Emily from Pint-Sized Adventures Dog Training reached out to me to create a custom logo for her company in Massachusetts. She really liked old illustrations of circus dogs and sent me a couple that she liked. She said color wise, she really liked navy, red, and white, but didn't want it to start looking too 4th of July patriotic. She also was interested in seeing the dog on a little podium stand. She wasn't sure if she wanted just a dog image, or if she wanted the name of her company included in the logo. She was concerned that the name would be too long for the logo.

Over the next two days I worked on illustrating a few different types of dogs and created a few different logos, some just with a dog, some with the name of the company in different fonts and styles. Above are just a few of first round drafts I sent her.

These are the top two logos she loved most and felt were most on brand. She liked the one on the right best, but wanted the font style of the one on the left with the bone used as the hyphen in "Pint-Sized." 

Once I made those changes, I sent her the final logo and a mock-up of some product examples she could get a sense of what her logo would like out in the world.

As a dog mom to three furry monsters, I'm just bummed that Emily's business isn't in Springfield, MO, but I'm excited that she has the logo she wanted to start introducing her business to new clients. 

If you have any questions about my process or are interested in finding out if I can create a custom logo for you, smash that contact button to send me an email! 

When Andrea texted me at 6pm last Wednesday asking if I could create a professional logo for her new pop-up shop, The Local Bevy, I was in the middle of cooking dinner and trying to pay a utility bill online that wasn't going through. She had a lot of ideas for what she wanted, which is good--because it gives me clear boundaries to create within that I know my client already likes. Speaking of boundaries... since I no longer live alone and just work all the time (my partner Kimber is trying to patiently remind me to slow down and make time to relax sometimes too--what a concept!), I have been working to get better at putting boundaries like work hours and more realistic timelines for turnaround so I don't get burnt out so much. It is very much a work in progress for me and something I struggle with--I just want to say yes to every opportunity because I'm so grateful for each one that comes along and I want to get it done as good and fast as possible for my clients! Ho, boy--we got an overachiever on our hands here. Hi. It me. I aim to please. To a fault sometimes. BUT I'M WORKING ON IT. THANK YOU.

So, in this spirit, I told Andrea that I would touch base with her the next day when I had a little more time to devote to understanding what she was looking for. The next day, we picked up where she left off the night before. She sent me some mock-ups she had drawn and created on one of those "instant logo" creation sites. She told me what she liked and didn't like  and I went to work creating several options for her to choose from.

I always like to include a few designs that are a little outside of the specifics a client gives me, if I think it will look good, just to give them something else they may not have considered otherwise. In this case, options 1 and 2 were pretty different from what she was looking for, but I liked them enough to include them and give her another option to consider. Turns out, she ended up liking #2 and #6 best, but she wanted to see #6 with the #2 font. 

I made that revision and sent her the final two logo designs for her to choose from. See which one she choose below:

Be sure to check out The Local Bevy:
"A temporary holiday pop-up featuring a collection of local handmade art, crafts, and goods located in historic Pickwick Place. Open until December 31, 2020."