Case Study
Designing a sustainable cosmetic brand for Owl in a Towel.
Owl in a Towel is a natural cosmetic brand with a focus on sustainable and cruelty-free products made in the United States. They are a young brand and needed an identity that was professional, while still encapsulating the grass-roots charm of the company and showcasing the eco-friendly mission that they have worked so hard to execute.
Creating a Visual System
With Owl and a Towel’s focus being on sustainability, it meant that a wide-range of packaging materials and types would be used for their products. This presented the challenge of developing a flexible system that would work in all situations. To solve this, we developed a modular system for the typography and icons that can quickly be modified for products of all shapes and sizes.
Our clients’ words say everything.
“Grant Burke is a complete professional. He applies his talent and experience to help clients transform ideas into visually compelling branding. He’s also extremely responsive, which is key to productivity and meeting deadlines. As a start-up, I appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with someone who’s work product can compete with and outshine established brands.”
Kathleen O’Connor Ives, Founder
Case Study
Revamping Ridley College’s historic house mascots.
Ridley College, a private school in St. Catherines, Ontario, with over 100 years of history. Part of their culture includes student houses (yes, like Harry Potter), and each house has its own theme, colours, and mascot. Although the houses have a long history, proper mascots were never developed and over time, the style and quality of the various houses became very inconsistent. In order to resolve this, Ridley hired Grant Burke to conceptualize and design a new set of mascot illustrations that matched their current values.
What we did
- Concept Development
- Mascot Logo Design
- Character Illustration
Our Approach
When creating the mascots for Ridley College, we knew that consistency would be very important and started by developing the overall style. We landed on a bold and modern style that had just the right amount of detail to make application of the logos very simple. Some of the houses are for younger students so we focused on making all of the mascots full of personality, but not overly intimidating or fierce looking.
Case Study
Extending Comrade Brewery’s branding to beer labels and t-shirts.
Comrade Brewing Co., the Denver-based craft brewery, approached us to translate the personality of their Soviet themed brand to beer cans and apparel. They challenged us to create unique illustrations that put a beer / brewery twist on the commonly used USSR imagery. The designs needed to be memorable, punchy, and something craft beer aficionados would want to hang on to.
What we did
Our Approach
In an effort to make both the apparel and Crowler can designs collection-worthy, we created bold illustrations using the red and yellow colours commonly found in Soviet propaganda posters. The illustrations utilized a hand-drawn aesthetic and solid blocks of colour for a truly memorable result.
Our clients’ words say everything.
“Professional and courteous. Have worked with them on several designs, for shirts and labels. Communication is quick as is the turnaround for these projects. Excellent designs and exceeded even my expectations of what I though I originally wanted.”
David Lin, Owner
Case Study
Portraying a lifestyle through Tentrax’s rebrand.
Tentrax produces lightweight, compact and agile camping trailers built tough in order to be pulled through tough off-road (and on-road) trails. Tentrax prides itself in allowing people to truly go anywhere they want, yet have a safe and comfortable place to sleep. We were tasked with bringing the brand to life in a way that not only appeals to the off-road demographic, but also feels approachable for the casual customer, just looking for a compact camping trailer.
Our Approach
With the branding for Tentrax, we focused on the feeling of both exploration and freedom. We were able to combine both the compass & tire for a monogram logo design that makes it that Tentrax really does you give you the freedom to explore anywhere.
The use of bold colours and typefaces allows the branding to stand on its own in an overly saturated market without feeling out of place.
Apparel
An important part of the project was developing apparel that Tentrax trailer owners would be proud to wear. We created a unique and simple badge logo for hat upholstery and an illustrated t-shirt that captured the adventurous nature of the brand and its customers.
Case Study
Going minimal for the creative agency, Bobshire’s, brand identity.
In an oversaturated market, Bobshire needed to standout from the pack as top-tier branding agency. At the project launch, the goals were to establish a brand presence for this new studio and to communicate Bobshire’s core values.
Our Approach
Because Bobshire wanted a high-end look, we kept the branding very clean, minimal, and modern. Unlike most brands, we limited the amount of content and used the power of whitespace to create a sense of luxury. Furthermore, a neutral colour palette was established for the core branding. As a result, the vibrant case studies really popped against the softer visual system.
Case Study
Helping Barn Door Brewing stand out in the crowded craft beer industry.
When Barn Door Brewing came to us, they had just changed their name and were heading in an entirely new direction with the business. With the rebrand, came a move from the city to a farm property in rural Uxbridge. The brewery had award-winning recipes from the former brand, but a small customer base and little-to-no brand recognition. We needed to convince customers to try the product and then the beer would do the rest.
Our Approach
We knew that Barn Door had great beers, but that wouldn’t matter if we couldn’t get consumers to try their products. Thus, we developed a branding system full of hand-drawn illustrations that leveraged the farm-theme of the physical location. Wood texture paired with bright colours gave the branding personality without making it dull like many vintage-looking companies. Furthermore, each beer label design made use of custom dielines with illustrations expanding beyond the traditional rectangular shape.
Case Study
Combining tech and construction for Safesite’s brand refresh.
Safesite launched in 2014 with a goal of making construction and heavy industries safer through their mobile app. Like many startups, they started with a placeholder brand identity that was never intended to be a long-term solution. That’s where Grant Burke came in. We were tasked with refreshing the existing visual system to bring it up to standards with their revolutionary product. One of the big challenges was to make the branding appealing for both the construction end-users and tech investors.
What we did
- Brand Identity Refresh
- Image Library Development
- Brand Guidelines Manual
- Website Design
- Mobile App UI & UX Design
- Marketing Collateral
- Office Signage
- Investor Pitch Deck
Our Approach
The solution we developed focused on pairing masculine and industrial elements with modern typography, whitespace and a clean colour palette. This created a strong, but refined look that appealed to Safesite’s two target groups.
We started with a strong logo that pairs customer typography with a simple, but memorable monogram icon. The square shape works perfect on the app/social icons and the stacked segments of the “S” give a nod to the construction industry.
Mobile App Design
When Safesite approached us to re-design the mobile app, they already had a large userbase that was actively using their software in the field. We strategically designed the new interface to respect the existing flow, while improving the experience and applying the new branding. The result was an app that looked more professional, but felt familiar to Safesite’s loyal users.
Case Study
Bringing the Prairie Pirate story to life for the rural brewery, Ribstone Creek.
Located in the 400-person village of Edgerton, Ribstone Creek is a craft brewery deeply rooted in the local community. They are known across the Prairies for their award-winning beer and creative brewing projects. One of these projects was the Prairie Pirate series. It was centred around a fictional character that robbed ingredients from other breweries to brew collaboration beers. We were engaged to develop the Prairie Pirate character and to translate the concept to a series of beer label illustrations, social comics and apparel. The comics acted as a visual storytelling device for each brew and were deployed to social media to promote the launch.
Our Approach
To create the Prairie Pirate character we drew inspiration from the Old West. The result was a rugged and mysterious outlaw that traveled across the Prairies on a beat-up steam locomotive, robbing and brewing as he went. We used a gritty, textured illustration style to add character to the beer labels and to create a vintage feeling consistent with the theme.
Apparel Design
Another aspect of the Prairie Pirate series was to develop a line of apparel. We created a series of concepts sketches that paired traditional western and brewery imagery. The top designs were then refined for screen-printing and the result was a gritty line of apparel, consistent with the Prairie Pirate beers.
Our clients’ words say everything.
“It has been a pleasure to work with Grant. Bringing an idea to life is no easy task, but Grant is able to do this with ease. From concept to finished product, Grant is professional, solves problems, provides timely updates and is incredibly adaptable. We are thrilled with the work completed and are excited for future projects with Grant!”
Mark Boulter, Marketing Director
Case Study
Bringing ShiftRight’s Branding up to speed with their growing consultancy.
ShiftRight is a Toronto-based consulting business focused on guiding large organizations through restructuring, leadership development and cultural change. As the company grew from a one-woman operation to a firm, their branding needs also expanded. Equally as important, ShiftRight needed to be seen as an innovator in their industry and stand out from their competitors. They needed a modern brand identity, responsive website design, and a user-friendly pitch deck.
Our Approach
Because ShiftRight’s business is centred on change, we wanted to portray the the concept of transformation in the branding. This was achieved through a vibrant blue-to-green gradient paired with bright and uplifting imagery. The result was an eye-catching identity that helped the brand portray their experience and out-of-the-box solutions to difficult business challenges. Finally, we extended the visual system to a report templates and a pitch deck to make day-to-day operations more efficient.
Our clients’ words say everything.
“I had the pleasure of working with Grant during the development of my company brand/website. I was thoroughly impressed with his creative designs and his accommodating nature. He has a genuine desire to ensure his clients’ expectations are not only met but are exceeded! He is flexible and goes above and beyond to get the job done. With minimal guidance he was able to materialize a brand identity that accurately reflected what I had envisioned. I would highly recommend his services!”
Aymen Dewji, Managing Partner
Case Study
A collection of the unique logo designs we’ve created.
For every logo design project, our process starts with understanding our clients’ specific needs and goals. Our approach is then strategically tailored to solving those goals. We do this through purposeful design that is based on solid design fundamentals. You can read more about these principles in our article 6 tips for a great logo design. Below is our logo design collection featuring clients from a variety of industries around the world.
Clients
- Brewster | Craft Brewery
- ShotCo | Juice Bar
- Safesite | Construction Safety App
- Mark V | Audio Systems
- Antenna Coffee | Coffee Shop
- High Mountain Holdings | Financial Holdings
- Wild Pawz | Pet Store
- Barn Door Brewing | Craft Brewery
- Sweater Barn | Custom Hockey Jerseys
- Intercept | Advertising Agency
- Twil Travel | Travel Planner
