DESIGN: Miles to Go Endurance

Ryan Knapp—one of the men behind Buffalo’s soccer club FC Buffalo—got a hold of me from Kansas City in search of a logo for his new endeavor Miles to Go Endurance Co. The final design is something I really think depicts the concept of endurance and the never-stop attitude so many athletes cultivate. I was told that the enterprise was to target the endurance lifestyle—running, biking, swimming—and took its name from a Robert Frost poem. In Ryan’s words: Inspired by a stanza in the Robert Frost poem “Stopping by Woods…

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DESIGN: Theodore’s Original Hot Dogs [spec]

When Theodore’s Original Hot Dogs was in its infancy, I was asked to develop some ideas on a logo design. Seven iterations later, the final circular crest below, in two colors, was made as a start to what could have been a full-scale branding of the company. In the end, the company decided to go in a different direction, but the designs exist nonetheless as follows. Three early examples from the initial seven designs. The first playing off a circular squirt of condiments; the second an abstract flame from yellow…

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DESIGN: MyFavorites.com [spec]

Having a seven degrees of Kevin Bacon moment connecting me to a design contest online for a new website called MyFavorites.com, I decided to throw my hat into the ring with an entry. By following the design brief copied below, I looked to create a brandable, unique star/heart hybrid as requested, incorporating the ‘MY’ from the name as its basis. The design was unfortunately not picked amongst the 800+ entries, but I still believe it’s something worth keeping on file and adds a bit more professionalism to the goofy entries…

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DESIGN: Buy Buffalo [spec]

Nick Mendola—a friend and constant collaborator of mine—had an idea to try and drive funds into the local, Mom-and-Pop businesses of the Western New York region. He was looking to make the city’s restaurants commodities unto themselves by creating a campaign to help push them into the public’s consciousness so entrenched in the allure of national franchises. After hearing his pitch of ideas to give price tags to the city, I came up with an alternative that would actually make the city the price. Using the concept of a barcode,…

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DESIGN: Dave & Adam’s Card World [spec]

Looking to get away from their hard to decipher at small sizes Earth wrapped in ribbon logo, a friend at Dave & Adam’s Card World asked me to try and come up with a modern alternative to show his bosses. Trying to simplify the icon into a representation of the ownership by reducing it to their initials much like the hobby store’s website does, I found myself combining the “D” and “A” together into one. It’s the ampersand via white space that separates the two letters, also creating the platform…

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DESIGN: Local athletes bring soccer to Buffalo

Starting in September 2009, my friend Nick Mendola asked if I could help him and co-owners Scott Frauenhofer and Ryan Knapp to create a logo for a soccer team that they were bringing to the area. A member of the National Premier Soccer League, FC Buffalo was born. It is a great organization that looks to really help expose the sport to Buffalonians and Western New Yorkers in general. As the site says, this squad will be “a mix of the area’s best amateur, collegiate and post-collegiate players suiting up…

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DESIGN: The Cosmetic Vein & Laser Center [spec]

2008 The Cosmetic Laser & Vein Center: website Wanting to get rid of their current identity logo, The Cosmetic Vein & Laser Center enlisted us to craft something with an organic feel, playing off the idea of a leaf and its vein system. Using a leaf by itself, we then incorporated in a face as well as changing the idea to a butterfly. Ultimately, the client decided to stay with its original logo rather than re-do all of its promotional material. Alternate versions:

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DESIGN: Buffalo Paranormal Society

2008 Buffalo Paranormal Society: website Wanting a representation of a buffalo, I created a silhouetted head and continued to stylize it into a ghostly, somewhat menacing look. Using elongated horns as conductors, I then placed the society’s initials in an open font to look as though they had been manifested there from whatever activity is happening.

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DESIGN: Streets of Allentown 2007

2007 Streets of Allentown Deciding to forgo with the annual Secrets of Allentown home tour in 2007, an alternate event was instead created called Streets of Allentown. A program would still be created, but instead of visitors being able to walk through the homes listed, this year guests were simply allowed to walk the streets and view the properties from the outside. After looking at many images of the neighborhood, I noticed the prevalence of old-fashioned lightposts and decided to incorporate one into the logotype. The brick background would partner…

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