FreelanceGraphic DesignIllustrationMeTypographyA logo design story: Inspire and Enjoy

A couple of months ago I went to a Blogger Brunch at a market in East London; The London Artisan. Myself and 3 other bloggers (Jesse from Hecticophilia, Jaye from Jaye Rockett and Uli from Found Some Paper) were hosted by the lovely Verity, who told us that she used to have a blog but unfortunately life had got in the way lately. The 5 of us had a great discussion about blogging, creativity and side projects, and I think we might have coaxed Verity back in to the idea of blogging. A few months on, and with the help of Jaye’s creative coaching, Verity was back in the blogging game and asked me to work on a logo for her new creative space; Inspire and Enjoy.

Of course I said yes, and was excited to get my teeth into something special.

After our initial discussion over coffee we had already decided a few things; it was going to be hand drawn, possibly in a circular composition, and black and white with possibly blue and yellow as accent colours. With those points in mind and a joint Pinterest board for inspiration (Verity is VERY good with her Pinterest), I set about creating something simple but beautiful;

After the first round Verity decided that she’d like to try an ‘&’ instead of ‘+’, which I was very happy about because ampersands definitely have more room for variation and personality.  24 more options later…

… and I’d bled my fine liners dry. I also saw it as an opportunity to test out my new Pentel Aquash watercolour pen, which I mentioned in one of my Creative Blogger Mail Hauls on Youtube, watch here:

I really LOVE them. I’ve always struggled to grasp the skill of using watercolours, but with the pen I could easily control the flow of water – I can’t believe that I didn’t get one earlier. 100% RECOMMEND and you can get the set of 3 from Amazon for under £7 when I’d seen them going for £3 each in one of my local art shops so that’s a bargain! I’ve been admiring watercolour typography on blogs, Instagram etc for ages now, and now I can create my own! I’m even considering doing a series of prints… watch this space!

Anyway, back to the logo… I scanned all of my options in, edited the best ones on Photoshop and sent them to Verity to make the final decision. In the end she decided to go for this option, which was actually one of my faves, woo:

And so her blog was transformed and ready to share with the world:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

What do you think? Do you like it?

I thought I’d also show you these options that didn’t quite make the cut because… well, why not? They won’t see the light of day otherwise and I quite like them 🙂

I really enjoyed working on this project for Verity. Pinterest was definitely a big help in communicating exactly what kind of thing she was looking for, and I’d recommend Pinterest as a starting point for anyone looking to work with a designer; it’s a brilliant way to get inspired, collect and edit your ideas. I think we hit the nail on the head with the final design thanks to a spot of pinning.

One thing I’ve learnt from this project is that I definitely don’t spend enough time with a pen in my hand. Everything is so digital these days but when I do just sit down and draw, I love it! I really need to make more time for drawing and hand lettering because it’s so satisfying when you stand back and think ‘wow, I did that!’.

Don’t forget to head over to Inspire and Enjoy to check out all of the lovely things Verity will be posting. And also don’t hesitate to get in touch with me if you’re looking for something similar, be it a logo, blog header, some hand drawn type for wedding invites, personalised birthday cards or something else. Just pop me an email and let’s chat about it 🙂