Logo designs can be some of the most challenging projects — they carry a lot of weight! It’s a thoughtful process that finds me spending a lot more time with my sketchbook than in front of the computer.
These are a few logo designs I did recently. Below each design is a bit of context and rationale. Scroll down to see the examples and get the story.
This design was for freelance photographer Chris Loh. I became familiar with Chris’ work early on as his incredible dance photos made the rounds on Facebook. It’s not easy to capture dance, but this guy pulls it off. Behind the logo is a photo Chris took of a high-energy West African dance class!
For this logo design, an expressive typeface helps carry lots movement and energy. It’s reflective of Chris’ skill in capturing motion; whether he’s shooting a swing dance or wedding photos, a lot of his shots show people moving around and being natural. We went with a compact, square shape so that his logo can be easily placed as a watermark.
AVA Events is a company that handles sound tech, lighting, and music for large events. Their logo was based on the client’s company name “Ava” being formed by a lighting truss, as creative lighting was one of their best strengths. The colours represent AVA’s signature lighting colour scheme. The logo was also designed to create a striking silhouette in solid black; this enabled the logo to be made into a custom spotlight stencil.
The overall design gives a sleek yet industrial look. It demonstrates how AVA provides quality and professionalism, but also how the company is robust enough to work large events and handle all the tech required.
Mad Cat Swing is Edmonton’s premiere swing dance performance team, appearing at festivals and events all over the city. My goal with this logo was to convey fun, celebration, and confidence. Stylized cats are captured mid-leap, inviting you to join the party. Red and orange colours suggest energy and passion; they’re offset by dark navy to create bold contrast that gives a dramatic flair.
People hire Mad Cat Swing mainly because they’re looking to inject fun into their event. I thought it would be most effective to convey the feelings Mad Cat’s clients are hoping to pass along to their event attendees. Secondary to the excitement element, the logo conveys confidence — ultimately, a sense of reassurance that the dance team is credible and reliable, and that clients are in good hands.
From the Mad Cat member perspective, I wanted a look that captured the joy and passion for dance shared among the performers. The logo is meant to represent a team that is dynamic and full of energy. It’s meant to be lighthearted, too: this team takes the dance seriously, but can still enjoy each other and even get a little crazy sometimes!
Solidance is a non-profit organization that offers accessible recreation programming for people of all abilities. Along with supporting the imagery of the company name, the Solidance logo needed to communicate inclusion and diversity. The sun rays were effective for conveying a sense of continual movement, giving the impression of flickering flames. I liked the idea of the logo being asymmetrical and felt that having the sun rays be in different configurations supported the idea of embracing diversity.
A dancing figure inside the sun matches the “flame” look of the sun rays, and paired with the sun fully represents the company name. We focused on keeping the figure really abstract; Solidance members came from a wide spectrum of backgrounds and physical abilities, and my client wanted avoid making a symbol of what a “normal” body looks like.
The sun portion of the logo was designed so that it could function nicely on its own, allowing Solidance to add the graphic to hats, t-shirts, water bottles, etc.