Jan 10, 2009

REBRAND: KEVIN WINZELER PHOTOGRAPHY

2009: it's time to rebrand

So back during the business school days I came across a neat little book titled, the 22 immutable laws of branding. Basically, a three hour read with nicely packaged tips for building a super star business!

If I recall correctly, the author said that any single brand would literally explode into a billion dollar business within 3 years of inception if it simply had a really cool name. Had to be really cool, and memorable and unique, oh and easy to spell. And now I pause and pay homage to parents and their parents and all the other Winzeler's down the line (like 6 in existence I think). Kevin Winzeler: cool, memorable, unique...not so easy to spell. I really like my name for the record.

Step two: turn that really cool name over to a designer and let 'em go crazy

Following design work courtesy of the super talented designer, Kevin Cantrell (you are going places with that first name btw).

FEEDBACK PLEASE! Click on the images below to enlarge.
Which brand do you like and why? (Letterhead, Business card and Envelope):


Brand 1:
Brand 2:

Brand 1 (variation A):

Brand 1 (variation B)

Brand 1 (Variation C)

12 comments:

Ken Hoglund said...

Hey Kevin, I feel your pain, my last name is Hoglund ... that's really memorable ;) I ended up just making my website kenhphoto.com so people don't have to remember how to spell my last name. You have some great photography on your site I'm real impressed, I like the pictures you've taken of Eric Wynn.

Anonymous said...

Hey Kevin,
Brand #1 is a little stronger to me - I like the play on lettering - plus it puts more emphasis/reinforces how to spell your last name. #2 is cool, a black card can be 'pretty' but hard to write notes/info/pricing on for your clients. Maybe a variation in white/grey? If you went with #2 it would be nice to see some variation on the font, maybe 2 weights of same font just to break things up. Or overlap lettering a little, david carson style? Not a big fan of the color choices on #2a.
Hope this helps and I think your work is awesome!

cameron said...

Keep studying... always brings more SUCCESS!
At a glance:
I agree that #1 is a stronger concept. Very clever & artistic...I like the grey and yellow the best... however I am not totally convinced it solves your concern re: easier to see how to spell (at least if it was advertised larger... or to the regular business person)... I have the same concern with the brightness of the yellow... although I really like it.
I agree with Clark Hess re: #2 on font variation(though I can only see the white text when I enlarge, thus not completely sure what it looks like). In re: to writing on your business cards - in my experience most right on the back - thus you can use a different color there if you want the black (most are white so black could stand out).
Love your work!!!! Very talented...

cameron said...

ps. I'd consider a logo - might come in handy

Any Girl said...

Kevin,

All three look good. I thought the concept of the black was great, but the one that caught my attention the most was the first brand. I actually liked the second variation on color better because the names came across a little clearer in my mind, and blended nicely when they crossed each other. So I guess my vote is the brand 1, second variation.

abecedarian said...

From a creative standpoint the first and third hit the mark, but they are trying too hard to be artistic. If this was the first time I see the company's name I don't know what it is. It's not easy to read. Not pleasing to the eye. If you are basing this on some of those laws in the book this is not the design.

Mitch Chandler said...

I dig the first one. The black one is pretty cool, too, but seems done a bit much by photographers. You may want to look at your address placement on the envelope, though. The Post Office gets particular about the position and orientation. Follow this link to see the guidelines:

http://pe.usps.com/text/dmm300/102.htm

Nice work.

Anonymous said...

I like the first one

Unknown said...

Hey Kevin, I like #1 the best, followed by #2. Clean, simple & elegant. I'm not sure I like #3 because of the color.

Weston and Becky said...

Kevin...Always a big fan and always like seeing you work the concept so things don't get old. I lean towards #1 but because I know your name it makes sense to me, I'm not sure others or potential new clients will see it as clearly from the get go. The simplicity of #2 is great but like one of the previous comments, it might be over done, but I believe putting a twist on it could be nice. The color of #1 if great, but I like things bright. How about a grey card with yellow letters in a #2 format??? sleep on it :)

Kevin Winzeler Photography said...

Thanks to all who have commented so far. Sounds like #1 is favored. I've uploaded a slight variation of #1 for you to consider (#4 now). It would be printed partially with ink and also a silver foil. Let me know what you think and keep the comments coming.

shawn Chamberlin said...

yeah, my last name is chamberlin. living in richmond virginia, i know of at least 3 ways to spell it. as far as the business cards go, i tend to lean towards the monochromatic ones. with the overlapping of the letters, i find the contrasting colors really distracting and hard to read. its more subtle with different shades of gray, it blends better.