Logo design for a wine poet comes to life …

Intrigued by wine and want to learn more about bottles you can actually get your hands on? Find some bite size nuggets of fascinating information at the Grape Poetry instagram account, where French Wine Scholar, Carol Morris, tells stories of wine along with sharing gorgeous photos of various bottles. Carol is a WSET Level 3  – “An advanced level qualification for professionals  and enthusiasts wishing to acquire a detailed understanding of the spirits of the world and develop the tasting skills required to accurately describe and evaluate a spirit”. She is a wine consultant and lover of French wines, in particular. Her wine tales reveal her knowledge of the wines of the world and her passion for the history, tastes and differences of spirits. Her posts not only teach about wine, they lead you to where you can find particular bottles locally (if you’re in the Charleston, SC area). So, you’ll not just have to wish to try a wine she describes! And if you’re interested in hosting a wine tasting at your business or home, get in touch with Carol. 

Carol called me with a plan to start her own wine tasting/wine education business.  She needed a logo for Grape Poetry to use for social media, business cards, her website and teaching materials. She googled ‘local graphic designer’, found me and we met to discuss her vision. We worked together well, going back and forth with color shades, elements and layouts. Her enthusiasm was contagious and as I worked on the logo, I got more excited about the possibilities. Combining her writing – the poetry of wine, with the humble grapes made for a great visual.  Soon after finalizing the logo, I began to work on some business cards for her. 

Follow Carol on Instagram! I know you’ll be tempted by each beautiful photo and want to go back through each post to find a wine or two you want to try.

instagram.com/grape.poetry

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HCA expands into fiberglass pool installation …

 As I’ve said in the past, acquiring a customer who returns to you for other jobs is always an assurance that you’re doing something right – and hopefully providing a combination of good service, easy communication and a final product that is just what the customer hoped for.

In October of 2021, Connor of Charleston SC, contacted me about a logo for his landscaping company. This was an uncomplicated job because Connor had already found online an excavator arm image that he wanted to replicate with minor changes.  He also knew exactly what kind of colors and layout he wanted. He just needed me to create the vector logo and provide social media files for him. We experimented mostly with the sizing of the excavator arm and the overlapping of the arm over the business name. We also tried a number of different fonts and font sizes in order to get the bold, strong letters that he imagined in order to project a tough and rugged feel.

Connor was great to work with and was very responsive when I sent layouts over to him. We had easy and straight forward communication that enabled me to work quickly and concisely. You can find his landscape company here:

facebook.com/HCALandscapes

Next, in April of 2022, Connor was back in touch! He said, “I have started another company that does fiberglass pool installation. The company name is HCA Pools.” 

This time, instead of rugged, he wanted a more high-end look, while still keeping it simple and not fussy.  His vision for the image part of the logo, was a simple water swirl. Most of the initial layouts included a variety of water swirls, swooshes and spouts in various blue shades from bright to subtle. It didn’t take Connor long to eliminate and choose his favorites. We fine-tuned from there creating the new logo for HCA Pools of Charleston, SC. What will be next for this enterpenuer? We will have to wait and see! 

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An educator, a choreographer and a performer – meet Dancing Beena!

Dancing Beena is an educator, a choreographer and a beautiful performer. Originally from India, she now lives in SC and performs and teaches all around Charleston and the state.  Beena was influenced by the Egyptian and Lebanese styles of Arabic dance. She started dancing in Chicago in 2003 and studied with Jasmin Jahal and other educators. She has trained in Karate for over 18 years and Keno for 10 years. Yoga, Pilates and Qigong round out her practice. She brings these healing art, marital art and dance art disciplines into her classes. Her core mission is to guide her students in dance and to bring joy, confidence and fun to the classes. She encourages people of all levels to join her and give dance a try.

As a graphic designer, I work with a variety of business types which makes my work so fascinating. Every new job gives me a window into a person and a story I knew nothing about. Meeting Beena is a perfect example. I’ve never worked with a dancer before and meeting her in late 2021 introduced me to the business of dance and the range of opportunities for someone with her talents. She expressed an interest in updating her logo and maybe working on a few other projects together. She had been creating her own designs in Photoshop, so she already had an eye for design, layouts and an excellent starting point for me to work from. 

Wonderfully distinctive, the silhouette of Beena dancing was the basis for her existing logo.  My job was to take the image and refine it, while creating a vector file we could use on any project in the future. Drawing inspiration from her gorgeous costumes, the color palettes we chose for both the business card and the postcards were a vibrant mix of shades. The bright turquoise is a perfect backdrop for both the black and white contrasting type and makes the silhouette pop. While, the energizing, rich magenta brings movement and femininity to the postcards, enhancing the photos. Beena chose several quotes to use on the postcards and after trying them out in layouts, she decided on the one by Martha Graham which pairs perfectly with the joy on Beena’s face.

“It’s what I always wanted to do, to show the laughter, the fun, the joy of dance.”

I look forward to working with Dancing Beena more in 2022 and hope I get the chance to see her perform. 

To learn more about Dancing Beena and her classes, visit her website:

www.DancingBeena.com

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Licensed Hemp Farmers since 2020, 2BD Farm is now offering their first retail product. CBD Pet Treats!! 

In October of 2021, I got an email from a couple staring their new business and looking for a logo designer. They sent me a brief history of how the idea for 2BD Farm was conceived.

As Carmen and Scott described their journey to me, they also explained about the dogs. 

“Started with a brunch in Jan 2020 on King St. in downtown Charleston, SC. We walked past a CBD store (Charleston Hemp Collective). Purchased items, talked with highly educated staff,

became intrigued. We talked more, looked up hemp growing laws in Missouri because of my family farm there. Found it was legal to grow industrial hemp and first annual Missouri Hemp Symposium was scheduled for later that month in Kansas City. Booked tickets and went, which started our journey learning more about the plant, benefits, and and the endocannibinoid system.

Back home … we realized that outdoor growing in Missouri was impossible at the moment because of the lack of support/workers there. 

DIdn’t have land here, like in Missouri, so we started down the path of container growing, thinking we could have it on our home site. We purchased the container, had it moved to our property, bought growing equipment, then realized we couldn’t get permits to do it because we didn’t have enough land, which led us to look for a piece of property… and eventually found [property] in McClellanville, a quaint fishing village we both have always loved.

“The name came from loving our two furry friends, one an English Black Lab, the other a Border Collie/German Shepherd mix; both black dogs. We considered Two Black Dogs Farm, but of

course, it felt too wordy, then tried an acronym, 2BD. We loved that it was also a play on CBD.”

The next week I met with Carmen and Scott in person to hear all about their hemp farm and their vision for the logo. Loved their concept and enjoyed talking with them about their goals and plans for the business.  Later, Carmen sent me numerous images of logos they were drawn to for color and style. We worked on refining the logo during the next month and finished up with a final the first of December. Whenever I would send Carmen a layout, she would often draw right on top of it with changes they were intersted in seeing. These visuals were so helpful in the logo development. Since finalizing the logo, we have worked together on packaging for the 2BD Dog Treats, some stickers and a t-shirt graphic. You can see the packaging on their website – and purchase for your own pets.  

Visit 2BD Farm!

2bdfarm.com/

And, find them on social media:

@2bdfarm

Facebook.com/2BDfarm

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How long have you been using your current logo? Is it not quite what you wish it was? Maybe it’s some clipart put together when you first opened your business? Ready for a little refresh? Looking for something new and current? Let me help!

Don’t be afraid to change things up a bit! Logos get updated often by companies, both large and small. Take a look at these logo updates from 2021 on designbro.com :

Brands Redesigned

Sometimes, even small changes can give a logo a more up-to-date feel.  Simple changes, like a new palate of colors or a font style change that will keep your logo identifiable and still present a revamped look can make a difference. 

Back in the Fall, I acquired a new local client, Bill Williams, of Down South Floors.  I love working with locals and getting to know more about their small businesses and the owners in my area. Although I still haven’t met Bill in person, talking to him by phone and email has been a delight. Warm, easy, appreciative and friendly, I can see why he has had a successful run with his company and continues to thrive.

Williams emailed me about doing some display headers, featuring his logo – with a revamp. He included a lot of detail about his current logo and his clientele. He explained what he likes and what he doesn’t like about his logo. The information he gave me was helpful in understanding that he didn’t want a rebrand, but only some changes to refresh the logo. Centered by an adorable hound dog, Bill’s idea was to make the dog look a bit more friendly and more appealing to women, who he explained, are his primary clients.  His email included these logo bullet points:

• Personality: Warm and sincere 
• Voice: Soft 
• Tone: Soothing
• Style: Casual
• Look: Southern
• Colors I like: Shades of amber / brown (light to dark), Smokey Greys, natural wood colors (red oak, white oak, hickory)”

I liked this list. It gave me a feel as to what he wants to project with his company, as well as his taste in graphics! We removed the dog’s collar and added a bowtie and changed all the logo colors, which included lightening the dog and adding a bit softer touch to him. After completing his new logo and the display headers, Bill asked me to work on some notebook covers, notebook binders and business cards We continue to work together and I recently worked on some price cards for his individual floor samples. You can’t find Bill online, but you can take a look at his new and refreshed logo!

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The Charleston Cat Groomer opens an online storefront with a new logo and name!

When clients return to you for a new project, it’s excellent confirmation of a good working partnership as well as their confidence in your abilities. I was excited to get the email from Whitney, the Charleston Cat Groomer, telling me she was interested in a new logo for another extension of her business … an e-commerce site with cat based products, called Pineapple Cat.

Back in 2019, I designed her Charleston Cat Groomer logo which is used for her grooming business. That logo is on her storefront, marketing materials, social media and everything associated with the business. This year, for Halloween, I added some pumpkins and a witch hat to the logo – a fun switch for her social media. Her business has been so successful and it’s fun to think about some of the other ways we can adapt the logo in the future. 

The new logo Whitney wanted needed to be versatile enough to use on small tags, packing tape, t-shirts and other products. The Charleston Cat Groomer logo was too intricate and complicated for one color applications and small prints. You might wonder what array of products could be sold on a website for cats only? Let me name a few … collars, bowls, carriers, toys and yes … cat furniture! And as always, the logo would be used for the website and marketing through social media and collateral.

After going through a few rounds of idea layouts, her pick was the little smiling cat. We tried a few more versions with a tail and bowtie, but in the end, her preference was the original draft. I began with a black & white drawing and once we finalized it, I added color. 

Take a peek at her store! If you don’t have a cat yourself, pass it along to your feline-lover friends. 

pineapplecatshop.com

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The Salty Sister expands her reach  … cruises for Salty Seniors!

A well designed flyer with photos is a very effective way to pique the interest of customers.  MarketingFlyers can be used to get the word out on what you do, promote a new product, announce a sale or special event, and also to spread the word on new offerings. The main message of the flyers for Salty Sister is to give customers a feel for the cruises/what the experience will be like and how to connect in order to book your cruise! The photos certainly grab your eye and are enticing visuals that make you want to experience a day on the water in Charleston, SC. Although some flyers need to include more information and details, the photos work well for Salty Sister to tell the story of what the cruises feel and look like … and what you will be experiencing.  Working closely with Beth, the owner of Salty Sister, I designed these marketing flyers to be distributed around Charleston and in specific venues depending on the content. The first designed for customers of any age and a second one designed based on a new cruise offering for the older generation. 

Yes, Salty Sister is now offering cruises specialized for seniors! The new flyers can be placed in retirement communities, senior workout facilities and senior living apartments. A flyer is only going to bring in new business if it is distributed appropriately to the right places and the right audience.  As Salty Sister says on the website, “You’re never too old for a boat ride! We especially enjoy our beloved seniors and we take an easy, breezy nautical route for this age group.” 

 Even with social media marketing and a website, what can often work best for many people is having something right in front of them that they can stick on the fridge or keep handy as a reminder. The flyer includes the website address, social media icons and contact details giving every opportunity for customers to read more about Salty Sister and connect. 

To book a cruise, visit:

Salty Sister Cruises

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