Brand Identity: Adding a Personal Touch for Bryan Meltz

Last year, photographer Bryan Meltz came to Wonderful Machine for a refresh of her website and marketing materials in preparation for a cross-country move. In her native Atlanta, Bryan was an established and sought-after documentary photographer doing in-depth coverage on the refugee community there for PBS and regularly shooting for the New York Times. She also shot for a lot of higher education and corporate clients. Bryan’s new edit was intended to emphasize her more produced work while still keeping her identity as a photojournalist. In addition to the new website edit and  relocation package, we realized the opportunity to realign her branding and promotional materials to better appeal to ideal clients in her new West Coast market.

This was the first real overhaul of my work in about ten years and I had a ton of content on my site. I initially reached out to Erika in March of 2017, a few months ahead of moving my family from Atlanta to San Francisco. With the upcoming move, I wanted some help editing and organizing my work to appeal to a broader audience and just give the whole site a good refresh. This is a really important process for me to go through – to see my work through someone else’s eyes, but I’m realizing how attached I am to certain images and certain stories.

After some discussion between Bryan, our Senior Marketing Consultant Erika Siegfried, and me, we decided a logo refresh would really help to upgrade the look of her website and branding collateral. Her current logo was created by writing her signature with a fountain pen. It was cool, but felt heavy and disconnected from her new commercial focus. When discussing the new design with Bryan, we realized it was very important for her branding to feel personal. She is very connected to her photography and her business, so we wanted that to be reflected in the design. Bryan views herself as a storyteller. Her images share moments with people and make them feel connected to a world bigger than their own. With that in mind, we wanted to avoid a design that was too corporate.

Sketches, Round 1

When designing Bryan’s logo, we made sure to use a clean, modern typography paired with hand-drawn elements to give it that personal feel. The clean typography created the perfect contrast when paired with loosely-drawn text. It makes the logo feel both modern and organic, a style that fit Bryan’s brand perfectly.

When we presented the logos to Bryan, she loved the direction. However, she wanted the logo to feel even more personal. After some brainstorming, we decided it would be best for Bryan to use her actual handwriting for the logo. Bryan provided us with some handwriting samples that were then vectorized and used to produce her final logo.

Sketches, Round 2

Bryan loved the next round of logos. The use of her signature gave it the personal touch she was looking for. It was then time to move on to creating the final logos and brand identity guide. For the final logos, a vertical, horizontal, and stand-alone option were created so Bryan could use them in a variety of settings.

Final Logos

Final Color Scheme 

Logo Application 

With Bryan’s new logo finalized, it was time to apply it to her new promo. We selected a deluxe tri-fold brochure with a simple design, using full-bleed photos and minimal text to really let her work speak for itself. Her photos were carefully selected and they interacted beautifully on the final brochure, and the updated logo added the finishing touch to her new promo. 

It was amazing working with someone as passionate about her work as Bryan. It was wonderful being a part of that process, and we are so happy she has a new logo and promo to show to the world.

 Lyndsey did a great job refreshing my logo and with the print promo – and I’m grateful for all the time put into it. 

You can see Bryan’s new logo and brand identity on her website.

For more information about our design services, please call 610.260.0200 or reach out to us.