stalwart/robust corporate identity
In order to develop and maintain my skills, and to supplement my graphic design portfolio I’ve begun exploring the creation process of business and brand identities. I started by designing one that uses minimalistic design elements and stays away from unnecessary complexity.
This is a concept project for portofolio purposes only.
name and logo
When creating a text logo, you obviously need a name first. For this I needed to have one that implied solidity, but not pompousness. Something that was reliable, but not overachieving. Something with correct amount of characters to be split in interesting ways.
"Stalwart" and "Robust" are synonyms, which is a perfect way to say something twice without repeating oneself. Both words also matched my criteria, and with an added slash I had 15 characters that would form up nicely into a 3 × 5 grid.
That grid could also be built into 9:16 vertical aspect ratio. Horizontal would also have been a possibility, but two orientations would add undesired complexity. In the age of smart phones verticality makes more sense.
typography
Conveniently, typography was determined by the logo design. It uses slightly modified Major Mono Display from Google fonts, thus making it easy to implement to websites as well.
For normal text I went with modern classic Roboto, as it is versatile on both screen and print.
colors
On first glance the chosen palette might look a rather rudimentary, but when the colors are used with certain ratio, it brings about a certain stylishness.
Main colors are high-contrasting Rich Black and Platinum, with Copper augmenting and serving as a highlight. Nickel and Slate Gray act as complementary colors, and Copper with Screen effect is well-suited to be used on top of images.
rgb 13 13 13
hex 0d0d0d
cmyk 40 40 40 100
rgb 244 240 240
hex f4f0f0
cmyk 0 0 0 0
rgb 186 113 28
hex ba711c
cmyk 20 60 100 10
rgb 117 114 108
hex 75726c
cmyk 50 40 45 30
rgb 110 129 135
hex 6e8187
cmyk 55 35 35 25
opacity 100%
blend mode: screen
calling cards
The color scheme being rather dark, the calling cards have to be two-sided; showing too much blank white paper wouldn't be a good look. While it would be a bit more expensive to print, having both sides in use would allow information to be distributed evenly, and the brand identity to be displayed in grand fashion.
Also included is a mugshot, so that it is easier for the receiver to associate the name with a face.
iconography
Icons are always a sure-fire way to communicate simple concepts and instruct users. For S/R I went with Google's Material Design iconography, main reasons being it's well-developed readability and somewhat angular design.
imagery and brochure
In concert with the color scheme, chosen imagery (sourced from Unsplash) reflects the stylish, urban, and modern feel the S/R identity encapsulates.
Printed materials are slowly becoming obsolete, but brochures are still the best way to give potential clients a hard reminder of company's existence.
