February 2nd, 2010
I recently finished an identity design project for a church stewardship campaign called Release: Setting the Church Free. The image above shows a few of the logo revisions that occurred along the way. The final logo is on the bottom, right. The dove is symbolic of the Holy Spirit/Church being “released” into the nations.
The Letterhead and envelopes were printed first. The abstract watercolor background behind the logo is symbolic of the earth’s geography, but not intended to be exact. The idea was to present a global, rather than local release of the church. The sheet was flooded with ink, leaving only white paper for the dove showing through, which created a nice effect. They were printed 4 Color Process on 80 lb. Finch Fine Text, Bright White.
A 17 1/4″ wide x 22 1/2″ tall (unfolded) Brochure/Poster was also created for the campaign. It was folded like a newspaper page and placed in 9″ wide x 12″ tall, 6 mil plastic recloseable bags. This solution not only looked good, allowing the photos to be seen through the bag, but also fit well with the Release theme and saved quite a bit of money by not printing a traditional pocket folder to hold all of the additional campaign literature, DVD, etc…
Here’s the unfolded outside/poster.
And the unfolded inside/brochure.
Tags: brochure, Christianity, freelance, graphic design, logo, poster, stationery suite
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January 12th, 2010
Just got the newly released LogoLounge Master Library, Volume 1: 3,000 Initials & Crest Logos. I was looking forward to this new edition coming out because it contains the Maranatha Brand logo I designed awhile back. I find the LogoLounge books to be a valuable source of inspiration. You might enjoy checking one out sometime if you don’t already own a copy.
Tags: graphic design, logo, logo lounge
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January 11th, 2010
I recently put together this identity for an upcoming teaching series at Grace Gathering. I experimented with a couple of different ideas and ultimately decided to focus on the solution, which is rest, instead of the problem, which is being weary. The series is about gaining refreshment and perspective by applying biblical truth to one’s life.
The final logo was used in Black and White. Here’s how it looks with some color applied to it.
Tags: Christianity, graphic design, logo
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December 24th, 2009
Above are some of my original brainstorming sketches for a group of eye care professionals needing a new logo. The client wanted something clean, simple, and professional.
These are four concepts I presented. I was pretty excited about the potential for these designs, but the client thought they were a bit too “artsy”. I could understand where they were coming from with that, so we moved in a more conservative direction.
I ended up using the type treatment from design A and replaced the eyeball icon with the initials of the name of the business. Above is the final logo and color specifications.
Here is the final letterhead design. I learned a while back that whenever you present a letterhead design to a client, you should always put some text on the letterhead. It not only shows the proper margin sizes, but also makes for a much better prestentation.
Tags: freelance, graphic design, letterhead, logo, stationery suite
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December 14th, 2009
I was asked to create an identity/web design for a Leadership Weekend event coming up in January 2010. The theme for the weekend is moving communities toward mission, so I decided to focus on the visual aspects of light and movement to create the design. I contacted a friend of mine who is an amazing photographer and requested a photo that would capture what I was looking for. He supplied the fantastic photo above.
Here is what the photo looked like after a bit of cropping and transforming. The goal was to communicate light and movement in an abstract sort of way.
And this is a screenshot of the final homepage from leadershipweekend.org. I provided the final design elements to the church that is holding the event and one of their staff members put the actual site together.
Tags: branding, Christianity, freelance, graphic design, web design
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December 4th, 2009
There are all kinds of illustration styles out there; clean, messy, modern, retro, etc… I’ve been experimenting lately with taking photos of common objects, then hand-inking them in a “messy” sort of style, and then scanning, vectorizing, and coloring them. Above is the original picture of an old 3-IN-ONE can, followed by the the hand-inked version, and finally the vectorized/colored version.
Here are a few more random items I experimented with using the “messy style”.
Tags: drawing, graphic design, illustration, pen and ink, vector art
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November 30th, 2009
If you didn’t catch the Independent Lens premier of Objectified last Tuesday, you can check your local listings to see if it will be available again. The program offered some great food for thought regarding the design of objects we interact with on a daily basis. One of the central issues revolved around whether or not objects should be built to last and “wear in” as opposed to “wear out”. You can also take the quiz to find out which object best captures your personality. I took the quiz and it said I’m a “Coca-Cola Bottle”. Funny, I don’t even like Coke. I wonder what that means?
Tags: graphic design, Independent Lens, PBS
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October 24th, 2009
The design criteria behind this project was medical, clean, streamlined, and incorporating the idea of “Medical Synthesis” in regards to medical device design and development services. MediSynthe offers complete product development – design, testing, and regulatory services. The idea behind the name is that they are developing “medical” device concepts and offering a streamlined product development service where all the parties are in one place and work together as an effective, efficient team, or “synthesis”. The “M” icon alludes to bone joints working together in harmony. Orhopaedic device development is a major area of focus for the company.
Tags: business card, envelope, graphic design, logo, stationery suite
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October 23rd, 2009
Logo and icon design for iPhone application that locates farmers markets in a given location. Those who prefer to eat locally grown/produced food sometimes call themselves locavores or localvores. The top view of a tomato was an effective solution for the icon.
Tags: graphic design, icon, logo, tomato
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October 23rd, 2009
Visual identity design for full-service auto detailing business. Logo, business card, and t-shirt designs were developed.
Tags: business card, freelance, graphic design, logo, t-shirt
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Hi there. My name is Brad Thomas and this blog is where I share the process that goes on behind some of the graphic design projects I work on. You can also view my portfolio at 