Luckily my best sketch also provided an opportunity to do some fun, semi-childish lettering. I couldn't stop thinking about adding movement to the figures within the logotype so I busted out a quick animation after the logo was approved.
T Y P O G R A P H Y
Custom Lettering
Gotham Bold Rounded
Gotham Bold Rounded
B L A C K W A T E R
This logo was created on 2015 for my capstone branding project. It all started during a trip to MedChi, a medical archive in Baltimore. I was paging through a medical journal from the 1920s when I found an add for prescription port wine. This lead me to consider an era of moonshining, speakeasies and strong drug store tonics. I discovered that moonshining was prevalent in the hills and hollows of West Virginia and along the banks of the majestic Blackwater River. The soft water from the rivers and creeks in West Virginia was ideal for distillation. My research took me to numerous antique stores to do a first hand study of packaging aesthetics from the 1920s. I focused primarily on drug store tonics, syrups, remedies and whiskys, finding an array of beautiful, hand-lettered packages. I purchased an antique bottle of Dill's White Tar and Pine Syrup so I could own a piece of this era for myself. The culmination of my research was the creation of Blackwater Distillery, modern brand inspired by the 1920s. Still Number 13 is Blackwater's signature product. It is the synthesis of drug store tonic, moonshine and the modern energy drink: un-aged whisky distilled with a potent herbal blend. Blackwater also produces an aged rye whisky for the contemporary connoisseur.
See the full project
T Y P O G R A P H Y
See the full project
T Y P O G R A P H Y
Custom Lettering
HTF Gotham Bold (Modified)
HTF Gotham Bold (Modified)
E N G I N E E R E D F O R L I F E
This was a concept logo presented to the University of Michigan. The challenge was to create a campaign to promote extracurricular development programs targeted at engineering students. EDGE underscored the advantage students would gain through applied engineering in real world scenarios. Thus having an edge when they entered the workforce. One of the ideas that came up in the brainstorming session was to highlight the experience students received through these programs as "EXP" much like experience points in gaming. I tried to combine that idea with the edge lettering through an integrated "+" symbol. I couldn't make that work so I chose to abandon the plus sign and move forward with custom lettering that echoed the weight and style of the iconic "M." The EXP idea was later presented as a separate concept. The next order of business was to work the lettering into a branded lockup. At the end of the process we determined that the EDGE lettering competed with UM's icon. Ultimately we chose a direction in which the campaign name was set in Univers Bold and very secondary to the M logo in its lockup.
T Y P O G R A P H Y
Custom Type
Univers 67 Condensed
Univers 67 Condensed
K E E P F L O R I D A R E A L
Excess nitrogen and phosphorus from residential fertilizer is harming water quality throughout the Orange County Springshed, fueling algae growth and degrading the natural habitat for wading birds, otters, fish and other wildlife that depend on the springs ecosystem. This logo was designed to accompany message testing for a campaign that encourages Orange County residents to skip the fertilizer during the summer. We tested concepts based on the self-standards of Orange County residents. Residents take pride in the local springs. The two things they love most about the springs are recreation and wildlife. The plan was to test two different messages. One would be focused on the wildlife and the other on recreation. Initially I did some sketching to show how the Keep Florida Real concept might work for wildlife and recreation but we decided to test an entirely different campaign name for wildlife messaging so I moved forward with the kayaker mark. After testing we learned that residents responded more positively to the wildlife creative and messaging. We're currently producing a campaign driven by the results of that testing. Stay tuned for more!
T Y P O G R A P H Y
Cocogoose (Modified)
Carlanta Bold Script (Modified)
D I A G N O S I S D E C O D E R
A product in the Truth in Treatment™ family, Diagnosis Decoder is a tool that helps you generate specific questions for your doctor, nurse or other health provider — questions designed to get you the complete information you deserve. Because no one knows more about you — and what you want — than you. Testing with our older audience showed that they preferred a simple, straightforward logo mark. Therefore I explored ubiquitous symbols such as the checkmark and speech bubble. Senior Product Developer, Justin Greenstein explored a mark that represented the decoding of information (middle left in the image above). The benefit of this tool is to guide a meaningful conversation between doctor and patient and the speech bubble communicated that effectively to our audience. The modular format of the speech bubble lended itself to branding a family of Decoder tool. We changed the fills in the counter of the D to represent variations on the tool that would provide specific questions for cancer and Alzhiemer's patients (bottom-right in the image above).
T Y P O G R A P H Y
HTF Gotham Bold
HTF Gotham Regular
