MOONFAZE
MoonFaze is a metaphysical shop in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula specializing in crystals, herbs, incense and tarot, as well as apparel and other items. The owners, Victoria and Kyle, came to me for their branding as they were brainstorming how to bring their dream to life.
IDEATION
The founders wanted a logo incorporating their love of ‘unlovable’ animals– in this case a bat, phases of the moon, and a nod to nature and plants. While researching similar esoteric shops’ branding I noticed that many of them are extremely dependent on illustrative trends, and tend to look dated within a few years. I wanted to provide a logo that conveys the theme of the shop, and would appeal to their target clientele, but which would also elegantly withstand the test of time.
THE LOGO
My biggest challenge was to be absolutely sure that anything I presented them with looked nothing like the two most famous bat-centric brands: Batman and Bacardi.
The lozenge ended up being an ideal background shape because it gave me room to work with all three requested design elements, and leant an interesting opportunity for using negative space to form the phases of the moons.
After several rounds of ideation, the design I landed on is a modern interpretation of medieval crests and Victorian memento mori iconography. It would look right at home on a traditional wax seal, a glass shop window, or on a t-shirt.
It is simple, elegant, memorable, and…kind of cute?
APPLICATION
Branding doesn’t stop with the logo, and I wanted to make sure Victoria and Kyle were set up for success. I provided them with several mockups to show how their logo could be used to create an engaging brand identity. From a robust e-commerce website to luxurious gold foil business cards and fun swag, MoonFaze was ready to become a reality.
BACKGROUND NOISE
I spent a lot of time working on this in airport waiting areas, so I wanted something to get me into the unsettling monster vibe, but also something that I could listen to in short bursts. I settled on going through my backlog of SPOOKED episodes. Spooked features true-life supernatural stories, told firsthand by people who can barely believe it happened themselves, and is hosted by the wonderfully creepy Glynn Washington.