Studio 360 logo and branding guide
CATEGORY
logo design • branding
CLIENT
Studio 360 (previously Studio Web Essence)
Project
Studio Web Essence requested I develop a new logo, colour palette, and branding guide as a part of their re-branding. The new company name, Studio 360, was intended to reflect its growth from its beginnings in web development towards the holistic array of marketing and communication services it has come to offer today.
Brief
The original logo for Studio Web Essence included a tiny heart, tilted 90 degrees, as a spacer between the words “Web” and “Essence.” The client requested I retain this heart icon in the new logo but with a more contemporary font and colour palette.
The company was looking for a more vibrant appearance, as the older logo was becoming a bit out of date. They also hoped the new look would reflect the shift in recent years towards a predominantly female team.
Initial Drafts
Four initial drafts were presented to the client. I centered the designs on bold, sans-serif typefaces to reflect a more modern sensibility and a stronger presence.
The heart icon was retained in three of the four drafts to maintain a degree of consistency with the previous logo and also because it was an element the client felt an attachment too that reflected the company’s values.
In addition, I played with circular shapes to reflect the new branding concept and name. In options A and B in particular, I was subtly inspired by the idea of a compass shape with the heart acting as a dial.
Option A was the preferred favourite. I went on to develop vertical and horizontal versions of the logo that included the tagline. I also experimented further with the placement of the heart icon, and replaced the zero with a rounder shape to match the letter ‘O’ in studio.
Colour Palette
The original brand colour palette centered on black and red. For the rebranding, some nuance was added to this core colour family. The black was softened to a deep charcoal, white replaced with a warmer cream, and the red shifted towards a deep raspberry.
The end result is a little less hard and corporate in feeling and hints towards a slightly more playful sensibility. Warm and muted undertones are approachable and inviting. The shift from red to raspberry also reflects a slightly more feminine energy.
Some further mid-tones were added to function as accent colours. A cool-toned medium green and a slightly muted and warm blue complement the core palette. A very pale tint of off-white is included for use as a background.
Finally, the three core mid-tones of the palette were expanded into darker and lighter nuances to build in flexibility for a variety of applications, such as website hover effects and accents.
Finished Logo
The final version of the full colour logo features the core raspberry red on the tilted heart icon, alongside the dark charcoal grey. For the horizontal variation of the logo, the heart was moved over to the zero in order to point directly to the flow of the tagline to the right. For use against dark backgrounds, the charcoal was swapped for the cream. And a lighter nuance of raspberry was used on the heart so it would pop out against the darker context.
A variety of icons for social media were also developed featuring the circular shape of the letter O (reflecting the 360 degrees name) and the tilted heart. The icons were also an opportunity to highlight the broader palette.
Branding guide
The images included here are all drawn from the branding guide I developed to represent the new logo, palette and typography.
For the purposes of web and marketing materials, Montserrat was chosen as a clean, contemporary and bold typeface for headings and subheadings. These are complemented by Poppins regular as a easy to read web font for body text.
Studio 360 Logo and branding guide
CATEGORY
logo design • branding
CLIENT
Studio 360
Project
Studio Web Essence requested I develop a new logo, colour palette, and branding guide as a part of their re-branding. The new company name, Studio 360, was intended to reflect its growth from its beginnings in web development towards the holistic array of marketing and communication services it has come to offer today.
brief
The original logo for Studio Web Essence included a tiny heart, tilted 90 degrees, as a spacer between the words “Web” and “Essence.” The client requested I retain this heart icon in the new logo but with a more contemporary font and colour palette.
The company was looking for a more vibrant appearance, as the older logo was becoming a bit out of date. They also hoped the new look would reflect the shift in recent years towards a predominantly female team.
Initial Drafts
Four initial drafts were presented to the client. I centered the designs on bold, sans-serif typefaces to reflect a more modern sensibility and a stronger presence.
The heart icon was retained in three of the four drafts to maintain a degree of consistency with the previous logo and also because it was an element the client felt an attachment too that reflected the company’s values.
In addition, I played with circular shapes to reflect the new branding concept and name. In options A and B in particular, I was subtly inspired by the idea of a compass shape with the heart acting as a dial.
Option A was the preferred favourite. I went on to develop vertical and horizontal versions of the logo that included the tagline. I also experimented further with the placement of the heart icon, and replaced the zero with a rounder shape to match the letter ‘O’ in studio.
Colour Palette
The original brand colour palette centered on black and red. For the rebranding, some nuance was added to this core colour family. The black was softened to a deep charcoal, white replaced with a warmer cream, and the red shifted towards a deep raspberry.
The end result is a little less hard and corporate in feeling and hints towards a slightly more playful sensibility. Warm and muted undertones are approachable and inviting. The shift from red to raspberry also reflects a slightly more feminine energy.
Some further mid-tones were added to function as accent colours. A cool-toned medium green and a slightly muted and warm blue complement the core palette. A very pale tint of off-white is included for use as a background.
Finally, the three core mid-tones of the palette were expanded into darker and lighter nuances to build in flexibility for a variety of applications, such as website hover effects and accents.
Finished logo
The final version of the full colour logo features the core raspberry red on the tilted heart icon, alongside the dark charcoal grey. For the horizontal variation of the logo, the heart was moved over to the zero in order to point directly to the flow of the tagline to the right. For use against dark backgrounds, the charcoal was swapped for the cream. And a lighter nuance of raspberry was used on the heart so it would pop out against the darker context.
A variety of icons for social media were also developed featuring the circular shape of the letter O (reflecting the 360 degrees name) and the tilted heart. The icons were also an opportunity to highlight the broader palette.
branding guide
The images included here are all drawn from the branding guide I developed to represent the new logo, palette and typography.
For the purposes of web and marketing materials, Montserrat was chosen as a clean, contemporary and bold typeface for headings and subheadings. These are complemented by Poppins regular as a easy to read web font for body text.
Are you looking to develop a unique logo for your business, or upgrade your existing logo?
