Menna Sport
This independently owned sports and fitness apparel company was just starting. They had a vision, a strategy, and a supplier, so all they needed was a logo. Naturally, this client wanted to appeal to fashion-conscious, fitness-minded women ranging from teen to mature, so her logo needed to look every bit as good as the fit and vibrant young woman who would be wearing it on their clothes.
Discovery
Kathian Menna and I discussed her vision of creating beautiful, breathable, functional clothes and accessories made for women who cared just as much about their appearance as they did their health. The specifications were clear – it had to be a type logo of her last name, Menna. It had to incorporate yellowish green, pink, black, and white. And, of course, It had to look high-end and chic, yet “sporty.” Not being familiar with the aesthetics of the sportswear industry, I had some research to do. After comparing the trends, the variation of styles, and how companies in this industry tend to market themselves to their target demographic. I got to work trying to incorporate the following elements:
Identity
Femininity
Strength
Quality
Sporty
Process
How do we bring together all the elements that make up the client’s values, ideals, and vision?
In most cases, high-end brands tend to use fancy serif fonts, but since we’re dealing with a sport and fitness brand, a simplified sans-serif font seemed to make better sense. The capital letters of Acme Gothic Extrawide’s typeface had the look I wanted to use as a base for a stripped down modified type. It needed to demonstrate some kind of movement, so I opted to skew the letters “M” and “A” to the right. With an adjustment here and a clip there, I came up with a totally unique configuration that represented movement, stretching, unity, and style.
Another sans-serif font was necessary for the remaining word of the company’s name. The word “sport” spaciously arranged using Proxima Nova Medium Italic using all caps and placed underneath would make a perfect platform or base for this type logo. This clean sturdy typeface clearly complements the primary font, intentionally matching its angle.
Other Design Elements
We needed a way to incorporate certain colors on the palette that Kathian had clearly specified. This was accomplished using a basic shape to highlight the type paired with changing the color of the first “N”.
Color Palette
The color palette was a literally a given Kathian knew exactly what colors she wanted. Darkest Grey and White would be the primary colors of the type. The bright, fluorescent colors that are Yellow Green and Light Pink are fun, vibrant, and feminine, making them ideal choices for accent colors.
The result was a unique type logo that ticks all of Kathian’s required boxes beautifully. Name – check! Colors – check! Feminine strength – check! Style – DOUBLE CHECK! In this design, we see a suggestion of forward motion or stretching with all elements complementing each other, creating unity and balance.
Deliverables
With Menna Sport, the logo design, useable files, and style guide were the deliverables that were what the budget allowed and there’s nothing wrong with that. Clear communication in conversations during the discovery phase are essential to understanding my client’s need. Trying to squeeze as much money out of a client as possible is not part of this program.
Kathian Menna was so happy that her company now had a unique and beautiful logo to use as a springboard for its brand identity.
I look forward to working together on next steps with Menna Sport’s branding and other marketing tools!
