Mood boards + initial brainstorming
I met with my client in a local coffee shop to discuss his vision for the brand and determine how I could help him bring his ideas to life. He was looking for a logo, business card, branding guidelines, illustrative elements, social media templates, and flyers to advertise his shop at local flea markets.
He had a few ideas for his logo and the general aesthetic of the brand ready to go at our first meeting, so we used those as a jumping off point. Since most of his collection is from the late '90s - early 2000s, he wanted Y2K elements involved in his branding. We collaborated on pulling inspiration for the first mood board below. He also brought in his CD of Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor as a reference - he loved the disco ball icon used for the "O" and wanted to incorporate that shape into his logo.
My client also mentioned that he wanted to pair these Y2K elements with more minimal layouts. He liked the look of the Y2K aesthetic and the maximalism associated with it, but he wanted to reduce some of that to allow his clothing items to shine. I suggested we pair the Y2K elements with Bauhaus and Swiss design elements for his social posts, business cards, and flyers. He loved that idea and we collaborated on pulling inspiration for this more minimal look as well.
Sketches
Next, I sketched out a few ideas for the logo, brand elements, posters, and social templates. For the logo, my client sketched a rough draft of his idea on the top right of the paper. He was thinking of placing his brand name, "Platinum 2001" over a dotted globe similar to the one from Madonna's album cover. If I ran into legibility issues with his original concept, I suggested that I might try an alternate version where we wrap the text around the globe instead, and he was on board with that. He also requested flowers, sparkles, and a few other music related and Y2K illustrative elements.
Logo design
We went through two rounds of logo edits. I created my client's initial request of paring the text with a globe similar to Madonna's logo, as well as using some of the colors from the album cover. However, I felt that this was pulling too much direct inspiration from her logo and I wanted to propose an alternate option.
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I made another version where I replaced the dotted globe with a grid globe. I felt that this helped with the legibility of the text, and also would have an easier time converting to b&w if needed for his future logo needs. I also felt that using the grid would align more with the Bauhaus / Swiss inspired layouts. I showed my client these designs and expressed my concerns with the first idea. He preferred the grid as well and requested that we keep the logo all black.
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Secondary logo design
I also made my client a secondary logo with his brand name. The full logo works great for larger brand assets, but in cases where he'd need to make his logo smaller, it would become difficult to read.
Style guide​
After creating the logo and collaborating on additional brand elements like font parings, color palette, and illustrative elements, I created a style guide for my client to reference. I used these guidelines to design the rest of his assets - business cards, social templates, and posters. Whenever he decides to create his own social media posts and posters, this will also be a helpful reference for him to follow.
Brand application
Here's the assets all together!
