The making of the Fort corporate identity

Uncorking the process with a search for the main element.

Selecting two designs to present to the customer.

The customer approves none. Back to our desks.

The customer has concerns about this option. Continuing our thinking.

Presenting a humming bird. It doesn’t fly through either. The customer brings up one of the earliest sketches. Finding it in our archive and developing the theme.

The customer is still in doubts and does not yield to any efforts to change his mind. Getting back to brainstorming for the general concept.

Pushing one idea further.

No, it’s still not what the customer wants. Again, he talks about one of the first drafts, asking to give it a try.

New arguments give the customer enough confidence to go ahead so the process becomes more productive. Starting to work on the corporate identity.

Drawing patterns for different business divisions. Pouring out some sketches.

Bringing some decorative elements in.

Ditching the classic scrolls in favor of bold pattern fragments.

Too abstract. We need designs reflecting the exact business the company conducts.

Road interchanges look more like ligaments. Cutting them more straightforward and less organic.

In a parallel process, developing the business stationery. Designing corporate file folder.

Laying out a letterhead.

Putting business cards together.

Preparing presentation templates.

The company is going to participate in ProdExpo trade show. After the general concept is approved, we take a photo from the customer’s website and prepare a special logo version just for this show.

Making stationery for different divisions brings up a necessity for some logo modifications: All caps should be traded for a sentence case. Communicating it to the customer.

Now the weight of the graphic and text parts of the logo is visually balanced, which improves overall legibility preventing the name from turning into an abbreviation and tying the look of all logo versions together.