Case Study: Rave Media

Client: Rave Media/Raven Davis

Rave Media is a Chicago-based videography agency run by Raven Davis. They serve small businesses and weddings, capturing the passions of others through captivating visual stories.

The Problem

Raven felt that Rave Media's logo did not effectively represent her brand to potential clients. "To be honest, I don't really know what my current logo stands for," she admitted.

One of the integral brand values of the company is story. "I am a strong believer that visuals without story leave little to no room for impact," says Raven. Her logo was no exception. "Nowadays, I see a lot of video creators that put together cool visuals that don't add up to anything for emotional impact. As someone with a background in film studies, I think that the story aspect of my videos is a unique selling point of my services offered."

I worked with Raven to create a logo that would reflect her business values: passion, reliability, and impact. The result? A logo that is sleek and minimal, yet distinctive and impactful. It would help Raven position herself as a professional in the videography space and to differentiate herself from the competition, empowering her to do what she does best: breathe life into her clients' visions as she tells their story.

See it used on Rave Media's Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLNfAMmhL0I/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Laying the Foundation

I began the preliminary work by asking the client to answer some questions about her business, values, and desired outcome for the project. This allowed me to proceed with clarity about the client's industry, mission, brand values, specific offering, unique selling point, target audience, and price point.

Taking the answers provided on the form, I developed detailed, research-based customer personas that would guide my design decisions. I used these personas to create three mood boards of possible stylistic directions, each that would serve Raven's end goal differently. At this point, I requested feedback and allowed her to choose the direction that most resonated with her.

The verdict? Simple and refined.

Building It Up

One of the most crucial steps in my process was creating a word-map (for which I used paper), then using the word associations to quickly sketch out some possible concepts (for which I used my iPad), getting them out of my brain and into the creative space.

Pulling the sketches into Adobe Illustrator, the narrowing and refinement process ensued. I chose several of my best sketches and worked with them further, choosing the typeface "Bufalino" for its sleek, techy feel and wide variety of font weights. The five concepts below were presented to the client.

Raven gave enthusiastic feedback:

"These. Look. Amazing!!!!! I literally had the hardest time picking between three of the logos lol. I broke it down to concept two and four. I like the glitchy effect of concept four on the 'RAVE' part, but I love the professionalism of concept two. I just couldn’t choose between them. They’re so great!"

I continued the refinement process, this time working in possible color schemes. Starting by drawing color inspiration from the mood board, I then incorporated color psychology and consideration of Rave Media's target audience demographic and psychographic.

After a final round of client feedback, we proceeded with concept 2 and stuck with a black and white color scheme.

I then finalized the gridding, alignment, and lockup of the logo, and created all of the necessary variations.

The Final Product

Raven and I created a versatile, unique logo system that would work for any application and suit her every business need.

Through taking the time to understand exactly what my client needed, conducting research, making well-informed design decisions, and a collaborative and client-centric process, I was able to take Rave Media from a logo that lacked meaning and direction, to one that Raven looks at and sees her vision realized.

A Rave Review

"[It's] the perfect logo for my company. She made the logo that I needed, but didn't know how to put into words myself. On top of that, the entire experience was truly personal. From the initial branding brief to the stages in between and the final delivery, she ensured I was satisfied throughout. I now feel that my logo reflects what my company stands for. I will definitely be utilizing her skills for my future graphic design needs."

Want an experience like Raven's? Get started here!

The following are unused concepts for additional branding and assets for Rave Media.

Want an experience like Raven's? Get started here!