Artala
A brand identity for a bespoke luxury interior design company. Artala is art forward, aimed at sophisticated clientele.
My Role:
Lead Designer responsible for brand development
Company:
Chalkbox Creative
Key Responsibilities:
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Brand development
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Brand guideline development
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Stakeholder presentations and collaboration facilitation
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Asset delivery
The challenge
Amy May is an interior designer in the PNW area with considerable expertise in both construction and design. After spending over a decade building May Designs, an interior design firm, Amy wanted to launch a separate firm offering an elevated, bespoke experience to select clients.
This new venture, Artala, required a visual identity that would be distinct from May Designs, align with the expectations of her new audience, and help her stand out amongst more sophisticated competition.
Exploring custom typography, art-forward iconography through sketching.
Through exhaustive sketching, my team at Chalkbox worked with Amy May to find something that felt artistic, architectural, and analytical all at once. We honed in on a direction that felt unique amongst her competitors, but not alien to her existing May Designs brand.
An elevated experience expressed through custom typography and simple geometry.
The finished mark combines custom typography, modern art, and architectural elements. The hint of a top-down door swing points towards blueprints, while clean geometric shapes add balance and an artistic feel.
Key take-away and lessons learned.
The process involved in this process was a fun and challenging one. Working with a client that has refined design sensibilities evoked lively conversation and wonderful collaboration that resulted in a unique and beautiful brand identity. However, it can be a challenge to keep the focus on what the brand, audience, and business need instead of what one simply likes and dislikes. This project was a great reminder to always frame client presentations in the context of the creative brief, the project goals to keep the feedback objective.
Our scope was limited on this one, and there is so much opportunity to extend this brand across a variety of touch-points in interesting and exciting ways. As Artala continues to grow, perhaps we'll have an opportunity to do just that.