This one started with a birthday. The former Cabela's CEO and his wife raise Briard dogs under the name Sendero Briards, and she commissioned an illustration for her 50th birthday celebration. The illustration ended up on custom LL Bean tote bags, tee shirts, drink koozies, beach towels and fly fishing fly box decals. It was pretty elaborate. A few smaller illustration projects followed, and eventually she wanted the original illustration formalized into a logo. I designed a primary logo built around the illustration and a secondary mark for situations where a simpler version made more sense. She wanted a nod to her southern roots, so I brought in magnolia flowers and a soft blue that tied the warmth of the typography and illustration together.

The clients were a stylist duo who were deep into steampunk and wanted their brand to reflect it. I traded salon services for design services, which felt very on brand for the project. I worked from an existing font and customized the letterforms, then hand-illustrated a pair of shears to complete the mark. The logo was used for signage and business cards. Looking back, the overall execution had its rough edges, but the logo itself is still one of my favorites. Some things just work.