Aspen Valley Landscaping
Industry:Landscaping
Deliverables:Brand Identity
Description:Aspen Valley Landscaping is a high end landscaping company located in Aspen, Colorado. AVL has been doing landscape design, horticulture, and irrigation work for the local community for more than 17 years. “I had a client who had a 70 million dollar house...I craned in 20-30 ft trees on a mountain face. He wanted rock walls that were interesting. I flew to Montana and found stone, shipped it in, then cut each 2-ton boulder to fit on a 30’ tall wall,” said Todd, the founder of AVL. With a visual identity that was both rigid and outdated, theywas eager to rebrand their entire identity, with hopes of displaying their top-notch craftsmanship and expertise.
Brand Audit
Every project starts with pinpointing the problem, and this one was no different. I meticulously audited every aspect of AVL's existing brand identity system, laying it all bare for examination. There wasn't much of an identity to speak of. The current setup consisted of a simplistic combination logo mark, with "AV" merging into "Aspen Valley Landscaping" in a nondescript typeface. It lacked flair and originality. It was evident that a revitalized rebrand, exuding professionalism and sophistication, would undoubtedly resonate with prospective clients, enticing them towards AVL's services.
Process
After auditing the current identity as well as the identities of AVL’s competitors, we were ready to come up with the main brand attributes. Picking a lot of adjectives that AVL wanted to market themselves as and finding unique traits not used by competitors, we narrowed the adjectives down into 3 pairs. Each direction (with a tagline) would be molded into a moodboard.
After creating 3 moodboards, we decided to go with “Impossible Luxury”, paired with the tagline “From the Ground Up”. We would focus in on a luxury, minimal feel. Using high contrast colors and possibly thin lines to communicate a brand that was professional and reliable. I got straight to work. I sketched in my notebook and tried out different marks and lockups until “the one” could be identified.
Logomark
System and Color
Application
Special Thanks: Todd Merriam