We love working with clients who are passionate about what they do. This is definitely the case with Sarah Robinson, a life and wellness coach located in Hindsville, Arkansas. Her mission is to support her clients in their efforts to feel energized, engaged, and deeply connected to what brings them joy.

When she first reached out to us, we discussed the possibility of re-building her brand from the ground up, starting with a new name. She had a successful, established practice, but not a consistent visual identity. We felt a strong brand name could help create a solid foundation from which her business could grow. After a few initial phone consultations, we were able to get a good feel for where she was currently and where she wanted to be in the future. This included plans for a line of wellness products.

We began this branding project as we usually do: with lots and lots of research. This discovery phase helps us better understand the client’s industry and gives us critical insights into the styles of brand messaging. How do businesses like Sarah’s communicate with their clients and which ones do it effectively? Armed with this knowledge, we believed we could develop a unique and wholly original solution. We focused in on a number of key words that we felt Sarah's brand should convey:

• empowering
• transformative
• friendly
• balanced
• natural
• uplifting
• positive
• approachable
• organic, and
• welcoming
  

Our initial brainstorming sessions were great fun! Any and every idea was written down for later review. By the time we had finished, we had a lengthy list of possibilities. During our second session, we discussed the pros and cons of each. Which ones would be the most effective in communicating Sarah’s mission? Was there an available URL for each solution? We honed our list down to only the best possibilities and sent the proposal off to Sarah. She was thrilled with the selections and was drawn towards two in particular:

The Robin’s Journey

The Mighty Blossom

We discussed the merits of each and decided we might be able to use both; The Robin’s Journey for the business name and The Mighty Blossom for her product line. The robin seemed like the perfect symbol for transformation. Besides being a migratory bird (suggesting journey) and a harbinger of spring (suggesting renewal), its rosy red chest suggests the dawn. We felt The Robin’s Journey captured the movement and vitality that was at the heart of Sarah’s message. To play off the theme, we also developed a tagline for use on the business cards and other applications: “Take Flight.”

Once we settled on the brand name, we began work on the logo and visual identity. After reviewing a series of initial rough designs, we focused on two distinct directions. We presented both options to Sarah who decided to go with the one that was also our favorite.

The final logo is scalable, memorable and versatile. We used a hand-rendered script font which gives the feeling of motion and energy. An additional swash creates a perch for the robin and the background sun suggests optimism and new beginnings. It is also a literal representation of Robinson (ROBIN-SUN).

We then developed a color scheme, font set, a series of secondary design elements as well as logo variations for social media use. To represent the concept of a journey as well as illustrate the “Take Flight” theme, we thought a good visual approach would be to use aerial photography. This imagery would be a great way to portray a broad, holistic vision as well as give a dramatic and inspirational feel.

Aerial photographs could be used in concert with close-up nature photos, such as flowers, foliage and berries, etc., — as if seen through a robin’s eye — and would represent nurturing and inner exploration. The contrast of the expansive and close-up views also suggests the process of coaching: helping an individual to step away momentarily to gain distance and perspective before moving in close again to make changes or adjustments.

All of this was organized in a simple branding guide that Sarah could use for reference. Working with Sarah has been a wonderful experience and we were happy that she trusted us with her re-brand!