JOSH PALMER
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
JP - Graphic Design
Branding Suite​
July, 2020 - Dec, 2020
As part of my Capstone course on the path to my Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design, I designed my own branding suite. Starting with a logo, and branching out to print materials and a leave-behind piece, this suite includes letterhead, resume, envelope, business card, and a mousepad. The colors for my brand tie through in all pieces, and the typography is consistent across all items to tie everything together and keep my brand cohesive.
Sketches
The first step was to come up with a custom logo that represents my brand and is easily recognizable. I like the shape and symettry of my initials "JP" and have always been in the habit of initialling my pencil drawings. I sketched out several variations of a logo with these things in mind. I wanted to create a clean logo with custom illustration elements. This was done with the intent to communicate professionalism as well as my fun, illustrative side.
Of the 3 sketches shown below, I liked elements of #1 and #3, but I wasn't yet completely satisfied with any of the logos. I particularly liked the circle enclosing the initials, and the initial shape themselves from sketch #1. I liked the pen cutting through the logo from #3, and how this pen represented the illustrative side of my design process. In order to better communicate my brand and combine these sketches, I created a new shape for the initials.
Combining elements of #1 and #3, I created a new shape for the initials that shows firm marking for the J and P, combined into a sweeping cursive shape. The stem of the P was changed to the basic shape of a pen to include this subtly in my design and communicate illustration as part of my brand.
First Revision
Final Logo
I brought the revised JP shape from my initial sketches into the circle shape from #1. In order to add depth, color, and balance, I added a second ring in the light blue color. The black, white, and light blue pair well together and complement each other into a nice brand and scheme that can carry on to other branding materials, as shown below.
Business Card (front and back)
For the business card, I kept it simple on the front of the card, with the logo used against a black background. The black background matching the inner ring of the JP logo gives the blue ring an appearance of encircling the logo without being attached. This creates good depth and spacing on the front of the card. For the back of the card, I also used the logo, but provided additional information. The QR code links to my portfolio page, and the light blue and black accents tie the front and back of the card together.
Letterhead and Resume
Envelope
For my letterhead, resume, and envelope, I used brand colors and my logo to tie each of these pieces back to my brand and accomplish the goal for each item. The letterhead and resume have diagonal black and light blue elements to create movement on them, so the viewer reads from top left down to bottom right, following the flow of the design. The light blue and black accent the information on these pieces. The envelope is mostly light blue and black to create nice contrast and be eye-catching and visible to a potential client.
Leave-Behind Piece (mousepad)
Designed as a leave-behind piece, this mousepad was designed in a similar fashion to the front of the business card, with black background used to accent the logo and my personal information. For this item in particular, I added a darker blue to the ring around the logo as part of a gradient coloring. This look adds a different element and creates movement.