Branding and collateral for a new business in Dedham, MA, "Ty's East Street Auto." Typeface: Futura PT. Owner/mechanic wanted "Grabber Green," a lime green paint used on engines as well as a popular paint color introduced by Ford as "Grabber Lime" used on early models of Ford Mustangs and the owner's favorite Mustang, the 1971 Ford Mustang Mach I (he used to own a '72 Mach I). I decided black would be the best color to pair with Grabber Green for maximum contrast, legibility, and flexibility for use across many mediums. Also, the owner's favorite Mustang painted Grabber Lime uses black paint on the hood, for striping and lettering, and exterior accessories. It's a sharp combination. Scroll down for collateral.
Logo design: Since this logo is for an automotive repair shop that is located in a prime location on East Street in Dedham, MA, the desire was to indicate direction and automotive elements with a "cool" twist. The tagline I developed for the business is "Your destination for quality auto maintenance and repair," so, therefore, the use of a modified Compass Rose design which also doubles as the rim pattern for the tire shape, shown in the positive space. The "E" to the right emphasizes the "East Street" location, and the flame graphic to the left indicates the "cool" factor of the tire shape in the positive space addressing that this is an auto repair shop that goes way beyond simple oil changes and brake jobs. The owner/mechanic is a highly skilled second-generation mechanic whose specialty is building custom engines for hot rods.
Business Card design: I developed the tagline as well as all information about the business provided in the design. Printed on double-thick, ultra-white stock, eggshell finish, with raised printing. Typeface: Futura PT.
Installed building sign designs and window decals
Cut vinyl lettering application
Cut vinyl lettering application
Business signage: Typeface: Futura PT. I used a high quality black outdoor metal spray paint on two custom cut rolls of steel each measuring 10 feet long by 2 feet high. I used Adobe Illustrator to lay out the sign design and lettering to size and cut high quality outdoor permanent vinyl in matching Grabber Lime color of brand on my personal vinyl cutter. I measured and applied the vinyl lettering and the shop owner used a cherry picker to drill the signage to the exterior of the shop. I also designed and assembled and installed the Customer Entrance sign and the logo window decals.
Custom Cut Vinyl Decals
Applied to shop window
Decals for customers
Customers proud to display
Medium size decal
Small decal
Decals: Using Adobe Illustrator, I set the logo design to a "Medium" size (6" wide x 3.25" high) and a "Small" size (3" wide x 1.5" high) version to offer to customers. I cut the decals out of high quality outdoor removable vinyl and applied transfer tape. The customers love the decals and I am regularly asked to recut and restock this item. Customers are proud to display the decals on their vehicles and they post pictures of their cars with the decals to the shop Facebook page.
Custom key tags: I worked with Plastic Printers in Minnesota to create a custom die cut template for Ty's East Street Auto customer key tags. I also uploaded the front and back key tag design, allowing ample space on the back matte side for writing customer name and vehicle information on. Owner/mechanic wanted a key tag that felt "substantial" and "special," something of quality that the customer would be proud to keep on their key ring after service. He also wanted a key tag that had ample room to write customer name and vehicle information on to make it easier for him to quickly grab the proper keys from the key rack when servicing vehicles. The material used to create these custom key rings is 30 mil thick and allows for writing on the back matte side with either ball point or permanent felt tip marker.
Custom Screen Printed Sweatshirts and T-Shirts: I worked with "3Jakes," a screen printing company in Plymouth, MA. I selected the highest quality heavyweight sweatshirt and t-shirt brands they carried and provided their designer/printer with the logo and text files in Adobe Illustrator .ai vector format in the matching Pantone color to brand's "Grabber Green," Pantone 7488. I reviewed and approved proofs, picked up and inspected the merchandise for any misregistration. The vendor found two sweatshirt brands that made 4xl and 5xl for our order since the shop needed one of each in addition to the very large order of sizes from youth to 3xl. The sweatshirts and t-shirts were not only used as shop employee uniforms, but, were also given as gifts/free advertising to valued regular customers and friends of the owner/mechanic.
Custom Embroidered Face Masks: I worked with Cristin Tailors in Middleboro, MA to design custom face masks for the owner/mechanic to not only use along with his employees, but, to also gift to his loyal return customers. I made arrangements with the seamstress who designed and sewed these custom face masks as to which Pantone color (Pantone 7488) to match not only with fabric but also with thread for the embroidery. I also communicated the dimensions the embroidered logo needed to be and where it needed to be applied on the mask. I provided her with and Adobe Illustrator .ai vector file of the logo design. I reviewed and approved proofs, picked up and inspected merchandise and delivered it to the shop.
Custom Note Pads: I worked with a company called Captain Notepad in Colorado to print my custom note pad design for the shop. I started in Adobe Photoshop laying a gradient over the image of the front of the shop. I then took that .tif file and brought it into Adobe Illustrator where I added text and graphics, then converted text to outlines and saved the final printable file as an .eps which I then uploaded to the vendor. The pads were printed 4 color process with 1/8" bleeds on standard stock white 50 lb. paper with a white 18 pt backer and padded on the short/top edge. Trimmed size 5.5"w x 8"h. I ordered 100 pads, 25 sheets per pad.
Custom Pens: I worked with a company called Discount Mugs in Miami, Florida to design custom pens for the shop. I prepared and uploaded an Adobe Illustrator vector .eps file to a Grabber Green and black color matched choice of click action pen (they call it Lime Green) that also writes in black ink. The pens are available for customers to not only use to sign credit card receipts and final invoices, they are also gifted to customers. The customers like the comfortable design of the pens and I've had reorders from the shop to restock because they go quickly.