Public Displays of Reflection: 12/21/08

For the better part of a year, my wife has been working on opening up a bridal boutique. It just so happens that she is married to a retail designer (yes, that would be me), so naturally I’ve been working on everything from the business’s identity to the website to the store’s interior. This is Part I of my story, entitled The Identity.

When most people think of a corporate identity, they think of a logo, perhaps a business card, and maybe even custom stationary. In truth, it goes much deeper than that. For starters, you need a name. Buying a wedding dress is an exciting and emotional time for a bride, so we wanted a name that would reflect that, as well as one that would stand out amongst a list of similar-sounding bridal shop names. Many brides say that they are looking for THE dress, implying both that it is the most important dress she’ll ever wear and that there is just one dress that’s perfect for her. We eventually agreed on The Dress by Nicole because it captures that feeling, and at the same time denotes a friendly, personal touch that you don’t get from big box bridal retailers.

Of course, I began working on the logo before we’d settled on The Dress by Nicole, so as the logo evolved it helped us make a decision. I came up with the idea of including the silhouette of a dress form because Nicole wanted something more “feminine” than simple text, and a dress form fit the bill without being too specific to a single style of dress. Plus, it has a personal significance because it recalls my wife’s background in fashion design.

For the logo’s font, I chose a variation of Goudy Old Style for its graceful lines and good readability. The use of small caps and custom kerning for “The Dress” lends visual weight to the shortened name of the boutique, while the smaller, lower-case lettering in “by Nicole” allows supporting text in the same font to tie back to the logo.

The logo is combined with a tone-on-tone damask pattern in black or white, to create a look that is vintage with a modern twist. In printed materials, wherever possible, the damask pattern is created using clear gloss ink over matte-finished paper. In electronic uses and some printed pieces, the pattern is acheived through the use of a subtle gradient over a black or white background. The pattern is also used on its own to reinforce the brand identity without an overuse of the logo.