Estuaries is a modern swimwear collection for women that takes traditional views of swimwear and adapts them to a culture of self-expression and city living. I was commissioned to design Estuaries’ identity. My inspiration came from the word “estuaries” itself: a partly enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.
The assignment was to design a simple logotype that is at once distinctive, applicable and timeless. Structurally, the word “Estuaries” has no descender, the letter "e" and "s" occur at the front and end of the word, and the ascender occurs at the third from the first letter and the third from the last letter. The word is too symmetric and the eye goes to the center of the word. The simplest solution is to use the capital E, which adds a certain dignity, but it is not memorable in and of itself. After reviewing the definition of estuary once again, I decided to open up the middle bar of the letter E to symbolize the free connection to the open sea.
When the logo is read in a very small size or from a distance, the space in the middle of the E still retains the essence of the logo and is easy to remember. In addition to the logo, I designed a range of collaterals including stationery, postcards, the look book and the website. Please see the variations as to how the company logo is used. The founders of the brand feel that the logo fully captures the feeling of the brand – contemporary yet classical.