Category: Logo Design

Logo design examples from Steve Crooks, Freelance Designer

Food Vendor Logo Design
This food vendor logo design project was a great example of someone who has turned their passion into a viable and successful business. Staring off as just a hobby of curing their own meats, Dirty Dog Dorest have now grown into a company that supplies many farm shops and restaurants with their charcuterie products and have now expanded to a high end mobile pizza restaurant.

The inspiration for the logo was the owners dog, an important companion and employee. The logo was designed to act a seal around the products as well being able to operate as roundel on it’s own for the main brand. It also had to be designed with the pizza restaurant in mind, so needed to be flexible enough to retain its identity with alternative text added.

Logo in use on a leaflet, business cards and T-Shirt

The logo and brand design was rolled out over a series of products, website and additional marketing material.

Above are the initial visuals. the pizza version of the Dirty Dog logo and the final set-up.

Food Vendor Logo Design Project

Alongside the cured meat products, Dirty Dog Dorset purchased a Streamline trailer and opened a mobile pizza restaurant. Using a special multi-pizza oven imported from Italy, they travel the country attending fairs, festivals, corporate events and weddings. As well as the food vendor logo design project, this is also example of vehicle graphics. Liaising the install team, artwork was produced based on Photoshop visuals which had been signed off by the client.

The logo was designed to be used a stencil as it was envisaged to be used on multiple colours and textures. It also gave us the opportunity to explore physically branding the logo onto wooden chopping boards and pizza stones in order to extend the brand into merchandising.

With the cured meats and pizza restaurant now successful it opens the possibility of having more trailers to extend the customer base and attend multiple events on the same weekends. This could be beneficial given the seasonality of the outside pizza offer.

For more information about the charcuterie product packaging and label design, click here >

If you have need for a freelance designer to help you with either a logo design project, brand development ideas or vehicle graphics, please get in touch,

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Hubspot Website Design
July 18, 2023
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Food Vendor Logo Design
May 5, 2023
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Charcuterie Label Design
April 15, 2023
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May 5, 2023
Shop Signage Design and Printing

Shop Signage Design

Trafalgar Fireworks are a firework retail shop in Norwich. As well as designing their logo and brand I also helped with their shop signage design. Using their blue and red colour scheme, we designed the shop to be loud and instantly recognisable. They have a roadside ‘pub style’ sign for which we designed a simplified version of their logo. We also designed a sub-mark based on Lord Nelson’s Breast Star of the Order of Bath to highlight that the shop is open all year round. There was also an area to the left of the car park which is ideal for seasonal promotion banners.

With such bright and colourful products, it was important to keep the internal signs simple and easy to understand. Clear white wayfinders allow the customer to easily navigate the store and find the products they need. TV monitors around the store provide demos of products. I supplied edited videos of all the demos which have an animated logo and onscreen information. Accompanying the products are informational panels which provide additional product detail as well as technical information. These were designed and supplied to Trafalgar Fireworks as editable PDFs. The PDF allows the store to print their own labels. This keeps costs down and provides them the flexibility to change information when required.

As part of a brand design project for Frosts, we completed work on their restaurants and cafes. These garden centres are a popular destination for food as well as their retail offers. For the main restaurant, we designed simple, easy to read menu boards and table menus.

As well as the main restaurant, we also designed an identity for a smaller Flower Market Cafe. The design uses a chrysanthemum theme synonymous with Frosts. This graphic style gives the Flower Cafe its own identity while still looking like a Frosts food offer. Flower designs are also used on table wear and packaging. As this is a smaller boutique cafe, we also provided an editable menu template. Using Word, the cafe can now produce their own menus in house.

New to the Frosts food offer is the Market Kitchen. This new cafe and deli replaces an old food hall and offers an exciting menu alternative to the main restaurant. Designed along the theme of “buy what you eat and eat what you buy”, the cafe provided menus based on the deli ingredients available. The logo reflects the deli feel and allows the bright colours of the food to dominate.

During the COVID crisis of 2020 I worked alongside the Zoological Society of East Anglia to convert a number of buildings into food offers. This required simple effective branding options with the flexibility to change over time. For more details on the project click here >

The Keepers Hut and Old Forge at Banham Zoo. Plus example of Menu Board

Sometimes we need to produce visuals of shop signage designs. This enables fitters to accurately price a job and help communicate your vision for the signage. It can also help secure planning permission. Click here for shop signage design visuals for an Aldeburgh shop and Woodbridge shop .

Examples of the Runaway Coast London Cale Street, Southwold and flagship Aldeburgh shop. Also examples the Pignut Woodbridge shop and wall graphic

If you need to discuss a shop signage design project, then please get in touch. I can help through from the initial visuals to the final artwork. I have experience working alongside sign makers and fitters and will help make sure your vision becomes a reality. Contact me here.

October 26, 2020
Camping Logo Design for Suffolk Farm Campsite

A new camping logo design for Easton Farm Park in Suffolk. This brand new 70 pitch campsite is next to farm and boasts a brand new toilet block and amazing onsite staff. Ideal for families looking to escape to Suffolk, the campsite needed its own identity. This was to enable the campsite to attract all campers, not just those wanting to visit the farm. I designed their logo and all the supporting material.

The camping logo design needed to compliment the main logo. In order to retain some familiarity, we used the shape and the main text element from the main logo. This was combined with a handwritten font to give the logo design a rustic ‘outdoor’ feel. Silhouetted figures of children are added to emphasise the family nature of the campsite. As we will be using the logo as a single colour object on the signage and visitor material, it was important the logo function in black and white.

Examples of the camping logo design in action. 1) This shows a vehicle pass for campers to show which vehicles are allowed on site. The vehicle pass has a reminder on the vehicle rules on the reverse. 2) An order form for campfires and BBQ items. 3) A site map handout showing all the pitches and water points. 4) A local map highlighting important visitor information such as the nearest doctors, vets and supermarkets. The support elements are designed to be as simple as possible so as to not overload the visitor with too much information.

As well as all the printed material, we also produced various social media and website graphics.

With many great reviews on their Facebook page, it looks like campsite is a huge success. If you have a logo design project then get in touch. We can discuss what the steps should be and I can help make your business a success.

July 14, 2020
BBQ logo design for Suffolk Drive in Smokehouse

The Smokehouse Barbecue is a new drive-in restaurant in Suffolk. The Smokehouse offer smoked meats and gourmet burgers. They’ve travelled throughout the US and have developed their own recipes based on the those experiences. We opted for a traditional BBQ logo design style to clearly identify the style of food on offer. This also helps imply the authenticity of the food. These traditional stamp/label designs are typical of the US South West.

Logo design for the new Smokehouse Drive In Diner. Supplied as a vector file for the Smokehouse to use on internal and external signage.

We used a red colour scheme to give the design some ‘heat’ and added some roughing of the lines to add texture and imply the logo has been branded.

Brand design elements showing the logo on a white background, business card designs and vehicle graphic designs

We also introduced a bulls head to the top of the logo. This gives us an extra element that we can use in isolation when we need an additional detail. One issue with using such a traditional logo design is that is can look like other examples. The bulls head and the Suffolk Barns banner help give the logo individuality. The Suffolk Barns banner is also added to the base of the BBQ logo design to show their location and to help interested customers searching for them online.

Menu design for print and social media and staff uniform design. Also shown is the new T Shirt design to help promote the brand.

The stamp logo design is designed to work in mono. This gives it great versatility when looking to design items such as clothing. The popularity of these designs will enable the Smokehouse to produce apparel to sell and help increase awareness. As demonstrated above this mono BBQ logo design is good to use on textures and patterns. In this case we have added it to some smoking coals on the front of the menu. This really helps emphasise the flavour and style of the cooking.

Please check out my logo designs page for more examples. If you have any questions, or have a similar design project, please get in touch.

July 13, 2020
Brand Design for Rugby Sports Academies

Brand design for PSA Academies are UK, French and Irish high performance rugby academies. With globally recognised management and coaches including French rugby legend Philippe Saint-André, they provide the next generation of rugby players a unique and transformative experience enabling them to take their skills to a whole new level. In order to help communicate their forward thinking vision, they to totally rethink their visual brand.

We designed a new logo and supporting brand identity. The new logo is designed to be representative of their core rugby business and be easily identified as a leading sports brand. As it was to be used on clothing and other apparel, the logo design needed to as effective reversed out of a single colour as when seen with the corporate colours.

PSA Clothing and Kit Bag

The visual identity design extended into their offline support material such as documentation and training packs, as well as marketing material such as posters and leaflets. The visual identity was designed to give PSA Academies a dynamic, strong feel. Where possible we wanted to reduce the amount of images used on the material and just have the audience concentrate on a single hero image. The use of the striking diagonal shape was partly to help with the energetic design, but also to provide the hero image the most amount of real estate whilst still retaining the white space.

PSA Sales Poster Design showing the green version of the logo for the Irish audience.

PSA Documentation pack Design

We have continued to develop the brand and have introduced a new website and pitch side banners. We have also introduced a green version of the logo specifically for the Irish audience.

PSA Academies Class at the Tignes Academy

The identity design has been very well received and it is especially beneficial that the target audience are utilising their team wear away from the academies building a strong following and brand recognition.

If you have a similar project where you need to rethink your brand identity, then please get in touch >>>

July 3, 2020
Cafe Logo Designs for new Food Outlets at Suffolk Attraction

These cafe logo designs are part of a wider project for the Zoological Society of East Anglia. Banham Zoo and Africa Alive are much loved local attractions and a vital part of the conservation efforts to help many endangered animals. As they prepared to open their doors after a lengthy spell, they needed to convert a number of underused building to new food outlets. This would enable them to spread visitors out across the park by increasing their catering options. This would help lessen the queues for the main food outlets. The main food outlets were all converted to takeaway cafes. As well as limiting the queues, the new outlets would also help increase the average spend of each visitor. It would also increase the choices available and allow for future seasonal food offers.

Examples of Cafe Logo Designs for Banham Zoo and Africa Alive

I was tasked to design a number of cafe logo designs to each of the new outlets their own identity. With time and money in limited supply, the designs need to be quick, simple and effective.

Snack Shack and Ice Cream Hut logos for Banham Zoo and Africa Alive

As part of the design process we needed to consider how the outlets would be used in the future. With any attraction, seasonality is key. The ability to quickly change a food offer would be an important step. This would allow the zoos to be flexible when opening during the winter. To enable this I designed a system of empty belly signage. This is where we have the main branding as permanent signs with temporary menu boards. The menu will then swap depending on the offer.

The Keepers Hut and Old Forge at Banham Zoo. Plus example of Menu Board

Giving each outlet its own identity has additional benefits. Signage can be used over the two locations providing cost effective printing. We can build on these brands and introduce offers which can be redeemed in each zoo. This will introduce familiarity with the outlets and help encourage visits to the sister zoo.

These cafe logo designs were part of a larger project to enable the zoos to reopen. Get in touch if you would like to know more about this project. If you would like to see other logo design projects, click here.

July 2, 2020
Fundraising Event Design – The Big Rugby Run

As a graphic designer it is good to be part of fundraising event design projects. We often get caught up in everyday issues, so to break away from and produce graphic design for good causes is beneficial for everyone. I was fortunate to be involved in the Big Rugby Run. This was a wonderful initiative from PSA Academies. This event invited rugby teams in Ireland to run a virtual relay and raise money for Feed the Heroes. Feed the Heroes provides essential meals to the frontline medical staff fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 5 weeks, the Big Rugby Run managed to get 115 teams registered and hundreds of rugby players involved. To date, the fundraising event has raised a staggering €30,000.

High Profile Partners

As part of the event, the Big Rugby Run team attracted some big named partners. StatSports, McDonalds, The Curragh Racecourse and the Aviva Stadium all donated prizes. The prizes were used for a draw to provide an extra incentive to the rugby clubs. The draw also offered an opportunity for many other organisations, including PSA Academies to get their name in front of the clubs and their players.

Fundraising Event Pack and Logo Design

The first task was to design a simple logo. The Big Rugby Run logo uses a clear sans serif font with some added texture to imply movement. As this is aimed at a rugby audience, the typography puts emphasis on the BIG and Run to put the task beyond doubt. The rugby ball provides a little touch to help soften the overall impact. We added the hashtag below the logo as a way to bring the content together across all platforms.

The design style used a textured background as a visual tool to bring all the elements together. This too helped to provide movement in the design. We used real rugby players from the PSA Academies, giving them a simple monotone feel. Utilising a limited colour pallet helped focus attention on the content and not overwhelm the reader. It also helps imply a disposability to the design as this is a one-off event. It also allows us the opportunity to in the future to change the colour scheme to help differentiate the event from year to year.

Social Media Support

In order to promote the event in such a short timescale, they relied heavily on social media. In order to give confidence to those considering participating we made sure all social media elements reflected the design style. Using the background as a template, the Big Rugby Run team were able to produce their own social media graphics on the fly, but keep them consistent with the main elements.

Facebook cover and Twitter header for the Big Rugby Run

Fundraising Event Design Icons

In order help the visual communication of the fundraising event design, we designed some simple icons. These were used as a way to highlight the process and break up the explanatory text. Icons such as these are a great way to distill important information helping the overall communication.

If you have a similar project for a charity or non-profit organisation, then please do get in touch. These projects are always welcome and discounts will be given to those wanting to promote a worthy cause. Recent projects include helping the Zoological Society of East Anglia fund-raising, helping Stowmarket ASD Saturday Clubs with a website and supporting the John Peel Centre with their graphics.

May 15, 2020
Legastat Brand Development

Legastat brand development project for a London based legal services provider.

The project was to totally redesign their logo and corporate identity. The old identity had not been refreshed since the 1960s and didn’t reflect their new digital services. Legastat are well known and well regarded within the legal professional and are considered one of the countries leading litigation support companies. They have an iconic building in the heart of Chancery Lane and Lincoln’s Inn Fields which everybody within the legal sector is aware of. The danger was, people might confuse ‘iconic’ with out-of-date so we began a process of exploring their logo and their visual identity. We felt it was important to experiment with a few ideas, each moving further away from the existing brand identity. This enabled us to discover what was crucial about how Legastat currently present themselves and what elements need to be retained.

Website design for Legastat. To view site click here >

The new Legastat brand development moves the business into a new digital age. The supporting symbol combines the fundamental historical basis of their business, reprographics, with a new twist suggesting new technology based services such as digital archiving. The overarching proposition is demonstrate Legastat specialise in all aspect of legal documentation.

LinkedIn and Twitter Page designs for UK Legal eDisclosure business. This shows how to bring brand consistency across all platforms

As green is such a dominant colour in the history and understanding of the business we have chosen to launch the new identity using similar, but richer green. Once established, this strong colour will be supported by a varied colour pallet to enable Legastat to use more variety in their promotional material.

A bold substantial font carries a sense of authority. The most important aspect of the identity is the name and clients positive relation to it. Their clients know Legastat and need to be able to identify them quickly and easily. The bold font also allows us to add colour to the letterforms adding an interesting new dimension. We also added the descriptor line ‘Expert Litigation Support‘ to help communicate the service to new business.

Legastat A5 6pp leaflet. A quick and simple way to promote the new brand and how the business communicates its four core services, electronic disclosure, reprographics, scanning and legal reviews.

The new brand identity was launched in Spring 19. If you have a similar project and need to work through ideas to establish a new brand identity, then get in touch and I’ll happily discuss in more detail the process behind the Legastat brand development.

January 24, 2020
Christmas Campaign Design for UK Garden Centres

This Christmas campaign design is part of an on going brand development project with Frosts Garden Centres. For more detail of the main brand design, click here >

Everyone Love Christmas at Frosts was developed alongside the Frosts marketing and design team. They wanted a beautiful design they could use various elements from throughout their garden centres. They designed a campaign based around 5 unique animal illustrations, a fox, a robin, a deer, a squirrel and a mouse.

Starting with the initial sketches, we designed each character to be used individually and part of a set. This included their use with a Christmas background made up of holly, stars, hearts and mistletoe. Using this background we designed a set of Christmas baubles to accompany the tagline ‘Everyone loves…’. I then produced each character as a lino cut. This gave them a sense of individuality and added to their personality. Once they were printed, the characters were scanned in and redrawn in order to make them vector graphics. This gave us the option to use them and a much larger scale.

The Christmas campaign design was then rolled out over 2500 separate items of Point of Sale and Information graphics. With 4 different locations and hundreds of items in this was quite the undertaking. Using the Christmas characters and the Christmas pattern we designed POS specifically for each of the 4 locations helping them transform the centres into winter wonderlands.

POS Point of Sale design showing Christmas tree display unit, height chart and on tree bauble. Also showing 6m display board in main Christmas area.

Working closely with the in-house marketing team we also need to develop ways of communicating the choices of certain items to the customer. This included how they were to make an informed decision on which tree, the lights and the decorations. This involved working alongside the build and installation teams in order to ensure the large graphics were produced to the correct specifications. The Light Your Tree Point of Sale shown above has a main graphic printed on the back wall with working lights in separate boards next to a working tree. In order to complete the look, each tree also has baubles showing which light is on display and a branded plinth for the tree to be displayed on.

The design was also used on a series of adverts and supporting leaflets. In order to make the brand fit with the Christmas feel, we changed the brand green to a strong dark red and complimentary gold. Where possible we chose to print the gold as a 5th colour metallic special giving the leaflets a luxury Christmas look.

The pattern made up of the animals and other Christmas motifs was an excellent way to brand Christmas products such as voucher cards, hampers and gifts. This was a great way to ensure all products had the Frosts Christmas design irrespective of supplier and county of origin. We either supplied finished artwork or supplied the pattern to the supplier to produce their own packaging.

There are many ways of transforming a brand for specific campaigns, be it Christmas, Easter or commercial activity such as Black Friday. If you would like to discuss ideas on how we can convert your brand to fit a campaign, please contact me and I’m sure I can help.

November 18, 2019
Software Development Company based in Suffolk Brand Identity Design

Maly IT are a software development company based in Suffolk. They develop tailored software building bespoke solutions specialising on high end workflow management and quality assurance. This has enabled them to establish themselves as a leading provider to business sectors that require bespoke software capable of handing their regulatory and compliance needs.

As a software development company Maly IT find themselves in a sector saturated with solution providers. These companies will often find themselves being quite abstract in how they present themselves as they are often offering solutions which have to tangible, visual representation. In order to help Maly IT stand out from the crowd, we developed a bold dynamic design. The logo is strong and simple highlighting the efficiency of their software, with a nod to the coding aspect implying their ability to build tailored software which is not just ‘out-of-the-box’.

The shapes which contain the logo appears in different forms across all marketing material helping to emphasise the bespoke offering. The use of this ever changing form helps give the design a distinctive feel and lessen the need to show sector specific imagery. This give Maly IT the ability to tailor their marketing as they do their software to maximise the impact to prospective clients.

The choice of colours pallet is designed to be a sympathetic to the regulatory sectors in pharmaceuticals, education, health and energy. The use of the dark and light shades allows the logo to be as effective in solid colour as is on a white background. These colours now form the basis for additions to the marketing material such as clothing and a new describer presentation as seen on their homepage.

If you are a software development company or similar business that needs to stand out then, drop me an email and we can discuss this projects and others and I’m sure I can offer a similar simple, but dynamic solution.

November 15, 2019
Packaging Design Project for Trafalgar Fireworks
This packaging design project for Trafalgar Fireworks involves many individual products and also their counter display point of sale units.

The products needed to be brash and bold to attract the audience wanting these novelty products. These are sold all across the UK in a variety of outlets. These range from small ‘corner shop’ retailers to large chains such as Hawkins Bazaar and John Lewis.

Outdoor and Indoor Fireworks Packaging primarily for small retailers and novelty gift suppliers

All the packaging use similar images and a common typeface to help bring the products together as a range. Although not essential as most items are stocked independently of each other, this does allow Trafalgar Fireworks to market the range more effectively. We have found this helps push new lines into stockists with them being familiar with previous products.

Counter display units come with all the products inside with a perforated rip top to allow quick simple display. The CDUs also come with a header card to give the product extra visual impact. The Balls of Fire and the Spinning Saucers are new innovative products imported into the UK market for the first time. In oder to help communicate how these products work, we developed a CDU design with an integral video display.

Novelty banging and spinning products with counter display unit with video display

Indoor and outdoor small sparkler packaging and their respective counter display units.

An additional challenge is the variety of different printing and artwork techniques required. Sparkler products for example are foil packs and the CDUs often involve complicated cutter guides.

We also need to carefully consider how to save money during production. With bulk products such as these, every penny counts. In order to help keep costs down we introduced ways of printing products that involved using common elements and either over printing variations or using stickers for product modifications. An example of this the the Trafalgar Fireworks Ice Fountains, of which there are four colour options, gold, silver, blue and pink. Rather that print four separate boxes, we designed a single common box and a range of stickers. The stickers contained all product specific information, such as the colour, product reference number and bar code. The stickers were designed with a clear swatch and image to easily identify the product option. The sticker was then designed in such a sway that it wrapped around the box in order to display the product colour both on the top of the box and the side giving the retailer a choice on how to stack the item. The bar code then appears on the back of the box so not to obscure the customer information.

Ice Fountain packs with additional stickers. 4 different colour options are offered with a single box with stickers showing the colour of the product inside.

Monster sparkler foil packaging with euro slot. Also sold in counter display units.

As most products are printed at source in China, it was important to make the artwork as simple as possible. The basic rules to follow are
- No embedded fonts. All fonts must be outlined as the systems used by the printers will often have font issues due to their age
- Send files with and without the cutter guide embedded. This enables the factories to make small adjustments. It is often the case that the original factory sourced to print the products will no longer be able to complete the order, so an alternative company is found.
- Make sure the artwork is complete. It is tempting sometimes when time is against you to send artwork to print and have the printer add in the final information prior to production. This however can lead to complications and its difficult to get a proof from the factory before they go to print. With fireworks, this is especially important and there is a lot of regulatory information to be added, and if this is incorrect, it will cause the whole batch to un-sellable.
As well at this packaging design project yu can check out the brand identity design project case study here > The packs can also be found on their ecommerce website (see the case study here >)

For more examples of packaging design projects, or if you have any questions about the Trafalgar Fireworks project, please contact me >
November 12, 2019
Brand Design Refresh for UK Garden Centre Corporate Identity

The brief was to work alongside the Frosts Garden Centre Marketing team to help them refresh their existing brand identity. This brand design refresh project was to evolve the original logo and corporate guidelines to better communicate who Frosts are now. During a series of exploratory discussions we felt the logo should reflect the legacy of previous designs. The new should be supported by an all new visual style enabling Frosts to look fresh and relevant as a retail destination as well as a garden centre.

Brand design refresh visuals showing how the logo will work on external signage

The new logo is based on the existing typeface. The decision was made early on that the name no longer needed the curved effect and it was felt the leaves no longer represented the wide variety of goods and services available at the centres. The existing typeface was softened slightly with a redrawn ‘R’ to give the letterforms a pleasing flow and balance. The colour was selected from the existing colour pallet.

Over a few months we collaborated by producing a number of visuals showing how the new brand would work in context. This enabled everyone within the centre to see how the brand design refresh was developing and explore all possible examples of use.

In order to help communicate the Frosts history and values we introduced new descriptor line and chose to add the year the centre was established. This helped add to the trusted nature of the brand and emphasise the heritage the Frost’s customers love.

New road sign, wayfinders and POS

The new brand design refresh works equally well on white, or reversed out of the brand green. We also developed a new set of typographical guidelines with a strong san serif font working alongside a new more conversational script font.

Brand items such as Thank You packaging note, paper bag, menus, labels and staff card

POS examples for the Frosts brand design refresh

Frosts website and MailChimp newsletter templates

Christmas Campaign Design

Alongside the main brand, we also collaborated on a Christmas campaign design for all 4 garden centres. Using 5 hand drawn characters, the campaign uses a Christmas pattern to help transform the centres into Christmas wonderlands.

A case study highlighting the Christmas campaign design can be found here >

If you have a similar brand design project, or have any questions about the Frosts project, please get in touch >>>

November 11, 2019
Care Development East Brand Identity and Website Design

Care Development East are an independent, non-profit making, organisation focused on promoting excellence across the social care and health workforce in the east of England. They provide impartial advice, support, guidance and information to many businesses and individuals in the care sector.

Previously The Suffolk Brokerage, their logo centred around the Orwell Bridge. This is something they were keen to retain in the new brand because their service users all recognised the bridge and its place in the Suffolk countryside. We developed various stylised versions of the bridge and open this up to discussion both from with the organisation and a selected number of service users. It was decided the simple curved illustration with the iconic double ‘legs’ best represented the idea.

Once we had developed the logo, the visual identity was rolled out over all their material, including a new website, newsletters and social media. The simple bridge illustration was very much designed with the newsletters and social media in mind. With a long organisation name, it was important the bridge logo be able to be identifiable in isolation, leaving the name to rendered from the social media page name.

The purple colour was heavily used in the original Suffolk Brokerage visual identity and for this reason we decided to retain it for the new Care Development East brand. Alongside this, we introduced a new green to provide a contrasting highlight. Using these colours in combination really helped with services users being able to quickly identify Care Development East and their information.

The Care Development East website was developed in WordPress giving them and their communication team total control over all content. We sourced and implemented various plug-ins to make updating the site as easy as possible and add functionality. The Training Exchange provides a dynamic list of training opportunities via a simple to use interface. The Training Provider section provides a list of all providers in the Eastern region offering RQF courses for the care sector.

As one of the main roles of Care Development East is the dissemination of information, we also set up a MailChimp account and a series of templates which allow them to send up-t0-date information to their database.

Please get in touch if you would like to discuss this, or any other projects with relevance to logo and brand design.

October 15, 2019
Suffolk Coffee Shop Logo and Brand Design

Suffolk Coffee Shop ‘Coffee Etcetera’ are based at the Suffolk Barns on the A140. Formally the Chilli Farm they needed to develop a new brand for their new coffee shop. With their love of chillis and American cuisine, they wanted a cafe to offer more than just coffee and cakes. In order to offer something different, they have decided to offer a more conventional cafe during the day and a series of evening events. Being open in the evenings for special events will allow Coffee Etc to attract a different customer than a traditional Suffolk Coffee Shop and needed a visual identity to make this possible. We also had to consider how the brand could bring these very different audiences together.

Starting with the logo, we wanted to make it simple to use and simple to reproduce on tableware, clothing, windows and printed literature. The silhouette allows us to use the logo with a strong background colour. This gives the logo an immediate impact and instantly show this is not an old fashioned coffee shop. Not relying on a single brand colour allows the logo to moulded to different events whilst retaining its overall identity.

The design of the supporting material reflects the busy, eclectic atmosphere of a vibrant Suffolk Coffee Shop the business wants to promote. With such a varied offering we added images of food and associated equipment to the poster designs (below). This helps visually identify the event and in combination and with a strong colour pallet, gave each event its own look and feel.

This template can then be rolled out to whatever type of event the cafe offers. This gives them the flexibility to try different events, but still have them appear part of an overall brand strategy.

The examples above show a main coffee shop poster, a Texas style smoked meats evening event and a day time crafting meet up. All these events are very different, yet the design allows them to not only appeal to their individual audiences, but display that they are part of the Coffee Etcetera brand.

1200px wide Facebook Menu

If you would like to know more about this project, or any other logo design or brand development projects, please get in touch. The case studies on this website do not include all my work for marketing agencies and independent marketing consultants, the work of which I’ll be able to email you on request.

October 11, 2019
Investment Bank Logo and brand design – UK based

Investment Bank KXV’s brief was to design a simple, bold design that enabled them to make an impact at investor conferences.

The logo design introduced the simple diagonal line mechanism demonstrating investment. The strong shapes help communicate their confidence and their ambitious approach to investment banking.

We designed the colour pallet to change from year to year, with the 2020 being the two tones blue. The plan is then to select a new colour for the following years to keep the brand fresh in the mind of investors. The logo was designed with this in mind so can be used on white, or reversed out of any solid colour. KXV hope this flexible approach will enable them to appear more dynamic than their larger investment bank rivals.

One of the main criteria for KXV Investment Bank was to move away from stock images and only use ‘real’ customers when showing testimonials or campaign messages. The strong shapes used on the brochure covers allow for this. Each cover of a report or presentation has it’s own shape design with a nod to the contents. These examples show a simple ‘tech’ pattern for a report on cyber security and a zig zag pattern for reports on market fluctuation and opportunities.

We developed a campaign based on the individual priorities of the customer called ‘My Priority’ where KXV asked a number of customers why they felt they wanted help with their investments. This enabled us to use the real customers to give the campaign an real world feel and show people future customers could identity with.

Website design

Annual report design

Exhibition stand design and supporting corporate literature design

If you have any queries, or wish to contact me for more examples, please drop me a line. There are many more examples of brand and logo design on the website, plus many more which have been commissioned by marketing agencies and marketing consultants. Due to rights reasons, these are not shown on the website but these design case study examples can be shown via email.

September 18, 2019
Animated Logo Design for International Interior Art Designer

Animated logo design is becoming more popular as we look to make websites and their visual brand more dynamic. Animating the logo is a great way to add movement and help stand out from in your sector.

As part of a project with a marketing consultant, we developed a new logo and then explored ways to make the brand more exciting. As an interior designer working in a very experimental and innovate way, the client was very receptive to new ways of presenting the brand. As part of a delivering a complete brand for the new business, we introduced this animated logo design.

As this project was completed on behalf of a marketing consultant, I have removed the real name of the art director. If you wish to discuss this project in more detail and see what else we produced as part of the animated logo design project, then please contact me.

The logo itself was a typographic element designed to be clean and simple because we didn’t want it to over power the client’s interior design pieces. It was also to be used as a stencil and needed to be easily recreated in stitched fabric or etched on glass. Away from the design pieces, we wanted to use the logo in more inventive way and animating it helped really communicate the individuality on websites and presentations. This was particularly important as the business was seeking investment for the next stage of their growth, including gallery space in central London.

The animated logo combined the typographic logo style with footage of a falling ink drop. As the ink drop hit the surface, the shape it forms indicated the variation and individuality to seen within the designs. The effect was produced by using a mixture of Adobe Animate, Premier Pro and After Effects. This was then exported as MP4 files for use in the client presentations and as an animated GIF for use on the website and supporting digital marketing.

If you have a similar project, or are looking for a freelance logo designer, then please contact me for more examples.

August 25, 2019
Hector Fox Interior Design Studio Corporate Identity

Hector Fox is a sub brand designed for an interior design studio based within TWP Designs. (brand identity project can be found here >). They currently have a good industry reputation within the sector for their work within the restaurant and hotel sector as property refurbishment specialists. However, as a property refurbishment company they were often being overlooked by businesses looking for a design led approach. By this we mean those who wanted to employ an interior design studio to head the project. Traditionally an interior design studio would submit designs and concepts, with the property refurbishment entering to process much further on. The property refurbishment specialists would then take these concepts and implement them.

TWP have an excellent in-house design team producing high end creative concepts for many of their clients. In order to promote these services we felt the best way was to re-brand this area as a stand alone interior design studio. This would allow the team to have fun with the new brand and produce more experimental marketing material aimed at the design side of the sector. This would leave the traditional marketing activity and the main brand untouched.

For the new brand we produced a new logo and corporate stationery along with a new website and social media graphics. This was a quick and simple way to approach the market and test the viability of setting up a completely new interior design studio.

Do you have a similar problem in that your brand is associated with a particular sector? Is this inhibiting any growth into new areas due to people not understand your service? Perhaps you too need to consider a sub-brand to promote and area of the business you want to grow without damaging your overall brand. Get in touch and we could discuss how we approached this Hector Fox project and how a similar approach could help you.

April 17, 2018
Hyjocool UX UI Design for App

This app design project for Hyjocool provides installers with a quick reference guide to all the specifications and data for their range of restaurant air movement products. It is also designed as a useful toll to enable quick communication with the Hyjocool Help Desk.

Research and Creative Concept

This app design project was the result of conversations with Hyjocool about how they wanted to re-engage with installers and position themselves as a modern, progressive company. Taking these objectives, we explored various concepts before moving the app design project forward. We felt this was the best way to display information, much of which already existed, in an exciting new way. The app would then act a campaign to promote the company as well as proving to be a value tool in itself.

App Design

The app is designed to be simple and easy to use. Installers will often need access to data sheets and installation guides while installing a new system. The provision of this app is gives the installer another good reason to choose a Hyjocool product as they know the information will be easy to find and up to date. It also highlights the dedicated Help Desk.

The products are split into 3 main areas and this can be accessed by a main homepage and through the menu navigation. From here the installer can then drill down to the specific product data.

Screen examples of app design for Hyjocool. Screens show (from left to right) intro screen, main navigation homepage, menu example, product selector, help desk interface

App Design Wireframes

Before any design was completed, we produced a set wireframes to explore how the app would work and the relationship between the pages. Once we were satisfied all the content was available we completed a set of design visuals. These are currently being worked up as a functioning prototype ready to be tested.

Wireframe examples for the Hyjocool app design showing (from left to right): Main homepage, menu example, product range page, product range page with expanded detail.

App Logo and Identity Design

It was important to Hyjocool that the app had it’s own identity. They wanted it to be more that just a tool, they wanted it to add positively to the overall brand perception. The logo designed added value to the app and installers value the way it looks and feels. The identity positioned the app as the as a help to the installers and help elevate any fears they had about accessing assistance.

Do you have an idea for an app to help your business communicate with your customers? Get in touch and we can talk ideas and how best to make it happen. As with this project, as a freelance designer and not just an app designer I am best place to help design it’s own identity and give it a personality of it’s own.

April 12, 2018
UX UI Design for White Label Home Control App

This is an example of UX UI design project for a home control app. This app is being developed by a London based investment company who have stakes in both a CCTV provider and home security business. Their plan is to make available a white label app that can control various home functions and offer it as part of a deal with new energy providers.

Many new energy providers are entering the UK market and this app is offered free in return for the opportunity to provide the customers with home security. Using a white label app offers considerable savings for the energy provider. It also allows the provider to offer the app immediately without needing to embark on a lengthy development process.

Selection of screens showing the app. From left to right: Homepage offering energy provider branding, Current Status screen showing an overview of energy usage and any other chosen services, Menu, Room overview showing each room’s temperature, Example of individual room controls, Temperature control.

The apps works via a number of APIs from the security software that controls the alarms, access points and CCTV. It will then use the smart meters provided by the energy provider to show customer energy use. Additional functionality such as internet control and audio/visual control will then offered as add-ons. Basic SONOS controls for example can be controlled via the app. The app is now in production ready for launch in AW18.

Examples of UX UI design wireframes for main status page, room selector and room control interface

The UX UI design will be tailored to each provider, allowing then to add their own brand identity. As far as the consumer is aware, the app is part of the energy provider’s service so any reference to the white label brand is removed. With this in mind, the design has to be easily adaptable.

As well as the UX UI design we also designed a proposal document and identity for the white label version of the app.

White label branding to use on the app plus example of tailored proposal document designed for to pitch to each energy provider.

Do you have a project you need a freelance UX UI designer to assist with? Get in touch for more examples of interface design and other design projects I have been involved in.

April 7, 2018
Start Up Company Design – VetPharm Pharmaceuticals

This start up company design case study for VetPharm Pharmaceuticals is a demonstration of how working with a business from the initial development meetings through to full launch and beyond.

Working with the VetPharm Directors, we produced a series of brand designs while they prepared the company for launch. All the directors were leaving positions within the pharmaceutical sector and would be under contractual embargo with regards existing contacts. Having the brand design and website ready to go from day one allowed them to begin to attract new contacts while honouring their contracts.

The project was typical in its nature in that those involved were experts at developing products and getting them to market, but hadn’t previously been involved in the design and marketing. Due to the sensitive nature of the relationship with their previous employer, they needed to make employ a new freelance graphic designer who would help understand their vision and work with them as they formulated the new company.

We began work by researching similar global businesses and examining their corporate identities. From the research we established that our new identity had to be flexible enough to reach a range of very different customers.

VetPharm went on to bring a number of original new products to market alongside mass produced animal health medicines such as Ivermectin. These products were sold on global market with particular strength in Vietnam/Korea, the Middle East and Africa. as well as commercial farming products, we developed packaging for the domestic pet market.

Alongside the packaging range, we produced sales literature, exhibitions, websites, including mini-sites to target niche products and I even helped art direct various photoshoots in their Uk and Irish production facilities.

As they matured, VetPharm introduced an in-house manufacturing department which was capable of inventing and testing new products. As moved away from the initial start up company design we explored the best way to sell to these countries and how the cultures responded to colour and design. For example, the African market responded to images of the animals on the packaging, primarily because a lot of the farming population are illiterate and the Middle Eastern market responded to metallic finishes and colours as they represented quality.

Being able to acquire the relevant export licenses for numerous countries, VetPharm emerged as a partner for many larger companies. After 10 years of successful growth, VetPharm was sold to US pharmaceutical giant Bimeda who continue to sell and develop the many innovate products. As part of the hand over, I worked closely with the Bimeda team in Chicago to convert all the VetPharm packaging over to the US design.

If you have any questions about VetPharm’s growth from start up company design to acquisition, or have a similar start up business, then please get in touch >

February 17, 2018
Design for BamBase Bamboo Yoga Wear

Bambase was a sub-brand specifically created to sell a range of bamboo yoga wear. Bamboo has some special characteristics which needed to be reflected in the design.

Bamboo is a fast growing plant making it ideal to farm for commercial use. It also requires very little water and combined with it’s natural defences which require no pesticides this makes it the perfect environmental choice. The design reflects this with a simple, single colour print onto recycled material. The obvious shape of the bamboo plant helps reenforce the natural product and gives the graphics an interesting, attractive quality. The use of the single colour print gives the design a strong brand identity which looks great on all media. It also helps in keeping the print costs down allowing BamBase to focus on the materials ensuring they are of good quality as well as sustainable.

Bambase Bamboo yoga wear box design and artwork

Bamboo yoga wear design project

As part of the project we produced packaging design that had section to remaining clear allowing consumers to touch the product. This was important as one of the great benefits of bamboo is how it feels. Larger products were accompanied by swing tags with the sizes added giving the shops the task of circling the relevant size. A series of posters and POS display units were produced to support in store marketing. These identified the benefits of bamboo and educated the consumers on why the product needed their attention.

Bambase swing tag, poster and POS display

Do you have a project that needs a wide range of design expertise to bring to the market? As a multi-skilled graphic designer I am ideal for projects that have many different media which need to be considered. I have plenty of other examples such as a consumer homewares brand, retail and trade company and a leading leisure destination.

January 30, 2018
The Space Burston Yoga and Wellbeing Logo Design

The Space Burston is a yoga studio and wellbeing treatment room in Norfolk. The Space wanted a light modern logo and visual identity to use on their premises and supporting material.

We developed a logo which combined yoga poses with silhouettes of everyday people enjoying movement. It was important to demonstrate The Space was for all types of customer as they needed to illustrate that they offered both wellbeing classes as well as specialised treatments. The logo therefore shows a runner to demonstrate sports massage, a gardener to show treatments for all ages and a young mother to show how they offer classes for babies and parents. The use of grey is designed to give the logo and identity a calming effect and to be used as a colour pallet within the building.

The Space Burston – Visual identity colour scheme

As part of The Space’s visual identity, we chose three warm greys to use alongside white. This gave us a greater variety of tones when producing support material. The use of silhouettes in the logo lends itself very nicely to using the human form in these tonal greys. For promotional material we felt we needed an accent colour to help lift the leaflets and flyers. What worked well is an aqua blue as this compliments the grey and is a vibrant and eye catching addition.

As a start up business it was important they kept costs to a minimum. As part of the project I helped set up a WordPress website which they have complete control over. I also supplied graphics to help their social media activity. As the business has matured we are now looking at a more extensive site which will offer online bookings.

For more details on The Space Burston and how to book classes or treatments, visit their website here >

If you have a start up business and are looking for an experienced graphic designer to help, then drop me a line. As with The Space I offer far more than just logo design and new visual identity. I can help identify common pitfalls often encountered by a start up business and provide valuable advice which will save you money and get you out in the market as quickly as possible.

January 16, 2018
Care Careers East Logo Design and Website Project

Care Careers East are a specialist recruitment service for care professionals in Suffolk and Norfolk. The provide a bespoke service aimed at getting a better quality candidate for the many care service provides across the region. The issue the care providers have is traditional recruitment sites are often beyond their budget. Care Careers East also vet each candidate on their behalf and only put forward those they feel are of a certain quality. They also assist candidates work on their CVs and help find training opportunities to help raise the overall quality of those seeking jobs in care.

Care Careers East Logo Design

The Care Careers East logo uses simple letter forms making it easy to identify. The extra touch of including the east facing arrow as part of the ‘e’ gives provides an energetic shape to use on corporate material and throughout their corporate identity. The arrow not only illustrates the Eastern focus of the service, but also provides a forward movement supporting their ‘Fast Forwarding Your Career‘ descriptor line.

Green is a colour heavily associated with the care profession and Care Careers East wanted to position themselves very much within that tradition. The use of two greens gives them a strong corporate colour but retain the flexibility of dark and light. The logo and the identity is therefore just as effective reversed out of the solid green.

The Care Careers Logo and Website Homepage

Care Careers East Website Design

Before designing the website we looked at many pre-built options and WordPress plugins that offer recruitment functionality. None of these were exactly what we needed so we built our own. The main reason for the bespoke build is we wanted the site to have a more hands on approach for the candidates. One of the issues with the care profession is that a great many of the care professionals are not completely computer literate and are often discouraged to apply for positions due to the complexity of the online systems. We designed a site to strip away a lot of these obstacles. For instance, instead of a lengthy online form to complete, the candidates are encouraged to send in their CVs. For those, of whom there are a considerable number, who do not have a CV, they are offered a simple downloadable Acrobat form which they either complete on their own PCs or print out and fill in with a pen. This makes the positions accessible to all.

The website jobs page and an example of the easy to use downloadable application form

Care Careers East Digital Marketing

As part if their marketing plan, CCE produce a number of emailers. These are split between quick ‘Job Alerts‘ designed to get new vacancies out to their database as quickly as possible and Newsletters, which will go into more detail about the regions care sector.

We have also produced a number of online adverts including leaderboards, banners and MPUs. These examples illustrate how well the over all corporate identity translates over all media providing Care Careers East with a robust and distinctive brand which stands out in the care sector.

The Care Careers East MailChimp template, Leaderboard, Banner and MPU adverts. Also show is the stationery set.

For more information about CCE you can visit their website here >. If you a similar project and would like to know more detail about the design and development process, please get in touch.

January 15, 2018
London Sports Cars Logo Design and Website Development

London Sports Cars logo design and website development. London Sports Cars are a sales agency that deal specifically in prestige super cars. Part of an existing hire company, they needed a quick, simple logo design to help take advantage of their connections and sell sports cars online.

Alongside the logo we also developed the online sales platform which included a showroom, all administered via a backend system giving London Sports Cars complete control.

The logo is designed to be easy to digest. A considerable number of the clients of the hire business are non-English speakers so the London Sports Cars logo needed to be un-complicated and quickly recognisable. The use of red is synonymous with super cars and the introduction of the blue/grey gave the logo a mature touch inline with many other high end services that the clients will encounter day to day.

London Sports Cars Logo

The logo was supplied direct to the client who then produced their own stationery sets and signage. It also translated very well to the clients digital marketing activity such as banner adverts and email campaigns.

London Sports Cars Website

The London Sports Cars website was developed by first producing a set of wireframes. This allowed us to identify which areas of the site needed to editable. The backend administration system was bespoke and built to make it as easy as possible to add and edit the sports cars available. There were many existing WordPress plugins on offers, but after exploring these in detail we felt they were too complicated to use and the site we wanted to deliver needed to far simpler to use. They had also tried online services such as Autotrader but this site gave them access to a set of clients who demanded a more exclusive approach.

London Sports Cars have the ability to make the cars a ‘Featured Car’ on the homepage, turn the car to ‘Under Offer’ or ‘Sold’.

The London Sports Cars logo and website were developed in under 4 weeks and within a strict budget. This gave them the chance to extend their business into sales opening up a complete new market. If you are thinking of extending into new areas and want a logo design, identity and website to test the waters, it can be done in a very cost effective way. If you want to know more, please get in touch and I’ll have ideas on how it can happen.

January 14, 2018