Adorit
Branding
Project Scope
This project was a school project I did in my second year of graphic design. The objective of the project was to find a local business that had a logo that we saw the potential to update. This project allowed me to go through all the steps of working on a branding project with a client. It reflected a real-life experience in the work field and taught me a lot.
After searching for a logo to redesign, I came across Adorit which is a Canadian clothing company that creates eco-friendly and sustainable clothing. I loved everything they stood for and saw potential in their current brand so I decided to go with them for this project. See their original logo on the right.
Purpose & Goal
The purpose of this project was to simulate a real-life experience with a client and help us learn how to deal with certain situations.
The goal was to redesign Adorit’s logo and give them a new look while staying true to their roots. Another goal was to design a stationery set and a branding guide.
Planning
The first step in this design process was to do some research on the brand, its target market, competitors, etc. After getting a better idea of who they are, the next step was to create a mindmap to start getting general ideas.
After doing a mind map and some research, I designed a mood board to set the look and feel of the new brand. Since the company is very much based around the environment and all things natural, I originally planned on going with more earthy, natural tones. Although later on in the process, I went in a bit of a different route by adding some pink to help stay true to the brand’s original look and more feminine feel.
First Set of Sketches
The first set of sketches was purely to get out any ideas I had, whether they were good or bad. Originally, I sketched a lot of wordmarks, most of them incorporating hearts due to the company's name and original logo.
After showing my sketches to my professor to receive feedback, she told me she wanted to see more pictorial concepts. With that in mind, I went ahead and sketched out another set of logos.
Second Set of Sketches
For the second set of sketches, I did a set of thirty different concepts, with a better mix of pictorials and wordmarks.
My vision for the logo was to incorporate clothing and the environment together to represent their eco-friendly fashion. Quite a few of my ideas consisted of a piece of clothing and a leaf to help visualize that concept. A lot of my concepts also included a heart, which came from the brand’s name and their original logo which was a heart. A heart also gave the brand a more feminine look which appealed to its target market.
Final Concept Sketches
After the second set of sketches, I decided on the two strongest designs and sketched out multiple variations of those. The first concept was to merge a heart and leaf together to symbolize love for the environment. The second concept was an emblem style logo with a heart and leaves to symbolize the same thing but in a different way. This was the last set of sketches I did before heading to the computer.
The next step in this project was to start creating the two strongest logo designs I had digitally. I went with the same typeface for both, except one was all caps and one was sentence case. The thin, modern typeface suited a fashion company perfectly and paired well with the simple pictorials.
The colour palettes were similar, just slightly different. As mentioned earlier, I decided to go against my mood board with the earthy, natural tones and added some pink. The two paired well together and really amplified the representation of love for the environment.
We were asked to design the logos in colour, black & white and reversed. Originally, as you can see, I was confused about the meaning of black and white and reversed. In the end, I learned from my mistakes and designed the final logo in the correct versions.
Process
Final Design
After presenting both concepts to my class and receiving feedback, I decided that the concept to move forward with was the first one. The first one was chosen due to its simplicity and strong shapes, which suited a clothing brand much more than the other. Many of my classmates found the emblem style of the second concept not fitting to the brand. They said it resembled a stained glass window you'd see at a church, which was not the response I expected. With that being said, it was valuable feedback and helped me make my final decision.
So, after making slight adjustments such as changing the case of the wordmark and adjusting the different versions of the logo accordingly, the final design was finished!
Benefits
The benefit of this rebrand for the company is the increase of their target market. The new look gives the brand a more modern and chic look which will attract a wider target market. It also captures what the brand is about and communicates their message in a more efficient way while still staying true to their roots.
