Background
Paul Michel Investments is a company created by business finance specialist Paul Michel, which aims to help businesses and start-ups get ahead. He works to provide expert advice to businesses, fostering trusting relationships with them in order to grow their capital.
Brief
Paul wanted a brand focused around his name, as it was his knowledge and expertise which was key to the brand. In order to develop partnerships with businesses he needed a memorable yet mature and professional brand. It needed to help foster trust in him and his ability to take care of the company's capital in order for them to confidently take his investment advice. As an essential part of his networking to generate new business, we needed to create a logo that would achieve a great first impression and sit well on a professional business card. We were also asked to start applying some of the brand styles and logos to other print marketing, such as leaflets, creating a good foundation of consistent branding guidelines which could be extended and applied to future marketing materials as his business grows.
Process
As the logo was the central element to business card, we began with some initial sketches. Due to the Paul Michel name and knowledge being the focal point of the brand, the initial concept generation involved taking the letter forms of PM or PMI and exploring the various abstract shapes they could be manipulated to create. We also explored concepts which were more literal to investments such as a clam shell and pearl, or an acorn, as it showed how something can grow into something bigger or more precious.