Centauri

Project: Branding & Guidelines

Scope of Work

Brand Strategy
Name
Logo
Stationary
Style Guide

Story

Centauri is an imaginary company targeted towards females.

They specialize in creating self-defense items out of resin. One of them is Resin Knuckles.

Mission

To give every individual a fighting chance. Resin Knuckles are a fantastic and cheap alternative compared to other self-defense items on the market. They are a fashionable keychain accessory and are easy to use.

Logo

Sketching

First, I have chosen the name Centauri. The name comes from the Brightest Star from our solar system, making a connection to how outstanding the target audience is (young female adults).

For the logo, I had two major things in mind.

The focus is on self-defense. Therefore I want a powerful but elegant typeface to represent independence.
The target audience. For young female adults, It has to be fashionable and feminine.

Solution

Serif typeface with high contrast. Quiche Display.

It has Serifs for elegance and boldness for confidence.

Digital

From sketching, I have narrowed my selection down to three.

Each digital attempt has some elements of Resin Knuckles and or brightest star. The First has the knuckle in the T, and the second and third have a shooting star (Brightest star).

The second draft has my chosen direction, which is a Logotype. The most significant small change was the star in the title of the i. This change enabled me to push the design further in the finishing stages.

Final

I have decided to go with a logotype and a logomark for this brand. While the final logotype conveys the brand beautifully, it lacks branding compatibility. The logo mark is minimalistic, taken out of the logotype, and is very versatile in its use.

Color

In the final variation, I have also included color. These colors were picked out of a night sky image and slightly modified. I wanted the colors to be part of the galaxy and the brand.

Brand Guidelines

Sketching

With the logo in place, I started to develop the brand guidelines.

This part of the project had a tight turnaround, and I decided to pick the first layouts that stood out to me. While these are loose sketches, I used more time digitally to polish my ideas.

While sketching, I focused on the shooting star being the main branding element.

Digital - Final

With the brand book complete. I chose my two favorite spreads to showcase. These two pages are also the most important ones, with typefaces, colors, and visuals for the brand.

One interesting design element that I have created is the pattern. Before this project, I did not play too much with patterns, but I liked how it turned out!

Throughout the design process, I have sprinkled the shooting star. It is a powerful yet simple design element that brings the brand together.