Puppy Eyes, Peppers, & Mom
Spicy Puppy Studios is a brand new music production conglomerate specializing in audio production for film, television, worship, with 5.1-7.1 surround sound and spacialization capabilities.
Mark, the owner/founder of Spicy Puppy Studios, needed some help with his logo…here it is as it existed on LoopCommunity.com
So, he knew exactly what he wanted his new, non-emojified logo to be…”What if it was a puppy with a pepper head? You know…you know how a puppy’s head looks kinda like a pepper?” Hmmmm. I was up for the challenge. I mean, I’ve made a mountainous sunset out of a tooth, so I can swing a puppy-headed pepper!
Obviously, when a client has a firm grasp on what they are wanting in a logo, it cuts out some otherwise critical pieces of certain steps in the development process. The amount of research needed is cut considerably because instead of coming up with a logo from scratch, there’s a base there from which to work. And it’s already something the client is passionate about. This is usually a good place to be…unless the client’s idea is less than favorable. You know, as in, it’s just not a good idear. Then, it’s important to convince them otherwise and come up with something that will serve them better. (How exactly that is done is an entirely separate post…I’ll file that one away for later.)
So, my base with Spicy Puppy was a puppy head resembling a pepper. That’s already super fun. Right? Let’s keep it here. No need to change anything. But not a banana pepper (too fat and long…plus, it’s not spicy). And not a bell pepper (too short and fat…again, not spicy). Not even a chili pepper (too skinny and long).
Habanero…thaaaaat’s the pepper we’re looking for here. (So, I did have to do a little pepper research…and some puppy head research.)
I’m not an illustrator (as evident in those pepper tracings you just witnessed). I don’t even play one on T.V. When I have illustration needs, I hire my illustrator buddies. (#AlwaysSupportYourBuddies) But, simple illustrations, shapes and stuff, I can usually hang. And if I get in a bind, I call in the big guns. For puppy-pepper-head, though, I worked it out myself. I did it, Mom!
So in the initial stages, I thought he’d end up with a body to go along with his cute little head. But after getting into it, and knowing that the head would have to translate as a head while also translating as a pepper, attaching it to a body just seemed superfluous and confusing. But, I also couldn’t have it looking like a floating head. After tossing around some options, I decided to use a shadow of sorts to anchor him.
Since this logo will be used on the web 99% of the time, and most probably never embroidered, I decided to add a subtle shadow along the bottom of his head/pepper for some visual interest. And since it’s mostly used on Loop Community, I changed the green on the stem to match the green that Loop Community uses on their logo-encompassing-circle.
And Mark suggested making his eye a bit “cuter” and less “beady”.
Boom. That made it!
While there are no plans for an apparel line just yet, I think it’d make for some pretty sweet swag!
“I absolutely LOVE my Spicy Puppy logo! Carla took the time to get to know my target audience and my needs, and the spirit of my company. She supplied us with all the formats we needed and even did a little education, explaining the application of each format. Well done!”
- Mark E., Owner/Founder of Spicy Puppy Studios