I have been sooooo excited about sharing this one. Venue stylist, trained florist, passionate cook and all round stylish-lady Colleen approached us a few weeks ago to help her create a new identity for her business Distinctive Elegance. I am especially excited about this identity because Colleen is offering Afternoon Tea Weddings (amongst other things), which is what Mr H and I had for our own wedding. And I’ve always loved that design style.
Anyway, back to Distinctive Elegance. Following the initial brief, Caroline and Colleen kicked off the process with a creative mood board session which gave them both a clear focus. We then brainstormed the concepts as a team (and frustratingly I photographed our sketches and mood board but have since lost both cable and charger for the camera) and Chloe has spent the last week or so creating these beauties…
We’ve only just sent across to Colleen so we’re awaiting her feedback, but we’d love to hear what you think.
Colleen’s brief was all about elegance, stylishness and creating a wonderful atmosphere. Romance, grace and distinction are also key.
Option One: distinctively elegant
I love this delicious and beautifully crafted badge. It’s pretty much exactly what I had in my head the first time I met Colleen, so it’s wonderful to see Chloe interpreting the brief so closely. And here it is in context
Concept Two: The stylish hand
This was inspired by Colleen’s stylish touch. And I am all over this font! Isn’t it just lovely? Loving the d, the t’s and the c’s. Just beautiful!
And the logo in context…
Concept Three: Strong and Distinctive
We’ve got to hand this to Ian. During the brainstorming the chandelier and strong colour was Ian’s vision, and we all had such a positively strong reaction to something that wasn’t another girly butterfly or tea cup, that we just had to show this one to Colleen. Her business is definitely of the Summer colour personality: graceful, elegant, organised and romantic. Although we suspect that Colleen herself is a much stronger personality (possibly winter/ autumn) so we suspect that she might well respond quite positively to this one as it probably has the most “substance” of the four.
And here is said chandelier in action…
And the bonus one…
Rob illustrated some beautiful butterflies for this concept, and after much discussion we’re pleased with the fonts we’ve combined them with. It’s fair to say that there was a little behind-the-scenes debate over this one, not in terms of what you see below, but the finished article has had some pretty exacting standards applied to it! That said, each of these are just mockups, so we’ll usually expect to adapt colours or perhaps revisit some of the fonts before the finished article.
And finally, the business card mockups.
So now it’s over to you (and of course the client 
) what do you think? Which resonates with you the most and why? We love to hear your feedback!
A close call between first & last for me. For me (as something of a philistine as you know) I find that the word “Distinctive” in the 2nd & 3rd visuals is “lost” and the eye won’t pick it out unless concentrating. If the word is an integral part of her business name / identity then I don’t think these will work.
I really like the font and design of Chloe’s one and it is probably my favourite. For me I would like to see perhaps a slightly stronger colour or shape as it is a tad wishy-washy. Really nice and elegant though and works better with the cerise (?) background. On the pale blue background it is a bit “blue-rinse set’s tea china” – know what I mean?
Rob’s font is great – modern but clear. Not sure of the relevance of butterfly to venues though.
All the best folks x
Thanks Stephen. Really great and constructive comments. Thank you.
Good point re; the fonts. Worth bearing in mind for sure. I’d like to think we could use font no. 2 somewhere in this identity, even if not on the logo. Agree with your thoughts re: strengthening up the colour, which we can do whilst still remaining in the summer palette. Butterfly more the feeling of beauty and creativity – the end result rather than a direct link
hmmm! all lovely! depends on the client’s perception of the life span of the logo. personally I think no 1 is gorgeous but could date the quickest as it’s very ‘now’ and might not stand up in same way in say 2-3 years time. with that in mind I think the bonus one is best from this perspective (as it could be updated, font modified to keep fresh etc) or three where say the chandelier motif could be dropped in a couple of years and replaced ot typography left to work on its own. Really nice work though and love the use of colours etc.
thanks Sarah. Interesting… I’d hope that all logos we create could last for at least 5 years but I think you could modify if you needed to without losing too much soul if it did look horribly dated (I’d really hope it didn’t!). Thanks for the feedback though, lovely to hear from another creative.
They’re all great, but personally, I prefer options 1, 3 and the bonus one. I’m in the process of having a new identity for my business (if I’d known, I’d have come to you guys). IIt’s really interesting to see how others perceive your business. Beautiful, thoughtful work.
Thank you very much Cynthia, your comments are really appreciated. All the best with your new identity, and if you need some new business cards printing, you know where we are!
As a former client, I think all the designs are great and work well. But have to say my favourites are numbers 3 and the bonus one. They both stand out well and are strong enough to stand alone. Love the mulberry/mauve on number three but also love the fonts used on the last. Hope that this helps. Have to say for my own logos I finally picked the one that was most popular with everyone else except me, but has proved over time to be the winner all along!!
Thank you Naz. Wise words indeed. And I do hope that you’re still a client, “former” sounds rather final
(I think I know what you mean though…)
prefer the bonus
recognise the font?
They are gorgeous, and I can see how they all fit in to the concept. However, I really like no’s 3 and the bonus; I feel these really help to create a feeling of ‘distinctive elegance’…
I love the chandelier and font on option 3. Personally still like opt 1 the best – especially if it worked with the chandelier (could well be too much)
I am writing this without reading anyone else’s comments so I am not influenced.
My favourites are the first and last.
The only thing I personally am not keen on with the first is that purple colour – it seems too harsh against the other side with the damask like pale blue. But curvy shape really makes me think of elegant white china cups and the 1930′s ‘tea with Mussolini’ style..
Love the butterfly too – gorgeous image and lovely typeface.
The chandelier one I like least – it puts me in mind more of gothic – I hesitate to say horror but the slightly serrated edge to the type makes me think of Dracula – castles and blood..and definitely night rather than day.
Hope that’s helpful not extremely annoying for you!