The Bartlett Logo

Often times as a designer you have the need to do work for yourself. It makes sense in most cases to be your own client. Saves money, allows for direct communication all the time, you can work at your own pace and timeline. In my life as a designer these projects have definitely made “sense” but they are always the most difficult. Being able to objectively separate myself from my projects and my clients allows me a good distance to asses their needs and translate that into visuals. When it’s my own project, I often feel blind and far too wrapped up in the process and the project.

I only start with this disclaimer because I don’t want any future clients to think that this process for a logo is my “normal.” It is quite the opposite. I started this logo about a year ago and have consistently worked on it…THE WHOLE YEAR. I can’t even tell how many hours I have catalogued in the process, and I don’t even want to know. There were so many times during this project where I asked Caleb if we could have a different designer do it. Each time I would work on it I felt so far away from what I really wanted it to be. I would try to talk myself into one of the past versions…”I think it works.” But then the next day looking at it, I wouldn’t be happy. When I was collecting images for this little clip I realized how many awesome logos I designed in the process and how much I learned about lettering script. I’m thankful that our timeline allowed for this because it has really taught me a lot and ended up being a great exploration of lettering.
 
As I got close to what is now the final product it FINALLY felt right. Sometimes people ask me, “How do you know when a piece or a project is done?” This project was a perfect example of reaching a point where I just knew. I knew that if I went any further it would start to get worse instead of better. So, here we are!
 
The Bartlett is a business Caleb and I are opening. It’s a mid-sized all ages music venue and it’s been in the works for almost 2 years. We have a space and will be hopefully be signing a lease in about a month. With our logo and our design of the space we are pursuing a modern approach to aesthetics but because of limited funds, it will also have DIY elements. We wanted to the logo to be reminiscent of vintage typography but with a very clean, modern approach. No texture, no hand-drawn feel…which is slightly contrary to what comes more naturally to me. But it makes sense for the business and our vision. It’s been a journey trying to get the look of the logo just right…and as the brand progresses and our space takes shape, the logo will absorb new character traits and associations. I’m excited to see what it becomes.
 
For right now, I’m taking a deep breath and enjoying the fact that I will not be tweaking that “B” again for a very long time.
 

(More info about The Bartlett coming soon!)