After 15 years of steady business growth, Taranis Construction knew it was time for a logo update. Working with our team of designers, the client empowered us to reboot his company’s visual identity from scratch – this was to be a new era of visual expression for the brand.

Challenge: accepted.

Discovery
This required that our team gain a deeper understanding of the origins of the company name and the founder’s vision for the brand. In our discovery process, we uncovered a personal story of multicultural friendship that developed into the formation of twin enterprises. Each friend named their business after a mythological figure of the other’s culture. We also learned of four altruistic values that contribute to the the company’s success: personal involvement, knowledgeability, inclusivity & environmental responsibility.

Design Process
Once we collected these insights, our team went to work. Designers don’t always know when the right logo concept will transfer from pen to paper to screen. It can sometimes appear after a logical sequence of research, iteration and design critiques. Other times, it will come to us in a moment of epiphany (often interrupting shower thoughts). In the case of Taranis Construction’s logo redesign, it was cultural research that led us to a concept with a symbolic connection to the company’s four altruistic values. Read on to find out exactly how this was achieved.

Solution
The new logo pairs a graphic symbol and a word mark.

The first is a minimalistic rendering of a classical pillar. An iconic symbol of architectural support as well as a nod to the mythological origins of the company name. But look closely at the details of the pillar and you’ll notice four vertical column grooves (known as fluting in architectural speak). These grooves are intended to epitomize the company’s four key values and now firmly sets them as defining elements in the company’s visual identity.

The second is a word mark set in two complimentary typefaces. The primary font used to spell out Taranis is further customized to create angular points at the bottom of the T and I, which relate to the angles of the pillar’s grooves. Creating these subtle connections reinforce visual cohesion between the symbol and name.

Altogether the full company name is expressed in a modern way while preserving a sense of its origins. Additionally, all great visual identity systems have adaptable variations. You’ll find this demonstrated in the images below where some brand applications rely solely on the word mark or just the symbol.

 

Final Thoughts
Great logo design often have the following qualities:

  1. Meaningfulness: Does it allow you to tell a brand story? Does it connect to your values?
  2. Likeability: Is it visually interesting? Appropriate? Memorable?
  3. Adaptability: How does it look as a favicon?

I always like to say good design is good business. Investing in a logo may not be something you can directly correlate to ROI by way of click-through rates, but your company’s logo is certainly one of the most important design pieces that will have long-term impact on your business.