Rogers & Daughters Home Repair, LLC

My coursework brought me to Tatum, a Business Management capstone student excited to collaborate with a designer to create a brand identity for her family’s real-world startup business.

The Challenge

To create a logo and branding guide for start-up family company, Rogers & Daughters Home Repair, LLC, based out of Manitowoc, WI. This company existed outside of the classroom and the family was looking to expand their business with visuals that stood out among local competitors.

The Kickoff

I met virtually with Tatum to make introductions, hear about backstory and foundation of company, and get to know business owner as a person.

Prior to the initial meeting, I requested that Tatum look over a list of adjectives and indicate which terms she most closely associated with her vision of the company. We discussed why she felt these terms “clicked” with the mission of her business.

Adjectives chosen to describe company:

• Helpful
• Community-minded
• Trustworthy
• Quality
• Reliable
• Wholesome
• Accommodating
• Fun

Early Insights

The company was inspired by tragedy that struck in July of 2020, in which the family home burned down. Tatum’s father (the “Rogers” of the company) was able to repair the home with his own two hands, and was inspired to help other local families in need of help. His three daughters, including Tatum, were enlisted to help run this new small business.

It was clear that Tatum wanted her business to be seen as wholesome, family-oriented, and rooted in positivity. As an example, she mentioned the Nike logo as a design she wanted to stay far away from – too simple and, in her eyes, uninteresting. This needed to be a design that included color and had a traditional, conservative feel. The slogan of her business was “Home repairs done by a family like yours.”

The color orange, being her father’s favorite color, needed to be incorporated in the final design alongside navy blue. Beyond this element, no further vision was shared, leaving plenty of room for creative freedom.

Discovery

Multiple mood boards were presented to Tatum to pin down the overall feel she was hoping to express with this new logo. Was she looking for a female empowerment angle (hence the “Daughters” part of the company title?), or perhaps the marine setting the Manitowoc area is known for? Unsurprisingly to me, she selected two options: one that showed traditional families happily enjoying their homes, and another that showed communities coming together in a Habitat for Humanity manner.

The First Attempts

Inspired by designs of both local and national competitors, it was clear that a simple house as the base of a home repair’s company logo will grab the attention of potential clients seeking this type of service. I knew classic handyman symbols, such as tools, should also be present, so the company’s purpose would be immediately known even without the business name.

Shortly after designing four different logo options, I was excited to touch base with Tatum to see her thoughts on the direction I was headed. I then received a copy of her business plan, which in fact listed exceptionally specific visions of exactly what she envisioned as her company’s logo (a house in the distance, with a family of five – three daughters and their parents – standing in observance of, with their arms around each other. The two individuals on the ends would be holding hammers and tool boxes, all colored in orange and navy blue). We had our meeting planned the very next morning, and this list of details was definitely not present in my designs. Because of time constraints and being generally pleased with the work I had completed so far, I edited my designs to incorporate a family of five into the work.

Tatum indicated that she liked elements of each option, and was particularly drawn to options 3 and 4. She was very enthusiastic about the incorporation of the tools built into the house, with the family atop, and would like it even more if the circle could be incorporated. With this feedback, we scheduled our final design presentation, and I went to work on the final product.

The Redesign and Strategy

Her reasoning behind liking elements of the two design options clicked with me, and I combined aspects of both. Keeping in mind the importance of the color orange, I altered the house’s color from a metallic to an orange hue, and placed the house and family within the circle – a suggestion I was very much on board with. One important aspect I held on to throughout each redesign was including a light pink paint color at the end of the brush tool, as Tatum was very proud that the company was not Rogers & Sons, but instead Rogers & Daughters – something a bit more unique in a business such as this.

The typography stayed as sans serif, with variations of the Candara font. Easily readable with large-width lettering, no harsh apexes or angles.

The Presentation

Tatum absolutely beamed when she saw the final product, said she couldn’t wait to show her father, and indicated we may be touching base outside of our class setting regarding future work.