Unbridled Beauty Logo!

If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I typically design event stationery, but occasionally I’ll take on a logo design project.  When Desiree of Penny Blooms Floral Design asked me to create a logo for her friend Ashley’s new makeup and hair design business, Unbridled Beauty, I couldn’t say no.  And of course then I got to meet Ashley, who is not only incredibly talented (check out last week’s Boho Glam Inspiration shoot post if you don’t believe me!), but also one of the nicest people I’ve met (and I work with some ridiculously nice people).  Win-win!

Ashley asked for two elements to her logo: Tiffany Blue and damask.  Only, the idea of being “unbridled” is, to me, a bit wild.  And damask is very structured.

So I reinterpreted the damask completely.  I still brought in the floral swirl elements but I wanted it to feel like the logo was about to start bursting with growth.  I am so pleased with the results:

Logo Design: Calculated Whisk

I’m SO excited to share my newest logo design with you!  I met Nikki at Calculated Whisk when she provided the fabulous lion and popcorn cake pops for Desmond’s First Birthday Party back in August.  We actually worked together last weekend, and will be this weekend too!

In the midst of all of our e-mails back and forth to one another about our upcoming events, Nikki mentioned that she needed a new logo, and that she’d been admiring my work.  (!!!).  A super nice, talented, up-and-coming baker who wants me to design her logo?  Sure thing!!! 🙂

We got to work.  She wanted something modern and a little abstract.  I kept trying to complicate things! 🙂  In the end, her logo is modern, clean, and understated, with a touch of abstract art in the whisk shape.  I love it so much!!! 🙂

Calculated Whisk Logo by Events by Elisa

Check out her logo in action on her newly-designed website!

Logo Design: The Bridal Kool-Aid Cocktail Hour

A few weeks ago, I blogged briefly about being a featured vendor on Rogue Bride.  I was fortunate to be able to meet up with Lauren in person for happy hour not too long afterward, and I learned all about her new podcast with Christie from Hindsight Bride, “The Bridal Kool-Aid Cocktail Hour.”  It’s all about making good choices for yourself in your wedding planning process (rather than following the crowd, spending unnecessarily, and “drinking the kool-aid”).

Now, I love beautiful over-the-top amazing and/or frilly weddings as much as the next girl, but as I have said over and over, there is no one way to plan a wedding, and there is no reason you can’t plan a beautiful wedding without spending a ton of money.  It’s all about being realistic – and creative – with your budget.  Which is why I enjoyed the perspective so much at the Cocktail Hour – it’s all about making smart choices, with a good helping of snark.  Seriously these two ladies crack me up.

Lauren and Christie asked me if I’d be up for creating a logo for the podcast, and of course I said yes!

They gave me a font they loved, a color, some ideas, and said “go for it!”  I started off with the idea of doing a traditional “graphic” logo in Illustrator and even made a couple of attempts at a cocktail glass.  But I have to tell you that it was boring, boring, boring.  This show is anything but boring!  The most important part of graphic design, in my opinion, is editing, during both design conception and execution.  In other words, I knew I had to edit my original approach to the project.  That’s when I realized that what this project needed was a photograph.  A really interesting photograph.

I’m not a photographer, so the task was daunting.  I actually started off with a bunch of photos of the full cocktail glass with the engagement ring (not mine!) floating inside, but I wasn’t in love with the way they looked.  More boring.  More idea editing.

I spilled a little bit (actively, taking photos of the spillage).  I just started playing around with the spill and realized that I really liked the look, and that the spilled drink went well with the irreverence of the whole show.  So I styled and shot and restyled and reshot and finally came up with this:

Original Photo

I loved the imagery of the spilled cocktail with the engagement ring!  All it needed was some processing (aka: more editing, this time of the photo itself), and about 2 hours over Skype laughing until my stomach hurt (and nerding out over the English language) with Christie and Lauren.

The resulting logo is subtle and edgy, interesting and fun.  We all love it.  It’s easily one of my favorite design pieces ever, and I’m so proud of it!

The Bridal Kool Aid Cocktail Hour

The second podcast (“Forget the Cake, Let Them Drink Booze”) went live this morning, and it’s SO good!  If you are planning your wedding, or have ever planned a wedding, or like weddings…  Or just like snark…  It’s totally worth checking out on iTunes or by clicking on the logo below!!!  (iTunes is being stupid right now, so I’ll update the link as soon as it’s started behaving again!)


Bridal Koolaid Cocktail Hour, DIY Cake
Word of warning: The language does get a bit salty in places (since I tend toward wholesomeness online, I want to make sure I make that disclaimer!).

iROCK Logo Design

About a month ago, one of my friends sent an e-mail out to our group: “I need a logo TODAY – can anyone help?”  She’s a teacher and their school was doing STAR testing.  They wanted to play off of the Apple “i” products (“iPod, iPad, iMac, etc.) and incorporate a bulls-eye target to encourage the students to reach their target score.  The logo had to be easily printable on a one-color tee shirt and translatable to posters.  And done that afternoon.

As Barney Stinson says on How I Met Your Mother, “Challenge accepted!”

I worked for a few hours to put together a basic design and sent it off to her, and it was just what they needed.  Uncomplicated, using all the pieces they needed, and easily translatable between media.

They used it for the whole testing campaign, which is now over.  I think it makes a pretty cute shirt, as far as school shirts go!

iROCK tee-shirt, Logo Design by Events by Elisa

iROCK tee-shirt, Logo Design by Events by Elisa

And here’s the poster:

iROCK poster, Logo Design by Events by Elisa

iROCK poster, Logo Design by Events by Elisa

Logo Design: Sweeter by the Dozen

Last week, I got the opportunity to get a cake from my friend Jessica’s new bake shop, Sweeter by the Dozen.  In exchange (well, actually, just because I ❤ her), I custom-designed her a logo for her business!  It’s all finished and it looks so pretty!

Sweeter by the Dozen LOGO by Events by Elisa

Sweeter by the Dozen LOGO by Events by Elisa

Do YOU need custom business cards, announcements, or a logo?  Email me for a quote!