Various Brand Explorations – tif smith | graphic designer, creative director, illustrator, and printmaker in richmond, virginia

brand exploration:

Brand/Identity Clients

Date(s):
January 2010-Present

Client:
Various

Role:
Brand Designer

While it is always my goal to present clients with a full brand identity and not just a logo mark, but there are sometimes small businesses and one-off projects that have simply not had the budget for a full brand suite.

These clients are often new businesses, ministries, or individuals. A few of them are also clients who already had an established identity and guidelines which they shared with me but were unhappy with their current logo as created by another designer.

process

My process always begins with a face-to-face conversation with my client: who are they? What is their business like? Who are they trying to reach? What are their hopes for the future with their business? Who else occupies their space or are they unique?

I then move on to sketches, usually in pencil or sometimes in black and white vector. I explore shapes and potential typographic layouts. I then narrow down my focus to 2-3 options and discuss these avenues with a client. Once we’ve found an avenue of expression and identity that meets their needs, I refine that direction and begin to create moodboards and select color palettes.

For clients that aren’t receiving a branding guide or a full branding suite, the logo and fonts are their final product. Otherwise, I also design a set of branding guidelines and include it with their finished files.