Given that we were old pals from high school, it seemed natural that Harrie and I team up to create a logo for his DJ career.
I kicked the project off by creating a mood board for us to discuss over coffee. The thought process was simple—show him logos of other major music artists / DJs. Since Harrie didn't really have anything particular in mind, I presented him with a wide variety of examples.
After taking a couple of sips of coffee and sharing some old stories, Harrie eventually pointed out Steve Aoki, Armin Van Buuren, and Skrillex as possible directions to head towards. This excited me, as the Steve Aoki logo was my favorite option, and I was secretly hoping he would mention that one. Once I had asked enough questions to feel out his overall vision for his brand and his goals, I was set loose to create some options.
As with any endeavor, a lot of experimentation took place. This is the part of every project where you simply can not be afraid of making mistakes. This is purely exploratory, and one of the most stimulating stages in the design process.
Eventually, you start to see potential with a few designs, and begin to push them even further. I settled on proposing these options to Harrie:
Each logo had their strengths, and each one had their individual inspirations from the initial mood board. To further push the unique vibe and personality of the logos, I created a poster for each of them.
In addition to creating posters, I put together a presentation with various other mockups (business cards, t-shirts, etc). You can download the proposal to check it out for yourself:
After another coffee meeting and some strategic discussion, Harrie ended up going with option 3: The Neighborhood Houserat. I considered this a huge win, since it was my personal favorite (rememeber Steve Aoki?).
Harrie had only one request: change the tittle above the "i" to an "x".
After showing him the final design and getting his approval, I went onto creating a quick branding usage guide for him. For the colors, he wanted to use the same colors as another one of his companies "10 Fam Collective". To be clear, this project was mainly regarding the logo, and I wasn't tasked with creating a full branding identity. Download the style guide here: