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Alrighty, like a bandaid… STRAIGHT OFF!
This is an unused logo and corporate identity concept.
There, I said it.
Blue Water is a digital agency in Washington DC and they’re a fantastic client that has commissioned me to do a number of projects. Originally when asked to design their new logo and visual identity rebrand I was asked to craft something with a hand made aesthetic to mirror their values of being a digital agency that takes pride in constructing websites with artisan code. Code that’s crafted with the same love and detail that you expect from a more tactile craftsman. To do this, whilst still honour the fact they are a “digital agency” I hand crafted their logo using a soft tipped brush pen with blue water (blue ink plus water) and then complimented the visual assets that support the logo with patterns and devices that are influenced by coding tag ( < > ) motifs.
This, along with my ‘Mandy’ project are now my most favourite unused projects.
Why wasn’t it used? Understandably the corporate side of the business needed to shine more. That presentation is coming soon.
This logo and branding assignment is one of my most favourite projects and I’m delighted to finally share it with you on my website. Usually when I get briefed on a project I immediately get visions of how that visual identity should present. Sometimes when executing an idea, along the way the process can evolve to become something that differs from what you first envisioned. Not the case for this Italian Restaurant Bar that’s values are very enriched in tradition. The outcome is exactly as I first visualised and the process getting there was nothing but enjoyable. It’s always a delight to see it come together and I hope you enjoy the process video of crafting the logo with my brush pen calligraphy.
Cavalier Logo Process from Matt Vergotis on Vimeo.
New to beautiful Mossman in Sydney is Clean Clear & Correct, a skin and teeth treatment clinic set in a luxurious setting. “CC&C” is about delivering fast and effective teeth whitening and clean clear skin solutions with the latest state of the art laser & light technology. When creating this logo and corporate identity, I wanted to design a very flexible system that incorporated multiple devices such as a custom design logotype, crest emblem and various icons and patterns that reflected the mood of a pleasant environment to visit.
Larry Langton is an award winning Professional Filmmaker in the United States of America. He’s a Cinematographer, Producer & Director of broadcast films and commercials that has worked for some of the big wigs (NBC, CNN, FOX NEWS, CSPAN, Comcast, NIKE, MERCK, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, The Philadelphia Zoo to name a few).
For this corporate identity project I was commissioned to come up with a signature style logotype that covered a few different sectors that his brand would cover, giving a continuity that stretched from a single name logotype to a complete full name lock-up with complimenting mark. The mark is a conceptual representation of both “shooting & cutting” film. Ie. Filming & editing, hence the vintage gun and sword.
I invite you take a closer look at the presentation.
Salt Bar is situated in Northern NSW in the heart of Salt Village at Kingsliff. This logo is part of a rebrand whereby I was asked to come up with a corporate identity system that gave the establishment a warm, familiar, upbeat yet relaxing feel. Over time I will populate this page with photography as the branding rolls out.
Originally this was posted on Behance where it made the feature page so thought it was time to give it a home here.
This post is a collaboration of some of my process lettering videos and photos that I’ve posted on Instagram. In the past I’ve only posted logos and visual identity presentations, so I thought it would be a nice change of pace as this is a large part of what I do these days.
2013 was the biggest year I’ve had yet in terms of lettering. The majority of the corporate identity jobs I received were all for lettering style logos. On top of that I was a guest speaker at Typism, Australia’s first all day conference dedicated to typography, featuring the likes of Gemma O’Brian, Wayne Thompson, Aurelie Maron, Nicole Philips, Bobby Haiqalsyah and Dominique Falla (who put the whole shindig together).
To close my speech at Typism I made the first video to the soundtrack of my all time favourite band, Radiohead and their song Daily Mail. I discovered this song when I saw them live in Brisbane at the end of 2012 and immediatly fell in love with it – for me, the highlight of their performance. When I’m stuggling to focus or find that creative zen, Radiohead is my “go to band” that realigns my creativity. It’s also a testament to their creative ability to evolve with every album. What an achievement for a band that’s been around as long as they have.
The second video was put together recently when I received a lot of requests to make another video. This time I decided to use the music of a fellow work collegue, the extremely talented Luke Garfield and his band Board of Transportation. When I first heard his music I was blown away that someone that shares the same office space was writing and producing such amazing music. This song, ‘Lines and Powerlines’ I never tire of and is one of my favourites. I strongly suggest you check out their website where there are a few free downloadable songs.
The below are photos of various lettering assignments taken with my iphone. This for me is the fun stage where I get grubby with the tools, listen to good music and just plough through the ink and paper practicing over and over, trying to familiarise myself with certain letter arrangements along with the tools I’m using. Towards the end there’s just a couple of the finished vectored and published versions so you can see how it all comes together.
ps. All my favourite pens and how to get them are listed here.
Last year I was approached by Washington DC Tourism to assist them with a campaign that’s currently running called “DC Cool”. When most people (especially outsiders) think of Washington DC images of The White House or politics pop up in your mind. This campaign was to promote the “cool” aspect of Washington DC as a place to live.
Whether it’s monuments by moonlight, experiencing a unique art exhibit, sipping a local craft brew or savoring a dish from the hottest new neighborhood eatery, you can discover your own “DC Cool” moment in the nation’s capital. DCcool.com
My involvement was to come up with the lettering of the word “cool” to accompany the “DC” logo which was no easy task. You cannot force cool on something. Either something is cool or it isn’t and when you try to be cool, you certainly aren’t. So for this task I tried a couple approaches. One being to capture “effortless cool” and the other a more “organic cool”.
To see most of my attempts be sure to view the project as there’s stacks to see.
Tabu Organic Vodka was a logo & label project I worked on in 2013. The client wanted a very minimalist design with a simple type and mark duo. When tackling this, my objective was to create something a little daring and a little naughty. Tabu is a practice that is prohibited or restricted. When juxtaposed with alcohol, it’s a naughty invitation to try something a little daring/ forbidden, almost like reverse psychology “I dare you to try this”. To compliment the name and the idea behind it, I thought a mark of the prohibit sign would help visually translate that message. As a daring little quirky touch I decided to add little devil horns to push it that little bit further. All type is custom made.
For this concept I decided I wanted to explore a ripple/ wave pattern. Waves start out as ripples which is very metaphoric towards the company’s service and backs up the meaning behind the name “Wavemaker”. The mark also has an emblem quality to it with an equal duality of it presenting like a flag “waving” in the wind. This gives across the feeling of trust, honour and integrity.
The typeface is the result of a collaboration project I’m working on with Wayne Thompson from the Australian Type Foundry. It’s a long term project we’ve set ourselves to make a very modern interpretation of a serif font.
2013 was another huge year for me creating logos and corporate identities for companies. But the one real flavour of 2013 was again ‘lettering’. If 2012 kicked off this style for me, 2013 solidified it as a skill set that saw clients from all around the world desiring it. I have always tried to be very versatile in terms of styles, as it’s the variety and diversity of every individual client requirement that dictates the style execution that’s best suited for them (what a mouthful). In a nutshell; every client is unique, so therefor every client requires a different approach. This is why I love my job so much – It’s problem solving and it keeps things interesting.
So here’s to another year of designing. I hope you like my snap shot of 2013 in the form of logos.
All the best and have a wonderful 2014.
Matt
Logo and Brand Identity by VERG (Matt Vergotis)
Benchmarks are the surveying starting point for construction sites. With the mark I have come up with a symbol that draws reference to both the traditional cut in stone benchmarks and the modern day bronze discs that have a triangle as the centre point. I get a real sense of satisfaction when working on simple designs that are flexible and are aligned to a brief given. This is one of my favourite projects and also my favourite presentations.
“Our client was expecting nothing short of the best when it came to his logo design and brand package… hence the reason we sought out and placed the project into the capable hands of Matt Vergotis of Verg Advertising. Matt happens to be the first gentleman we’ve ever worked with outside The United States on a large scale project but not once did we feel any distance. Matt doesn’t just “take jobs”, he approves and accepts them based on his skills set. Not surprisingly, his first presentation didn’t just meet the needs of our client’s vision, it embodied it. He delivered faster that expected and enthusiastically catered to our every need throughout the project…. the first of many to come.”
Logo and Brand Identity by VERG (Matt Vergotis)
The Anchorage Restaurant is an iconic waterside restaurant, an old historic boat shed jutting onto Port Philip Bay in Melbourne. With this rebrand I was aiming to design something contemporary and intimate whilst acknowledging their heritage & past. This brand is backed up by creating extra visual elements further aid the corporate identity, like patterns, icons and a beautiful corporate colour palette. The pattern I created for this is my most favourite pattern I’ve created to date (also the trickiest).
This was quite a detailed and conceptual corporate identity project, as it drew on a lot of elements to make up the big picture. Romanesco Capital Management is a niche portfolio manager that trades futures contracts in a systematic way. Because they use this systematic approach to see patterns in finance, I have devised a visual identity system that draws reference to the fibonacci spiral and fractals. A Romanesco is actually a vegetable similar to a broccoli and the client chose this name because of it’s striking appearance, as its form is a natural approximation of a fractal. Not wanting a vegetable for their logo, it was my challenge to come up with a non literal abstract mark, infused with relevance to the theme.
This presentation became my first featured project on the main stage of Behance. For me this is huge, considering the breathtaking creative projects it’s rubbing shoulders with.
Logo and Brand Identity by VERG (Matt Vergotis)
For a private equity firm. The client requested to see a stylised version of a Fleur De Lis. This is a feature of their family emblem. It’s very important for a client to understand how their new logo and corporate identity is going to present on their deliverables. For this reason, I always like to give clients a visualisation of these deliverables and how their new look will translate. There’s more to a company’s corporate identity than just their logo, in fact it’s only one piece of that puzzle. So for this presentation (and most that I do), I thought it would be important to show the client a few mock examples of how their visual devices (logo, colours, fonts, etc) would work on their corporate literature. It’s these design layout techniques that also structure a company’s identity.
Britannica Family Office (Note: presentation incorrectly says “home office”) is a boutique consultancy, specialising in British education and key aspects of family relocation to the UK.
To help a child and parents build a strategy for life in terms of education and next steps. This long term view, together with ability to provide best contacts for any relevant need (real estate/tax advise etc) is my unique selling point.
View the project to understand the logo mark and type rationale for this corporate identity project.
Horizon at Byron Bay is a stunning, contemporary residence, nestled on 10 hectares on top of a hill. It has 360° uninterupted panoramic views of the coastline and hinterland. Designed for perfect lifestyle living, Horizon Byron Bay is a perfect venue for weddings. 
For this visual identity, I created a pattern to compliment the brand by visually telling a story of perfect days and wonderful nights. The mark was an interesting challenge as I wanted to create something that was multi layered with visual meaning. What’s obvious, is the “H”, the sun and the horizon, but it works deeper than that. There’s an image in the presentation that illustrates my thought process when tying the wedding theme into the mark. It’s not important that people make this connection, but it is there as a hidden egg. Also, it’s ‘not obvious’ nature means if the venue isn’t used for weddings, then the logo is flexible, rather than designing something that was literal, pigeon holing it to weddings only. View Project…
This logo and corporate identity presentation is for Stearman Recruitment who is based in Sydney, Australia. When presented with a list of logos that my client liked there was a certain style that all of them shared. ie. a strong logotype with a simplistic mark. Most of this presentation shows the first typeface choice that I custom built. If you view the full project you will see how I softened it up and made it a little less masculine through using a few techniques on the last few concepts (the last being the chosen logo design). The mark has conceptual thought and its rationale is explained in the presentation. View Project…
It’s done, It’s finished, It’s designed, It’s kerned and I have 380 glyphs that supports 80 languages, packaged up as a lovely little .otf file ready to go.
If you’re interested in getting your hands on knubi regular click on the download link or click here and it will take you to a page where there’s two download options.
If you would like to read about the process and see a few tasty examples before you download, click on through to see it in action.
Sanders is a printing company in Denmark. I was commissioned by them to come up with a lettering style logo and visual identity system as a new and fresh rebrand for the company. This Client was probably the nicest client I have worked with to date. Not to take anything away from my other wonderful clients, but I was truly overwhelmed with how friendly and appreciative they were to my service.
This is just one of the many nice comments that was made about their new logo and visual identity.
It looks soooo perfect, awesome, great etc. That logo was really made for us, serious! It was meant to be that way. It looked like it has already been our logo for years, it feels so trustful (I don’t know how to explain this part exactly). I have put this new logo already deep in my heart.
I also made a video of the lettering process that you can watch if you view the project.
World class!!
Recently I was given the very fortunate opportunity to pitch an identity concept for the branding of the Gold Coast City.
After a rebrief from the first concept I had a week to come up with the next concept. Unfortunately a severe case of designers block struck me down along with a lot of client work that needed urgent attention and it wasn’t until the eleventh hour that this concept came to mind. Nonetheless, I was really happy with this version and the deeper I got into the concept, the more potential and versatility I found this concept had.
Recently I was given the very fortunate opportunity to pitch an identity concept for the branding of the Gold Coast City.
With only 4 days up my sleeve, here was my first concept at establishing an identity that was… Simple, Clean, Strong, Bold, Vibrant & Unapologetic.
Here’s a collection of all the logos I created in 2012. It’s strange when you collate your years work of logo design, pooling them together for one post, as you often forget just how many logo and brand identity projects you actually worked on through the year. I’m proud of this bunch and there’s not one logo I’ve left out. So here’s to 2012, my most enjoyable year yet – and here’s to 2013 and my endeavour to become better at lettering and typeface design.
All logos Designed and Built by Matt Vergotis
Here is a collection of all the logos I created in 2011. This was a very enjoyable year for me, as I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to indulge myself in some really exciting and varied logo and identity design projects. This enabled me to explore and learn some new styles. Over time I will start writing a little about each logo.
In the meantime, here’s a snapshot of my 2011.
Logo and Brand Identity by VERG (Matt Vergotis)
This was a signature mark I created for a client of mine in London. This presentation was the first concept where my solution was to create a sassy and confident signature mark. In the end it was not right for the client, as she wanted less focus on her name, and more on ‘Artist Management’. This logo, along with my David Michael logo, really kick started my lettering passion as clients out of the woodwork noticed these two brands and requested similar styles.
Lettering Logotypes 2012
2012 saw me take on stacks of lettering projects. The David Michael logo I created right at the beginning of the year was the first time I really pushed myself in this area. From there I got more requests for this style of logo and have since been very enthusiastic to continue down the lettering path. Next year I hope to continue to do many more lettering projects along with my new passion in typeface design.
Below is a snapshot of some of my favourite lettering and hand written logotypes of 2012.
Search Insights is an SEO company. For this logo and visual identity project I tried to encapsulate SEO style graphs and the monogram “SI” in the one mark, whilst giving the company a corporate and contemporary feel that was both professional and cutting edge, crisp and clean. Words you often hear in most briefs. View Project…
Logo and Brand Identity by VERG (Matt Vergotis)
Goosey Gander is an on-line retail baby and toddler clothing company. The logo design for this project took on an illustrated story book feel which was an enjoyable direction for me to capture. An interesting thing to point out when creating this logo is, I did try and refine the logo more, creating a more finished and polished look. But when I did this, the logo felt like it had lost all the character through these refinements. So this in fact, is the very first thumbnail sketch of this concept. All the imperfections are honoured and vectored exactly as I scamped my idea down and scanned it in. There’s also another hidden egg in the way the geese’s bodies are positioned. You’ll have to view the project to find out.
Logo and Brand Identity by VERG (Matt Vergotis)
This was an enjoyable lettering project. The client requested a signature style logo and an brand identity that was approachable and fun. Betafirm is a web development and mobile application company.
As someone who has worked with his share of designers, during my years in the web industry, I know how hard it can be to communicate something as abstract as design to another person. Therefore I was more than happy after my first talks with Matt. Matt understood precisely what I wanted and he included me early on in his initial thoughts and design drafts. All communication went through e-mail or Skype and it went smoothly. The combination of being a really nice guy, with an excellent understanding of what I wanted and his amazing design skills, has made the whole process a pleasure.
Bjørn Fridal – Founder of Betafirm
Logo and Brand Identity by VERG (Matt Vergotis)
I went to school with Perry and have done various design work for the foundation in the past. When meeting Perry recently we discussed his brand and the objectives of a rebrand.
First and foremost Perry Cross is the brand of the foundation, people come to his charity events to support him and his cause. This is his legacy and I wanted to create something that would represent his positive, inspiring story, and not the misfortune of his accident.
The X for Cross and the colour green has always been the one consistency over the years. Originally I thought the X simply represented his surname ‘Cross’. When chatting to Perry he explained to me that it all started because it was his only way of signing his name. This was his mark, and it was at this point the penny dropped for me. There was no graphical wizardy in the world that I could come up with, that could strike the emotional chord and better represent Perry and the X, then if he was to do it himself.
By using his signature artwork as the mark for the logo, we make that direct connection to Perry and assure his legacy and his mantra “everything is possible” is captured with in the foundation.
So I set Perry the challenge to stick a paint brush in his mouth and come up with his own logo.
