A logo is a powerful symbol that speaks volumes. It fine-tunes a visual message and creates an identity statement for a company or organization. A well-designed logo must meet a spectrum of criteria, from aesthetics to psychology to practical application. A logo constitutes a professional art form, and when well-rendered, says to the world, “This is who I am; this is what I mean to you.”

We recently completed a logo and website for a new fine dining restaurant in Easton’s Market Square, called Brasserie Brightwell. A “cozy and casual European brasserie”, this new establishment features an open exhibition kitchen with a wood fire grill. The menu combines French influenced cuisine with an American twist, from duck confit to Maine lobster. The logo, created by Charlene Edwards, portrays the image of a casual social gathering place in the style of a true French brasserie. Here is a photo of the new logo painted on the Brasserie Brightwell building. Nice.

Logos are not just limited to signage and printed materials. Take Campbell’s Custom Yachts, for instance. Campbell’s is a marine and boatbuilding facility located in Oxford Maryland. Campbell’s luxury yachts are renowned for their finest quality craftsmanship and superior attention to detail. A Campbell’s yacht is custom built to each owner’s individual specifications, from systems layout to interior design. The Campbell’s Custom Yacht logo appears on each of their boats as a symbol of excellence, as shown in this photo.

Every aspect of visual communication is important when generating a corporate identity. To be effective, your identity must distinguish you from your competitors, while strategically conveying your values, mission, and objectives in a clear, concise manner. We take pride in our ability to help you achieve these goals through our logo/branding/identity systems.

The congratulatory email from LogoLounge stated:

“Your work has been selected for inclusion in a remarkable new LogoLounge project, Shapes and Symbols, the third book in the new Master Library series.

What is the Master Library series? Like our existing (and continuing) LogoLounge book series, the Master Library books will bring you exemplary logo design work from creatives around the world. The first and second books in the series, Initials and Crests and Animals and Mythology are already best sellers from Rockport Publishers.

Unlike our original series, though, each book in the Master Library series will focus on a very specific logo design category:
Initials and Crests
Animals and Mythology
Shapes and Symbols
Typography
People
Nature and Food
Arts and Culture

Congratulations on having your work selected for the third edition of this ground-breaking Master Library series.”

Whitney Edwards is no stranger to LogoLounge accolades. Among other awards previously received by us from LogoLounge, our fun, fanciful “Fire and Ice” logo was recently chosen for the Animals and Mythology Master Library series. Let’s see if we make it into each of the four subsequent series!

The Maryland Historical Trust presented Touart, along with Whitney Edwards, with the 2009 Maryland Preservation, Heritage Book Award. Most recently, Touart was honored with the 2010 Antoinette Forrester Downing Award, presented by the Society of Architectural Historians “for the outstanding publication devoted to historical issues in the preservation field.” Touart is an unprecedented third time recipient of the Antoinette Downing Award, having previously received it for Somerset: An Architectural History and also for Along the Seaboard Side: An Architectural History of Worcester County, Maryland.

According to the Society of Architectural Historians Jury Citation, “With this volume Mr. Touart continues his comprehensive, engaging and virtuosic survey of the history and architecture of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Beginning with a poetic description of the geography and morphology of this section of the Chesapeake, and an archaeological accounting of the area’s first inhabitants, the author builds a compelling narrative that is precise in its description of the technical, environmental and socio-political forces that drove the evolution of the County and its built environment through the 1940s. In addition to the narrative there is a detailed survey that gives register length descriptions, with photographs, of each of the properties that contribute to the history of the County. The scholarship is thorough, the design and presentation exemplary, and the format lucid and easy to follow.”

At the Crossroads is a culmination of over fourteen years of collected research and fieldwork that began in 1994 when Touart was hired to conduct a house-by-house survey of three Wicomico County municipalities; a comprehensive survey of Wicomico and the county seat, Salisbury followed in 1997. The Whitney Edwards creative process was launched in 2005 and completed in 2008, after more than 800 hours of work. An excerpt from Touart’s preface reads, “The creative talents and extensive experience of Charlene Whitney Edwards are clearly evident on every book spread. She and her staff have committed long hours over two years to produce a beautiful, carefully laid out design for this 600-plus page work. Charlene’s devotion to excellence and her sophisticated design sensibility are why the book and dust jacket appear the way they do. The length and complexity of this book outdistanced all early predictions. Despite time and cost overruns, Whitney-Edwards Design pushed through to the end to produce this handsomely presented volume.“

Congratulations, Paul Baker Touart! Whitney Edwards is proud of our partnership and thankful for our friendship.

Last year, the Logo Lounge chose the Fire and Ice logo for a new book on logo design they are producing called “Animals and Mythology.” It is part of a series they are doing callled “The Logo Lounge Master Library Series.” The logo was designed with fun in mind and I never thought it would end up in a book. You never know.

A loyal and longstanding Whitney Edwards client, Maryland Plastics has been on the cutting edge of market trends and product innovation for over 65 years. To capitalize on that philosophy, they launched a new e-commerce website called Cater Supply Direct. Whitney Edwards is the brains and muscle behind this new online store that targets the party and catering industry. We performed the initial programming and store configuration, designed and placed page headers and banners on the site, then formatted and inserted product copy and images. The customer service team at Maryland Plastics took over from there, mastering the user-friendly shopping cart software in record time. We provide programming updates as needed. Cater Supply Direct has been a valuable addition to Maryland Plastics bottom line, generating significant sales in just a few short months.

Pleased with the results of Cater Supply Direct, Maryland Plastics asked Whitney Edwards to overhaul their existing corporate website. During the process, we added pages for new product lines, as well as freshened up the site design and added keyword-oriented copy to make the site more appealing to search engines. Knowing the value that frequent web updates have on search engine optimization, we carefully directed the overhaul to maximize its potential.

back to wedesign.com

For more than four decades, Graphic Design USA has sponsored national competitions that spotlight areas of excellence among creative professionals. The 2009 American Graphic Design Awards is the biggest and broadest of these and honors outstanding work of all kinds across all media. Whitney Edwards is no stranger to this annual event, having also received design awards in 2003 and 2006. According to Charlene, “What a privilege for us to be recognized among our peers as design’s best and brightest in such a distinguished design competition. Judging from the work appearing in the Design Annual, the field is extremely talented and over-the-top innovative.”

Whitney Edwards counts the J.M. Clayton Company among their better clients and certainly as one of the most interesting, having been recently featured on Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” TV show. Beginning with the design of Clayton’s new company logo in 2002, we continued with building their brand and identity to include stationery, a marketing brochure, advertising, promotional postcards and a website.

We’ve also taken that client relationship one step farther by selling Clayton’s Epicure Crabmeat through our satellite business, an e-commerce website called Chesapeake Traditions which offers products reflecting the best of the Bay—gifts of all kinds, crab mallets and knives, food, books, jewelry and even holiday ornaments. It’s a match made in heaven, or perhaps on Maryland’s Eastern Shore (same thing).

Back to Whitney Edwards

So what is it about having an office dog that makes for a more relaxed workplace? Is it the comic relief when watching her chase an imaginary bunny during a  “puppy dream”, or is it the enthusiastic tail wag when she recognizes a special friend or co-worker? Sometimes it’s the unexpected wet nose that cuddles under your hand at a time when you most seem to need it. Or maybe it’s just bending down to give her a scratch on the head when walking by her comfy domain. It’s all of the above, plus more.

Researchers have documented the positive physiological effect pets can have on humans. Studies show that physical contact with a pet can lower high blood pressure and reduce stress levels. There is also evidence that petting an animal can cause endorphins to be released. Endorphins are chemicals in the body that suppress pain response and create a sense of well-being.

Rascal has the perfect demeanor to be an office dog. She’s mellow, quiet, and generally obedient. She doesn’t require a lot of attention, yet is very affectionate. A “gift” from the local humane society when barely eight weeks old, Rascal spent all her formative years in the studio and has become somewhat of an icon when taking her afternoon walk around town. Everyone knows Rascal—particularly our law enforcement officials from the neighboring courthouse and police department. Regrettably though, she has been banned from the Post Office (federal policy.)

It’s not uncommon to walk into any office or place of business on the Eastern Shore and be cordially welcomed by a canine friend. Our sporting heritage champions inclusion of dogs into our everyday lives; many local hotels accept pets, especially during hunting season. Not everyone can be so lucky to find a Rascal, but consider introducing an office pet to your work environment. You may find it’s good for the soul.

“Animals are such agreeable friends—they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms.”
- George Eliot

Whitney Edwards has had the good fortune to be chosen for two of the Logolounge Books, specifically volumes 2 and 3. Included in those volumes are our logos for Dance Harrison Sreet, Midshore Women’s Health, The BIGA Fund and Eastern Shore Title Company. I am very excited because two of our logos have been chosen for inclusion in a new upcoming logo book. When we are sure of the inclusion we will make the announcement but I can tell you this logo book is on the subject of animals and mythology. Most interesting!

If you get a chance to visit the site http://www.logolounge.com.The general public has access to most of the articles. My favorite is current logo trends – you can learn a lot!

]]> http://whitneyedwards.wordpress.com/2009/07/27/in-praise-of-logolounge-com/feed/ 0 whitneyedwards http://whitneyedwards.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/hello-world/ http://whitneyedwards.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/hello-world/#comments Tue, 21 Jul 2009 18:51:58 +0000 whitneyedwards ]]> While reading yesterday’s Wall Street Journal over breakfast this morning, I saw an article about a font designer named Richard Kegler. I gasped. Font designers are making it into the mainstream? I was under the impression that the general population was not even aware of the process. But there it was – all I can say is “progress!” Maybe the public will even be willing to actually buy fonts in the future instead of borrowing or stealing them, or just using the default ones that are packaged with various software programs (like Microsoft Office).

Richard Kegler’s Buffalo, New York design company, P22, designs and distributes typefaces online. Our first P22 font was “Cezanne,” which is still the company’s best seller on myfonts.com. It is a font derived from Cezanne’s own handwriting and is one of most graceful handwriting fonts on the market.  Now there are over 100 fonts in the P22 catalog. Most are decorative but highly usable and the price has always been reasonable and affordable. Kegler offers an interesting perspective when he says, “People always ask if there need to be more fonts in the world. But that’s like saying there are already enough wines in the world. Just like fonts, each has its own character and depth.”  If you read the article you will see that Kegler has a good sense of business as well!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204900904574300254129113502.html

]]> http://whitneyedwards.wordpress.com/2009/07/21/hello-world/feed/ 0 whitneyedwards