My fellow designer friend, Becca Wang and I embarked on the visual refresh for HR Cloud. It initially did not start as a full rebrand, but simply a separation of the two companies of HR Cloud and Neogov. Neogov is the older, parent company that focuses on the public sector, while HR Cloud was its younger company focused on the private sector. Over the years of their existences, their branding and style were very close to being the same. We were on a time crunch to introduce a visual refresh for HR Cloud as the team needed to build a new website in time for a conference.
I was approached in January 2019 with an opportunity to brand a private therapy practice. Coming from a family of therapists, I immediately jumped on the project and began a wonderful 3-month journey to build a brand that best represents Cindy Shu Therapy.
I was approached in January 2019 with an opportunity to brand a private therapy practice. Coming from a family of therapists, I immediately jumped on the project and began a wonderful 3-month journey to build a brand that best represents Cindy Shu Therapy.
The first part of my working relationship with Cindy was to establish who she is as a therapist and what her practice stands for. We've had many conversations and collaborated in intensive working sessions to clearly define her mission, values, and goals for her practice. A strong design comes from a well-defined brand, in which we set out to do using a breakdown of branding terms to build the voice of her practice.
Patty Oh
ASL
Process
Background
I was approached by Patty Oh with the wonderful opportunity to create her branding and business cards for her as an American Sign Language Interpreter. Patty uses her skills at the Special Resource Center at El Camino College in order to communicate with Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. This allows for equal opportunities for the signing community. She has signed for Adapted Fusion and a dragon boating team as they need an interpreter for Deaf athletes.
INITIATION
The first part of my working relationship with Patty was to establish who she is as an American Sign Language Interpreter and what her branding will stand for. Through conversations, we were able to clearly define her mission, values, and goals for her as an American Sign Language Interpreter.
Creative Brief
BACKGROUND
Patty Oh is an American Sign Language Interpreter. She has been studying ASL since Fall of 2015 and received my interpreter's certificate in Spring 2019. She currently works at the Special Resource Center at El Camino College and works with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing students to create equal opportunities for the signing community.
AUDIENCE
The Deaf and Hard of Hearing community, ASL associations
TONE AND MANNER
The branding system conveys the professionalism and seasoned skills of Patty Oh as an American Sign Language Interpreter, while still showcasing her fun personality. The vibrant reds paired with muted pinks distinguishes Patty Oh and gives a sense of playfulness yet mastery of American Sign Language with the polished typefaces of Source Serif Variable and Filson Pro. The unique hand illustrations spell out "ASL" and the information placed through the business cards reflects ASL hand movements.
OBJECTIVE
The mission of the brand is to create more equal opportunities for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community in every industry. The branding system will reflect the design elements that will showcase Patty as professional, friendly and one of the pioneers for equal opportunities within the ASL community.
Professional Friendly Approachable Fun
Saturation
For inspiration, I was drawn to images that have bold colors paired with muted neutrals to balance the tone. I also liked the play of type throughout the composition as I felt it alluded to the hand movements when signing.
Creating the Logo
PRELIMINARY SKETCHES
The preliminary sketches of the logo contain every and any idea I could think of that could possibly best represent Patty Oh. These sketches range from something more experimental to a simple logotype. I knew I wanted to include elements such as an illustration and playful type, so I felt going with a simple logotype would be best.
After a few iterations and brainstorming typefaces, I landed on the final three of using either Filson Pro or Source Serif Variable. I felt Filson Pro felt too playful that it would take away from the professional and more polished aspect of the brand, while the lowercase of Source Serif Variable felt too cute. I created the final iteration of having an all caps logotype with an even character tracking. I felt this conveys the brand as professional and work well with the type and pattern elements within the brand.
Creating the Pattern
I knew I wanted to create a pattern that spelled "ASL" in well, ASL! I did research on how these handshapes would look like and began sketching "A", "S", and "L" to see which one would look the best.
After a few sketches, I picked the ones I liked the best and scanned it into Illustrator. From there, it was tracing the image with the Wacom tablet, cleaning the trace and stylizing the drawing.
Final Product
A final brand styleguide is provided to the client. It contains the final iterations of the brand, uses of the logotype and color, and how the brand is manifested in print.
The final iteration features a simple serif typeface with its only application so far in printed business cards. The business cards showcase playful type in its composition to mimic the hand movements of ASL. The unique hand illustrations spell out "ASL" to provide visual interest and convey Patty's title immediately as her audience sees it.