Sometimes, I am lucky enough to work on a brief where I get to sink my teeth into something that requires me to learn something new and explore different design influences. The logo design for handcrafted candle company – Northern Lights, was certainly one of these.
Elisabeth, Norwegian, now living in Paris, reached out to me to help her with a logo design for her company. To get a feel of what the brief required, I asked a few questions about herself, her company and her style influences. Elisabeth provided me with some references of other candle companies and styles that she admired. It was clear to me that one of the routes I presented had to reflect this same style, however I was more inspired by Elisabeth's personal story and to me, it seemed that she was her own USP (unique selling point). So as well as a watercolour style logo, in the same vein as her influences, I also provided two alternative routes that spoke to her heritage.
Elisabeth told me that she chose the name – Northern Lights, due to her homeland of Norway, where the northern lights are visible. I was inspired by this and the beauty of the northern lights, the ethereal lights, the way that the rays of light combine to create a multitude of colours and shapes was visually appealing and interesting to me. I created a logo proposal in the form of a graphic representation of the northern lights, with streams of coloured light, combining to create further colours and shapes. What I also liked about this route was the possibility to create an adaptable logo, where the colours of the lights could change to reflect the fragrances of the individual candles, after all, the northern lights themselves appear in many different colours.
The famous northern lights
Design proposal for Northern Lights
Elisabeth had mentioned to me that she was part Sami, as she described – a sort of aboriginal Norwegian, and that several of her family members were Sami artists. I was unfamiliar with this term, the people and their culture, so delved into research on the topic. I love design jobs like this! It was so interesting and inspiring to explore Sami art and designs and I knew instantly that one of the routes that I produced should reflect this beautiful, sketchy, raw style. I shared a presentation with Elisabeth showing the three routes that I had created, expecting that she may choose the route that was most aligned with the design references that she had shared. To my delight, she preferred the northern lights and Sami routes, eventually going with the Sami influenced design for her logo. I was so pleased to not only create a logo that Elisabeth loved, but also one that was personal and specific to her and her company.
Examples of Sami style designs
Chosen design route for Northern Lights
If you would like a logo which is truly unique and personal, please get in touch to discuss how we can create something that reflects your brand's personality.
For help with writing a brief for your logo project please check out my 'guide to writing a brief' which includes a briefing template, available for download here.