brand design
Fiber Loft Co.
Claire and I originally connected because of our shared love of fiber arts, so when she put out a call for a brand designer for her new business I jumped at the chance. It’s not very often that I get to combine design with my personal love for knitting, handspinning, and all things wool, so this project felt incredibly special from the beginning.
Deliverables:
Primary Logo
Secondary Logo
Wordmark
Color Palette
Custom Brand Illustrations
Brand Guide
the context
The Fiber Loft focuses on hand-processed, traceable wool, which is an incredibly time and skill intensive process.
Most spinners often choose commercially processed fiber because of just how much work processing a fleece really is. But as someone who spins yarn herself, I know that the closer you are to the source, the more connected you feel to the sheep, farmers, land, and ancestral practice of textile production.
The Fiber Loft is helping bridge that gap—bringing the accessibility of pre-processed fiber with the traceability and connection right into the hands of spinners like me.
The brand design needed to capture the process and all the care and skill that goes into Claire’s work.
Initial Concepts
There were a few ways we could achieve that handmade, artisanal feel.
When working with handmade small businesses, I believe it’s important to capture the style and taste of the founder. Not only does it help them feel more connected to their brand, but it also helps connect them to their clients and customers in a really special way that just can’t be matched by larger companies.
To get a sense of where Claire wanted to land in terms of style, I created three initial logo concepts as a jumping off point, inspired by different artistic mediums and processes. Each featured a hand-illustrated sheep, which was very fun.
Concept 01
Printmaking inspired
Concept 02
Sumi ink inspired
Concept 03
Storybook inspired
The Final Design
Claire loved the hand-lettered type and stack of the first concept, but wanted to combine that with the experimental, painterly sheep illustration in the second concept. I redrew that illustration to get the correct positioning, added a lovely, vintage-inspired color palette on top, and fleshed things out to give her multiple variations of the logo design to fit whatever use case she needed.
The finished result is a perfectly imperfect design that highlights the handmade nature of her products and gives her brand the authority and style to match her incredible talent.
Looking for a brand design for your handmade business? Let’s connect!
I’d love to hear more about your business, project, and design needs. Whether you’re just getting started and looking for some clarity, are ready to tackle branding, or want to level up your client experience and marketing, I’m your gal!
