A hand-lettered, retro-style logomark for a group of geology PhD students based in New Mexico.
The Cave Bitches are badass group of cave explorers completing research together as part of their geology graduate degrees. They approached me seeking a hand-lettered logo to use for custom letterman jackets to celebrate their research team.
After going back and forth with some inspirations and styles, we decided to explore a few different aesthetics representing the group's fun, vibrant, and youthful dynamic.
I began by gathering inspiration and sketching out custom marks in three styles: Modern/Fatface, ITC Avant-Garde-inspired, and 70s brush lettering.
Sometimes it takes a few passes in the sketchbook before you discover the best option. In this case, after not being fully satisfied by the earlier sketches, I decided to try something a little different.
Inspired by Edward Johnston's legendary calligraphy instruction, I created a thick, italicized version of his Foundational Hand. After seeing it, everyone immediately agreed—I had nailed the best style for the group.
I knew I needed to create a color palette just as vibrant and fun as the group itself. After refining and vectorizing the type, I added in some 70s-inspired color-blocked shading and presented three color palette options to the group: a blue theme, tan/orange theme, and a pink theme.
I quickly received the best feedback you can get on an illustration-focused project: they loved all three options and were evenly split. Eventually, they offered to buy all of them to create three different colorways for their custom jackets.
A hand-lettered, retro-style logomark for a group of geology PhD students based in New Mexico.
The Cave Bitches are badass group of cave explorers completing research together as part of their geology graduate degrees. They approached me seeking a hand-lettered logo to use for custom letterman jackets to celebrate their research team.
After going back and forth with some inspirations and styles, we decided to explore a few different aesthetics representing the group's fun, vibrant, and youthful dynamic.
I began by gathering inspiration and sketching out custom marks in three styles: Modern/Fatface, ITC Avant-Garde-inspired, and 70s brush lettering.
Sometimes it takes a few passes in the sketchbook before you discover the best option. In this case, after not being fully satisfied by the earlier sketches, I decided to try something a little different.
Inspired by Edward Johnston's legendary calligraphy instruction, I created a thick, italicized version of his Foundational Hand. After seeing it, everyone immediately agreed—I had nailed the best style for the group.
I knew I needed to create a color palette just as vibrant and fun as the group itself. After refining and vectorizing the type, I added in some 70s-inspired color-blocked shading and presented three color palette options to the group: a blue theme, tan/orange theme, and a pink theme.
I quickly received the best feedback you can get on an illustration-focused project: they loved all three options and were evenly split. Eventually, they offered to buy all of them to create three different colorways for their custom jackets.