As a designer, I love to see the gritty, unpolished behind the scenes process of building a new brand identity — the early sketches, the rejected concepts and everything that led up to the finished product.
More often than not, designer portfolios are filled with only the final concepts, which makes sense in serving their purpose, but I especially love looking through the portfolios that delve a little deeper into the creative process. It’s always a little more inspiring and a little more educational for me.
One of our very first identity projects at The Bright Agency was with Chuck Konderla, an independent jeweler here in Bryan that was looking into rebranding his business, Fifth C Fine Jewelry.
Old Logo
The original identity (shown above) wasn’t quite there in terms of lining up with Chuck’s vision. He was just about to go full time with Fifth C, and so he wanted a logo that represented the professional quality of his jewelry along with the unique and personal experience that comes with being Chuck’s client.
Some words that Chuck gave me to help with the direction were:
- Honesty/Trustworthy
- Knowledgeable
- Former Aggie
- Friendly
- No “Bull”
Initial sketches
We ended up developing four concepts to present to Chuck.
Concept 1
The first concept was designed around the “Thinking outside the box” tagline. A simple mark with a diamond hovering outside an open ring box.
Concept 2
An elegant cross mark that shows both the letter F and the letter C. The issue with this concept was that it was read too often as an ‘x’.
Concept 3
This concept was requested specifically by Chuck and was based on a gift that his mother bought for him soon after starting his own jewelry business. The gift had significant value to Chuck, and he had hoped to build his brand around the personal story; however, it was too difficult for the design not to look too much like a something out of Sign Language for Dummies.
The Chosen Concept
In the end, the final concept chosen was a refinement of the original logo. The ring was flipped to make a “C”, and the word-mark was polished in order to reflect more of a luxury feel.
The New Identity
The “Thinking outside of the box” tagline was not lost on the new brand. :)
Featured image photo credit: Abdulla Al Muhairi
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Michael, I really enjoyed how carefully you listened to what I was trying to accomplish, gave honest feedback on the look versus what I wanted, and delivered a logo I am so proud to have represent my company. As a Jeweler who specializes in custom design and manufacturing, my logo needs to represent what I do well. You defintely accomplished that and were a joy to work with. I would recommend anyone needing the rebranding of their company to you.
Chuck, as a past and future customer, I love it! The new design is clean and succinct, and it absolutely reinforces the fact that you are the fifth C, that extra special element during an extra special time.