Byrd & Belle Logotype

IanCrombie21 Oct 2010

Hey typophiles, I've got another logotype that near to completion. This one has been really difficult for me so I really need your guys eyes on this.

I've been asked to create a logotype for a wool felt and leather iPhone, iPad, MacBook Sleeve accessory maker who also makes really nice leather bags. She has become very popular on Etsy and has created quite a name for herself, and thought it was time to get a custom mark. She was formerly an architect and applies her clean modern aesthetic to all her pieces. She asked me to create a custom logotype that would reflect her taste and design ethos.

The brief included some very specific requests, namely: It must haves serifs, must have high ascenders, must use an ampersand and not a '+', it should pair nicely with neutraface, it should be inspired by midcentury modern architecture and design, it should be clean and not too feminine.

With this brief in mind I made a humanist (almost geometric) slab serif. Since she makes cases I wanted the ampersand to appear to be held between the 'd' and the 'b'. In the initial phase of this project she really fell in love with some sketches and the way i rendered the text with a pencil with lines to align the stem heights, tops and bottoms. It reminded her of architectal sketchs and the way she designs each of her products, so also attached is a roughed up version. Once I have the digital version refined to a t, i plan on redrawing it with a pencil to get the real deal.

Looking for any areas where a line looks too fat or a curve looks to wavy. Thanks in advance.

Attachment	Size
Bryd&Belle_Clean_01.jpg	26.84 KB
Bryd&Belle_Texture_01.jpg	47.44 KB

IanCrombie24 Oct 2010#

thats a custom typeface btw.

1996type24 Oct 2010#

Looks good. Normally, the serif on the top of the d should point towards the left. I think it will look better when you make the & smaller. e seems a bit too wide. You might consider making 'HANDMADE MODERN' larger, so that it's still legible at small size. The gap in your e will probably disappear at smaller sizes, so I'd make it a bit larger, or at least test it. good luck.

penn25 Oct 2010#

1. The ampersand looks a tad large — perhaps set a separate 'cap-height' that it comes up to as opposed to ascender height as you have it now.

2. The 'e' looks like it needs more modulation; its stroke width is a bit too uniform. This makes it look thicker than it should. Use the bowls on 'b' and 'd' as a guide to how much to thin the stroke.

3. It might just be my taste, but I'm not convinced neutraface is the right face for the tagline. Something about it doesn't sit right with your custom lettering above.

Nice work

dp00025 Oct 2010#

Another note: The title of this post and the title of the file are spelled "bryd..." but your logo says "byrd..."

IanCrombie26 Oct 2010#

All good catches guys, I'll be quick to fix those. The e's are definitely giving me the hardest time, I'll post some revisions soon.

Captured from commoncrawl.org on 28 Apr 2015. original URL