Stephan's Workshop Logo Build
The Background
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Stephan Moss spends his days working hard on intricate details of handcrafted metal sculptures, wood carvings, paintings, and almost any other kind of art you could think of. For years he considered this a hobby. Eventually, however, his loved ones convinced him that his works were incredible, and that they should find homes above fireplaces and hung in entryways on homes everywhere rather than sitting in his garage. When he decided to found Stephan’s Workshop, his daughter took over the marketing side of the business. With this arrangement he wouldn’t have to give up spending his days doing what he loves. She approached me looking for a logo for the budding business, and I was thrilled for the opportunity to help them out.
The Process
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Talking through potential designs with Stephan’s daughter Alysse, we decided that the logo would be something fairly simple. Her only guidelines were that she wanted one that was only black and white. As she was discussing what she wanted to use the logo for, it was clear that the uses were varied in sizes and shapes. So, I suggested that I produce two logos. One would be round and would be used in social media platforms, in stamps on the packaging for the products, and other small-scale platforms. I would also construct a horizontal logo for larger uses such as signs and advertising materials, and letterheads and official uses. Other than these simple instructions, Alysse did not particularly know what she wanted the logo to look like, so I told her I would do some research and sketches, and then we’d reconvene and discuss the potential options for the final design.
The sketching process produced about 20 rough ideas. Most were terrible, but a few came out well when I digitized them (I always sketch with good old-fashioned pen and paper first, obviously). About 10 of them worked well enough, but I picked my favorite 5 to show to Alysse. When we met the second time she ended up liking elements from two of my options, so we decided to create a new design as an amalgamation of the two.
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The Design
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The final design we settled on was a thick serif font with plenty of organic character to each letter spelling out Stephan’s Workshop in all caps. In the horizontal logo, there is a line on top and on bottom of the text and sat directly on top are three pine trees. Similarly, in the stacked logo, there is a circle that encompasses the text, with three pine trees on top. The two trees on the outside are smaller to fit better within the circle.
