[Project Complete] - New photographers logo for pregnancy - $200

[mackdoo]

(Admin code added by Palmer - 2EA285276K1886240)

Design Outpost Creative Brief Worksheet

Project Summary:
Text for the logo – ‘The Pregnancy Photographer’
Either with the photographers name ‘Courtenay’ or with an icon/image, we have no preference.

What type of product or service do you offer?
Pregnancy Photography – www.thepregnancyphotographer.co.uk

How long have you been in business?
Over 10 years

What do you hope to accomplish with your new identity?
Moving the Pregnancy Photographer into it’s own sympathetic brand instead of being tied to the wedding brand.

What are your long term goals?
Courtenay is established as the foremost pregnancy photographer in the UK – we want the brand to reflect that status.

When is the deadline for final entries before choosing a designer?
ASAP, of course! Hopefully by 2nd May, but there’s no exact date to work to.

Audience Profile:
Affluent pregnant families, usually the expectant mother (though not exclusively, expectant fathers book as a gift) - generally in their 30’s, and well-educated.

Who would you like to add to your audience?
We’re happy with the audience we have.

Perception/Tone/Guidelines:
What type of logo would you like?
An interesting type-based logo – with an element that can be used for watermarking images.

Do you have any colors in mind for your logo? (if so, why?)
We use a sage green at the moment, but we’re open to suggestion – needs to be earthy, muted or neutral however, nothing bright, no primary colours.

Do you have any specific images or icons in mind that you would definitely like to see incorporated into your logo?
None – but no pregnant bumps unless they are very stylized and subtle.

Communication Strategy:
What attributes would you like your logo to reflect about your business?
Classic, elegant, stylish, contemporary - with a little fun quirkiness. The feel needs to be gentle, relaxed and calming. It needs to be fairly feminine to appeal to the audeince, but keeping mind the photographer is male so no pink/hearts/butterflies.

What is your tagline or slogan?
Because every bump is beautiful, every pregnancy unique.

What is the overall message you are trying to convey to your target audience?
We are an exclusive, high-end brand. Courtenay is the best.

Where will your new logo be used?
On the website, on stationery and as image watermarking.

Competitive Positioning:
Who are your competitors and what do you think about their logos?
www dot tinabolton dot co dot uk – her logo? Shudder
www dot londonmaternityphotographer dot co dot uk - inoffensive, but not terribly special either.

What sets you apart from your competitors?
Courtenay is almost the only male specialist, and he has a very strong and distinctive style. He was one of the first in the UK to specialize, and is the most established pregnancy photographer in the UK.

Targeted Message:
You can trust us – we will look after you, and make you look beautiful.

[nordy]

V1

[mackdoo]

Hi Nordy, and thanks for the rapid response.
However, I'm afraid the 'pregnant P' isn't working - we really want to stay away from representations of the bump itself and are looking for something more stylised and quirky.
Also the font is nice - but really similar to the one we use already.
Sorry.. that wasn't very positive was it?

[nordy]

No problem,

Its all part of the elimination process!

[nordy]

V3

[mackdoo]

Hi Nordy - okay REALLY don't like the camera/baby thing! But do like the direction you took with the font in the last one - although it is quite similar to other portrait photographers logos we've seen.
However, we are looking for something with an icon as part of it - text logo's don't work very well as a watermark on an image.
Also can we 'quirk' it up a little? Although his style is quite serious, Courtenay is a fun and quirky person, and that should be reflected in his brand - something vintage/retro/organic perhaps.
Gosh, this is harder than I expected!

[xpressions]

[mackdoo]

Thank you for joining Xpressions! Weirdly, we had just been talking about a logo with very similar birds - love them! Really like the fun simple feel of it.
Not mad keen on the brush strokes of colour though - is there another way you could incorporate the birds idea? Maybe a stylised tree with the birds in it, or some kind of floral/vine while maintaining the simple, clean feel?
We do use a scroll-type design on the current website, so it might be nice to follow that through, though we want to avoid the over-heavy elaborate swirls of many photographer logos.
Thank you!

[mackdoo]

Just to help things along, these are a couple of logos we've seen recently that we like

http://www.littlestuff.co.uk/blog/wp...10/04/logo.gif

http://www.peatreephotography.com/blog/
(also really like the way the logo has the element which the photographer uses in her images on the blog)

Both very different, but both fresh, clean and have that quirky touch of whimsy.

[xpressions]

Thank you for the feedback. Attached please find a revised version:

[nordy]

V4

[mackdoo]

Xpressions - thank you that is definitely better. But still isn't hitting the YES! button - do you have any other ideas? I was also wondering about the longevity of the birds - they're very on trend right now, but will they look dated in 18mths time? It's tricky because we do love them, but we don't want to do the rebranding thing too often, it's way too painful! Also, one small thing for the next design - it's photographER, not -Y!

Nordy, I'm afraid the duckling really doesn't work for us. Although we want a touch of quirkiness, we need the logo to be timelessly stylish.
Is there anything we can do to help this along, any more questions we should be answering?

[elogonics]

[mackdoo]

Thanks for joining Elogonics! Unfortunately the stork is not working at all.

Okay, I think maybe a little more direction is needed. We are a high end photographers, in need of a timeless and elegant logo to which we would like to add a touch of the quirky; and it needs to have an icon in addition to the text for use on images.
But.
We really don't want too-obvious imagery concerning babies and pregnancy. The name is clear enough - we're looking for something stylised, organic and fresh, and above all something different!
Please, feel free to think away from the word 'pregnancy' - anything with a feminine feel (without being girlie) would work.

Oh and it's photographER, not photographY please!

[nordy]

V5

[mackdoo]

Hi Nordy
Oh I like the flower a LOT! But... one flower on its own is a bit too girly for a male photographer (sorry!). I know, its a big ask, and I'm being a pain...
I'm not sure the font works so well, but I think if we can get the icon right, the font will follow.
Definitely much better though - I've obviously finally been clear enough to help, and it's going in the right direction now

[glyphica]

subtle belly and sprout symbolizing growth

[glyphica]

one more Do you have any examples of logos you like?

[mackdoo]

Hi Glyphica - thanks for joining, and so successfully too! I LOVE your first version (hooray!), it has the exact feel we are looking for. On a purely practical point I'm not sure the 'sprout' (which I do love) is strong enough to work as a stand-alone watermark - although the entire logo could be used, so I'll need to discuss that one!
Version 2 I like a lot too, but I have seen something similar a few times before (maybe because it works so successfully as a watermark!).
I did post links to a couple of logos in post #9, but I'll see if I can find some more.

[nordy]

V6

[nhr]

Hello

My concept: flowerbird



Thank you.

[mackdoo]

Nordy - Thanks for trying again - the flower is better, but still not right. The 'shutter' flower is a bit of a cliche, and the whole image is still too strong and formal.

nhr - thank you for joining! I really like the birdflower concept! Can you try it with some different petals - the sharp points feel a bit too harsh, we're looking for a softer feel.

We want something that is obviously created by hand, not machine-generated, perfect and symmetrical. Pregnancy photography is all about the pregnant human form, its beautiful landscape with all its imperfections and curves.

We like the 20's/30's feel, both in the classic art nouveau/art deco sense, but also in the more current contemporary versions in a vintage feel.
We're really not interested in an obvious pregnancy/baby theme - it's more about the feel of Courtenay's style being represented.

Thank you for sticking with it - it isn't until we started this that we realised we had such definite concepts!

[nhr]

Thank you very much for the feedback

Revision:

[nutscreative]

v1 the "P" graphic can use as a watermark.

[mackdoo]

nhr - eek, I made you make it worse! The stronger, rougher lines are much better for a watermark, and I love the loose feel of it - but with the rounded petals it looks far too much like a chicken now! Could you possibly lose the beak, scrap the bird idea and create something more with the organic flowing shape?

nutscreative - thanks for joining, I had a feeling i was scaring people away by being too fussy! I love what you have done with the feminine-but-not-girly colours, flowers and dots, but I was wondering if you could somehow simplify the font of 'pregnancy' a little to make it just a touch less fussy? I know the scrolling P is what makes it work, but it feels a little overstated for Courtenay's simplistic style.

[nutscreative]

v2

[nutscreative]

and one more.

[mackdoo]

Oh thank you nutscreative, version 2 was great.
Sadly, though, when we try it out as a watermark on the images, it just doesn't work.
Working through these it has become clear that the clean, fresh look is definitely what we need - anything 'over decorated' simply looks excessive when placed on his images.
Does anyone have anything using 'Courtenay' as the icon? I'd really like to see an idea of what could be done with that too before I start requesting any more changes.

[nutscreative]

[mackdoo]

hahahaha... sorry, I thought I explained in the design brief. Courtenay is the name of the photographer!
http://www.thepregnancyphotographer....-hitchcock.php
Previously we've always just used the business name of 'The Pregnancy Photographer' - but as he has become quite well known it makes sense to change the branding slightly to be more about 'him' personally, rather than just his photography.
Apologies if I didn't make that clear before - I just presumed everyone would have visited the site and understood!
The fact that he is a male photographer with such a feminine subject is what is causing the issue, we need to appeal to both his masculine style and taste, and also that of his clearly feminine clients!
I am thinking that maybe we would be more successful exploring his name rather than trying to find an esoteric icon that will work for both.