Branding for Tilia Natural Health

Wow, I've been away from my blog for sometime now! The end of the summer and fall is always a busy time for me as my clients try to wrap projects up before the end of the year. I've been working on the fall magazine and annual report for the Museum of Science in Boston, some fun projects for LaLicious including package design for a new scent, redesigned the newsletter for The Meridian School and many other miscellaneous things. I've been working hard on my 2011 mailer which will be a little different than the past couple of years—more details to come!

Besides all of that, one big project I'm really happy to share is the identity and branding I developed for Tilia Natural Health, a new naturopathic clinic in Seattle that opened it's doors in October. In the information gathering phase, I put together some image boards (see previous entry) which helped drive the look and feel of the branding. Some of the key words the brand needed to convey were: caring, professional, sustainable, creative, modern, bold, confident, friendly, attentive and approachable.

Tilia is a type of tree whose flowers and leaves are used medicinally—if you visit the office you will be welcomed with a hot cup of Tilia tea. I knew that the plant should be heavily featured in the branding while keeping it fresh and modern. I drew all of the pieces of the plant by hand and used them create the pattern which is used on the back of the business card, letterhead footer, notecard and postcards.

The application of the Tilia brand was applied to the new space (which was a complete remodel) by the talented Laura Zeck of Zinc Interior Concepts. She did a great job taking the brand elements and translating it to a warm, welcoming and modern space that totally matched my vision.

August Update

Where did July go? I can't believe I haven't updated my blog since June—I blame it on the fact that we get about three months of beautiful, sunny weather here in Seattle so when I'm not working I'm outside in my garden soaking it all in. I've been working on the branding for a Seattle based naturopathic physician. I always start with a brainstorming session and create an image board—I'm old school like that, but it's a great way to learn what appeals to my client visually, which in turn streamlines the design process. More to come as the project progreses!

Securing a School's Legacy

Earlier this year I designed this piece for Bertschi School's capital campaign, 'Believe in Bertschi'. It consists of a brochure which opens up to reveal information about the campaign and a pocket which holds information sheets on the new science building and the endowment. It matches the look and feel of other pieces I've designed for the school which align with the Bertschi brand.

Georgetown Centennial Identity

2010 celebrates the 100th anniversary of the annexation of the Georgetown neighborhood by the city of Seattle—an important moment in the history of this colorful community. Over a period of several months I worked with the Georgetown Community Council to develop this identity which will be applied to materials for upcoming events, fundraising and marketing.

Some of the key words the identity needed to convey were: quirky, fun, historic, independent, gritty and enduring. It also needed to be timeless and evoke the personality of the neighborhood—a unique, rich historical past, along with spirited community activism.

I presented several options to choose from and in the end my favorite solution was chosen. The palette represents the brick of the neighborhood's buildings and the individual elements highlight some of the well known landmarks of the area.

Launching DZO Strategists

I recently created this system of business papers for DZO Strategists. Their objectives were to convey a solid, confident, smart and solution-driven brand. I designed the DZO identity last fall so it was great to take it to another level and apply it to their printed materials. I selected Neenah Classic Crest in Avalanche White which is another of my favorite enviro-friendly stocks. When choosing the perfect red for their identity, we felt limited by what Pantone had to offer so a custom red ink was mixed to exactly match what my own printer had produced.

Lady Lam

Don't you just love stories of people quitting their 9 to 5 jobs to follow their true passion? I think it's something we all dream about, but few of us actually have the nerve to go through with it. That's why I was so happy to help my friend Christine with a logo and business card design for her new endeavour. She had a great start and a clear vision of what her logo should convey: nostalgia, glamour and good, old-fashioned customer service. As you can see, the updated logo has a fun vintage feel with a modern palette, perfect for her new business (opening September 1st).

Vitality

Here's a business card design project I recently completed for a naturopathic physician. I'm really pleased with the results and hope she is too. The design of the cards needed to be: professional, trustworthy, organized, and nurturing. Aesthetically, she wanted it to have a modern, yet organic feel. The botanical drawings of lemon balm and licorice create a pleasing wallpaper effect, and are symbolic to the naturopathic field. To keep costs down we printed them with an eco-friendly online printer.

Letterpress printing

In 2007 I did an identity project for La Luz Photography. My client wanted a logo and business card design that were sophisticated, classic and conveyed elegance—all qualities of her photography. She was also in love with letterpress because of its rich, tactile nature. We chose a lovely brown and robin's egg greyish blue for the color palette. At that time I didn't have my press up and running so we printed them at Bison Press in Bellingham who did a fantastic job.

Logo makeover 101

From time to time we could all use a little spiffing up of our appearance. We might not even realize it until a friend points it out. For example, your girlfriend might say (nicely), "Do you know you've had the same hair style since 8th grade?" Or, "Just because you ARE a mom, doesn't mean you should be wearing those mom jeans!" It's those little things that we might never notice ourselves, but once you make the change you see what a huge difference it makes. Sometimes a logo needs a makeover too. It may not need a complete rebranding, but just a little tweaking here and there to make it work better. When a brand has equity and is recognizable, it makes sense to not reinvent the wheel. I worked with Treeswing, a Seattle based non-profit to improve upon their already good identity. The logo had a couple of challenges: in order for the tagline to be legible the tree had to be huge. Although it was two colors to begin with, they were not used in the best way possible. I adjusted the logo by scaling down the tree and using two more distinctly different greens to emphasize the human figure inside of the tree as well as the organization's name. This allowed for the tagline to be larger and be more legible. See what a big difference that just a few 'tweaks' can do?

Classic yet modern

When a client says they know exactly what they want before the project even begins, a red flag starts flapping away in my mind. That is because unless they have an understanding of marketing, design and branding—what they envision is probably not going to be what I think is a good solution. But every so often I have a client that 'gets it' and they are a joy to work with. Recently I partnered with Leah Steen who is opening a fresh, stylish and affordable home store in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle. If you've been to Gtown lately, you've noticed change is afoot there and I think Leah is one smart lady to be setting up shop. With a freshly signed lease lighting the fire, we moved fast and developed the brand for her store 'Revival' which will open Spring 08. She had a vision of a modern brand with classic, elegant roots. After looking through vintage type specimen books for inspiration, I chose a contemporary typeface 'Neutraface' which was based on signage designed by architect Richard Neutra. I printed her business papers on a recycled stock: Classic Crest Recycled Bright White which comes in a nice hefty 130 double thick cover weight, perfect if you want a substantial feeling business card.

A 'taste' of the Market

If you've ever been to the Pike Place Market in Seattle then you know it's a colorful, jam-packed place full of history and so many flavors to sample that it's nearly overwhelming. That's why the founders of Taste Pike Place started their business—to show visitors the nooks and crannies the Market has to offer from a local's perspective. I developed the brand and marketing materials to be fun, friendly, colorful. We decided from the start that the materials should utilize illustration rather than photography to give their brand a unique look and feel. Familiar icons from the market—fish, fruit, wine and coffee (of course)—give the viewer a taste of what's to come when they take one of the fabulous tasting tours they have to offer.

Building a brand

Creating a brand for a new business is always exciting, particularly when it's for someone putting their heart and soul into the effort. When my friend Beth Cullom asked me to partner with her to develop the identity and business papers for her new art gallery I was happy to help. As a small business owner myself, I know keeping costs low is important when you're first starting out. I set out to design the materials as economically as possible, but still make them elegant and have elements of Japanese printmaking. Everything was printed on one of my favorite environmentally friendly papers: Neenah Environment PC White in one ink only. I had a stamp made of the little bird I designed which Beth uses to add an accent of red to each piece, showing a custom touch to each piece of correspondence from Cullom Gallery.