InSite Solutions Brand Update 1

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Sheri Garvin

Insite Solutions is a project management consulting company that has been around for over 10 years. They are growing their business and going through a brand expansion.

The first (visual) step after the initial brand planning meetings was to update their old logo to reflect their direction and allow for future growth.

OLD

NEW

The directional arrows coming from the center are important as they tie into the mission of the company, so I developed a hint of a compass and gave the arrows a softer look to indicate outward movement. I also offset the arrow direction to show that the company is flexible and can move easily as they help their clients “find their own true north.”

With Wordmark

The Building of a Brand Mark

Posted on February 4, 2013 by Sheri Garvin

So what is a logo? A logo is only a representation of a brand, yet the graphic designer must gather what they can of a brand from the representatives of the company (or the owner of the business), from research, and sometimes even the customers or clients, and develop a mark that is representative of the essence of that brand.

Thus a pediatric dentistry will appear as…

It is not an easy task.

Once the logo is created, then the fun part (in my mind) is taking that mark and developing it further. At the same time, the client has their own constraints (such as specific content that is required to appear on a business card) and the designer must balance the client’s needs with the creative inspiration that strikes.

In the end, if the client is happy, then so am I.

Holiday Designing

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Sheri Garvin

I was giving out hot chocolate in my gift baskets this year, so I added a little something extra (designed especially for my pet loving and farming relatives.)

Birth of a Logo Simplified

Posted on January 1, 2013 by Sheri Garvin

Rough Ideas

Refinement – multiple fonts and positions for example

The client makes their choice and the round of detailed options follow.

Color Study

Tweak and Refine

Advertising: UR Doin’ it Wrong

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Sheri Garvin

How to waste a lot of money lesson #1. Place a billboard at one of the busiest intersections in the city and do not mention the name of the business. Oh, and make the location so small you can’t read it.

Notice: the folks sitting at the light have their back to the board.

The folks facing the board are too far away to really read it, as well as busy navigating the scary intersection or managing the confusing bridge that has various off ramps.

And when curiosity finally gets the best of the passenger in the car and she takes a photo and enlarges it, we still do not know exactly what is being advertised.

Except that Indianapolis has outdoor gear… somewhere… all in one place (the Castleton Mall if you look close enough at the blown up photo.)

Buried in art supplies

Posted on October 18, 2012 by Sheri Garvin

Canvases from old class projects

Today is the day I reclaim my work space and return it to the art and design studio that it once was. It is overwhelming how much “stuff” accumulates during 3 years of design classes.

And having put so much money and effort into it, it is a shame to just throw it out.

Shelves of design related books.

For the past 4 months, since graduation, I have slowly donated it, organized it, sold some of it (eBay and Amazon!), and after grouping what was left, am now down to the point of decision and wondering what to do with the remaining piles on top of and underneath the cutting table.

Glazes, glues, spray paints and finishing sprays are bound for the garage.

As any good artist, I am afraid to throw anything away “just in case I need it one day!” But something has to give.

Fire hazard, anyone?

Now that I am not needing to print and mount everything on the inevitable black boards, I can move my computer workstation back upstairs to the office.

A drawing table was not meant to be an Adobe CS5 workstation!

I should petition that the college have a donation bin set up specifically to accept the leftovers from graduated students! I bet the incoming students would love having a stocked workroom!

What do you do with so much “stuff”?

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Followup: Discovered that Bendi, ever faithful office companion and Cat-Editor, is improving his skill set in assisting my decision making process. Ok, the foam core goes. I don’t know what I would ever use if for anyway.

Kerning – ur doin’ it wrong

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Sheri Garvin

Learning about proper typography, kerning, and such can have unexpected side effects. I now notice things I never even thought about before…and notice… and notice.

Gratitude

Posted on October 11, 2012 by Sheri Garvin

I was talking with a friend about one of the best pets I ever had (an alley kitten from the inner city). Having grown up on a farm with a constant array of pets, that is saying a lot.

In searching out a photo to share I was reminded of a design project from a fundamentals class where I chose to use Tacey as my “object”. I am grateful for that class. It gave me a wonderful photo set of a pet who died too suddenly and way too young (12 years old).

She was a beautiful representation of design perfection – with enough design humor (as in the vanilla Hershey kiss on her face) and little artistic surprises to keep the beauty from becoming tedious.

The project was to draw the “object” in various styles. The upper left is a chalk pastel piece and one of my favorites. There is also a line drawing I like (a little Toulouse Lautrec), a comic, colored pencils, photo, sketchy, logo-esque, etc.

What was a simple classroom activity became a frame-able art piece, which will bring back fond memories for years to come.

For more design information, you can read my post in the design blog I kept during school.

a vacation in my mind

delightful journeys into the most ordinary places

Tag Archives: design