Inkspire

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Colin Slomka

Click the image to see full brand guide.

For my logo I chose to opt for a play on words rather than make up an animal, object etc. I settled on Inkspire because I found it to be simple but an effective play on words while it being obvious at first sight it has something to do with writing. It took me a few different sketches to come up with the logo, but I knew I was going to incorporate a pen somehow with a lightbulb. I wasn’t sure where the lightbulb would be but after playing around I felt comfortable putting it on the typeface while leaving an outline of a lightbulb on the actual logo. When it came to the logo it took a while how I wanted it, did I want a cartoon feel, a real feel, or a mix of both. I settled for a mix of both while having a colorful cartoonish design while also giving it a real feel with the texture I added to the color. I chose the top typeface for Inkspire to have more of a handwritten and bubble letter feel to it. The bottom typeface I chose was a basic text so it wouldn’t overcrowd or take away from anything else. I had a really fun time with this project, being able to have free will with a design is an experience that I’ve never really had before. It was a good process but a little difficult. Items, like the light bulb, I wasn’t really sure where to put so I had to play around a little bit in illustrator to see where I thought fit best. I had a very good time making different designs, as having essentially the same logo but putting the logo and company name in different places was a good exercise to see what was the best. My logo is supposed to be a pen nib with a light bulb in the middle of it, almost representing that once you start writing that’s when the ideas start. The brand guide was a little hard to fit everything and what layout I would do. Looking back on it I wish I added more pages but I feel like everything fits and flows on two pages. I decided to put all the logos on the first page just to show them off before I labeled them on the next page. Overall I do like how everything came out, I just wish the brandguide was structured a little better if I had to change anything.

PantingDeerPublishing Design

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Mayah Weeks

For this project, I really wanted to create a grungey logo that matches the vibe of a small town bookstore located somewhere in the East Coast. So basically a design for a newer Millenial/Gen z targeted company. I got inspired by an actual deer while driving to class on a hot day and I thought it was very offputting. I was hoping to match that energy with my logo. With my sketches, I based the design on an actual image of a panting deer and simplified it. I really wanted to add bits of the name within the antlers so I took some time to incorporate a “P” and a “D” but it unfortunately isn’t that noticeable until you see the other variations which I do love. Despite this, I still chose the logo without the name incorporated in the antlers as my cover logo because it is a lot simpler and easier to understand.

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Cat Tail Publishing

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Caydence Johnson

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This is my first project for J465, and it was a challenging first project. This was my first experience in logo design and it was a learning curve that I had to navigate.

I knew that I wanted to do a cat-themed logo because I felt like there was a lot of opportunity for color variation, brand story, and an engaging logo design. I went through many variations before my final product. The initial direction was “Cat Paws” but I saw an opportunity to create imagery out of the typography. I converted the typography into outlines and adjusted the L in cat tail to fit the illustration I had in mind for the cat tail.

I chose the font Flecrei because I really enjoyed the abstract look to the font, as well as the letter A reminded me of cat ears which I felt fit the visual. I chose Abril Display for the secondary typography for the sake of readability and an aesthetic match to the abstract primary font.

The color choice was difficult, but I ended up with a green/blue and ivory color scheme because I felt like it communicated the “home” feel that I wanted to evoke with soft colors that are easy on the eye.

Black Cat Publishing Brand Guide

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Olivia Trevino

Click on the image to see my full brand guide!

Here is my reflection for my first project in J465! We had to create a brand guide for a “publishing” company of our own creation.

I was nervous about this project because I had never designed a logo or written a brand guide so I was really going in blind. I was nervous because of my lack of experience.

I did really enjoy the project once I got into it! It took me a while to come up with an idea and a brand but once I did I really enjoyed making up a brand and their vibe. It was definitely a learning experience but I enjoyed being challenged and I had a lot of fun!

Triple Chip Books

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Ana Chip

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Triple Chip Books combines not only my last name, but a three for “Triple”, and a ravenous creature. All together, it reflects a being ready to find inspiration. It consumes but also encourages imagination as a symbol for growth and creation.

As for the development of this design, it has gone through many iterations. Most of them too complex to be used for the project itself. While I wanted to integrate little cracks and chips in the logo for my name sake, it was better to develop them more simply as it would be a tedious process to appear as a detailed logo. First I had sketched a clean look of the design before tracing over it in Adobe Illustrator. Experimenting with different colors, line weights, and sizes with the pen tool. Although there is one main design, there were many ways to customize it with slight variances and shape. This part of the project was a challenging process, as I had so many options to choose from and had trouble finding my strongest design.

For the font, I choose Bio Sans Bold and Light with cool bluish and turquoise colors for the scheme. The font itself felt clean and simple, which didn’t overshadow the logo and kept a bold appearance for its initiative. As both a creative and fun design, it manages to integrate more than two hidden pieces of imagery.

EXPRESSO PUBLISHING

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Kevin Huang

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For our first project of the semester, we had to design a logo for a publishing company. I wanted to create a logo that captured the mix of creativity and comfort that comes from both reading and coffee culture. The idea came from thinking about how stories can energize the mind the same way coffee wakes you up. And my goal for this project was to design something that felt warm, modern, and inviting. Like reading at a cozy coffee shop on a winter vibe.

There are many variations of the the logo. My final logo, and I believed to the best out of all of them, features a coffee cup resting on top of an open book. I liked how this combination represented imagination, inspiration, and storytelling without feeling too complicated. The warm brown and soft cream colors give it a cozy and thoughtful mood that fits the brand’s personality.

Choosing the right fonts took some experimentation, a lot of trial and error, but I ended up using Playfair Display and Montserrat because they balance classic publishing style with a clean, modern touch. Through this project, I learned how much type and color choices can influence how people connect with a brand. In the end, I think my logo really captures what Expresso Publishing stands for, which is creativity, warmth, and inspiration. Of course, there are many things that I can still improve for this logo, but I feel I did a pretty good job on this.

Sixth Sense Publishing

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Benjamin Cowles

**Click the image to see the full brand guide.**

I wish I could say there was some personal tie in with Sixth Sense Publishing, but honestly when I was creating this logo I made it by accident. I was messing around with the pathfinder tool, trying to build a different logo for a different class, when the middle shape appeared and it was just too striking to leave alone. So I switched gears, and started to work on the logo, establishing a brand voice, name, company mission, all off the look of a miss-click with the anchor point deletion tool.

As I kept going with SSP, I realized I needed something more, something that made it stand out. Originally, SSP was going to be Sixth Sense Fitness. I had molded the hexagon shape to fit on a dumbbell, and this super macho tough guy brand was going to be the backbone of the design choices, as I had never made anything like this before. The strong, geometric design was a good start but it needed detail. So, I added the brain-like squiggly lines in the middle. It was actually a bigger undertaking than I originally thought, as I had to cut out that shape while keeping it aligned on the same axis that the rest of the design is based on. But, with a little elbow grease and a lot of CTRL + Z, I think I got it in a place where I like it.

The typography was something I figured out pretty early, as I had already been searching for fitness-esque type beforehand. However, CCUltimatum stood out as being particularly striking and bold. It was very reminiscent of brands I had gotten used to seeing in military and cross fit gyms. The color scheme followed a similar line of reasoning, I needed something simple and striking with good contrast. I wanted the colors, type, and shape design to tell you everything you needed to know about the brand with one look.

Iris Publishing & Co. Design

Posted on October 7, 2025 by Sophia Johnson

Iris Publishing & Co. logo

When I was trying to design this logo, I was stuck on coming up with a concept to go off of. I’m currently taking a class on Classical Mythology, so the idea to incorporate mythology into this logo eventually popped into my head.

Iris is the goddess of the rainbow and she is a messenger for the gods. She is specifically the messenger between the gods and humans on earth. She is typically depicted with a rainbow, wings, and just as a “beautiful woman.” Since she is a messenger that is almost a bring between worlds, I thought it would be cool to reference her in my logo.

After this idea popped in my head, I started writing out associations with the word “Iris” and sketching out designs that could incorporate a rainbow. I landed on this design above eventually, and I focused on expanding it with textures and typography. I experimented with placing text, different typefaces, and even how the text was placed around the image. I also experimented a lot with text color and background color. The process of depicting the woman’s figure without getting stuck in details took more time, but I eventually landed on this. The most important thing was to find a way to incorporate her wings, because that is part of what makes her a messenger goddess.

This logo incorporates Iris’s wings and rainbow to encapsulate the mission of Iris Publishing & Co.

Sweetheart Publishing

Posted on October 7, 2024 by Cybill Sweet

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When I first started thinking of ideas for my logo, I knew I wanted to involve my last name sweet. So at first, I began with just the name Sweet Publishing. I knew i wanted it to have a simple and sleek pen stroke look to it to tie into the publishing brand. Right off of the bat, I had the idea of incorporating a wrapped candy within my logo to represent the “sweet”. From here I made a couple of sketches, where I noticed I could make the middle part of the candy be identifiable as the S in sweet.

After a couple of sketches, I realized I was envisioning the candy wrapper ends to emerge into something else as well, which was hearts. So i ultimately decided to have my publishing company be named Sweetheart Publishing.

I once again made several sketches until I was happy with a final product. This took a lot of trial and error. I wanted the hearts to be positioned a certain way…But really creating the circled candy in the middle was the hardest part because I wanted all of my pen strokes to be even and curved WHILE STILL create some sort of an S shape as well. I ended up angling the ends of the hearts to match up together as well so it gave it an idea of continuation. Finally last thing I did in my illustration was draw out a little quill at the end of the pen stroke to make it seem as if it had drawn it out, tying in the publishing title for my company.

I used a cursive handwriting font along with a more formal italic font because I wanted to match the elegance of the design itself but I think in future alterations of this logo I would look into changing the fonts the fit a more simple and elegant look because right now it seems to be a bit whimsical.

I wanted to keep this logo very sleek, elegant, and modern so I came up with a pretty neutral palette although honestly I can see myself changing it now to maybe just being the red color rather than the beige as it adds a little more pop. Overall though, I am very happy with what I was able to create and really enjoyed this process.

Sandbox Publishing

Posted on October 7, 2024 by Jack Paley

Click this image to view my full brand guide.

For the first project, I wanted to create a logo that was simple and could be recognizable for what I was trying to accomplish. I knew from the start I wanted to marry two icons together, and after much trial and error, I decided on combining an open book with a sandbox. Stylistically, the two elements paired well together as they both were composed of similar geometric shapes, and brand-wise a sandbox would represent all the limitless creative potential that I wanted by publishing company to be known for. I decided to include two well-known objects to help convey that my image was a sandbox: a shovel and a pail.

I first tried creating the book from a birds-eye perspective, looking straight down on it with sand covering the entire surface. But this did not create an interesting design that really popped out at me, so I did another attempt from a sideview, and this become my final image. I knew from the onset I only wanted to use a few colors, so I experimented with different sand colors until I found one that felt natural, and only used black and white for the remainder.

For typography, I knew I wanted something light and inviting that would translate the hardworking, but creative outlook my brand would be known for. I chose one called “Pinecone” on Adobe Fonts that felt simple but fun and utilized the same sand color as my image for consistency.

I am happy with how my design ultimately turned out and I feel I made a logo that can translate well to any size and be recognizable. I do think I could have added more details in the sandbox itself- maybe pebbles or just texture to further convey the sand- but I am still confident that most people will be able to immediately understand what I am going for.