Charles Meng

Aaron’s Plumbing

Servicing & Remodeling Visual Identity

TEAM

Charles Meng (me)

TIMELINE

Jun ‘24 - Aug ‘24

SERVICES

Creative Direction ⋅ Visual Identity Design ⋅ Logo Design ⋅ Signage ⋅ Van decals ⋅ Apparel ⋅ Print Design

OVERVIEW

A family-owned local business operating in Monterey County, Aaron’s Plumbing specializes in residential plumbing, mainly serving homeowners and small businesses. To stand out from the rest of the crowd, the founder, Aaron Lindvall, reached out to me, and I brought his vision to fruition. The logomark presents a strong, vintage look, utilizing subtle shapes and curves to resemble pipe-like elements, and evoke professionalism, trustworthiness, and tradition.

SETTING THE STAGE

Picture this: You’ve been a contracted plumber working at a certain company for a number of years. Over time, you start to question the leadership, and wish to seek better, more fruitful opportunities. However, there’s not much better options out there in the Monterey County — there’s mistrust between customers, malpractice, so on and so forth. So how about you learn the ropes to starting your own plumbing business?

This is the basis of what Aaron’s Plumbing is founded upon. A local business, family-owned company that aims to cut through the competition by means of trustworthiness, professionalism, and thoroughness.

GETTING TO KNOW: AARON’S PLUMBING

I knew it was something about plumbing, but I needed to know more, such as:

  • Mission statement and core values.

  • Essential brand message, personality, and tone

  • Other products or services

These 3 aspects of the company would be the quintessential guiding principles in my design process.

I also asked other questions relating to Brand Identity, Target Audience and Market Position, Brand Messaging and Communication which you can view here. Here are some snippets of responses:

“I will work to provide clients a personal, trustworthy service that meets their needs through attention to detail and professionalism.”

— Mission Statement for Aaron’s Plumbing

“[…] may be avoiding a “franchised” company, because a family owned business is more likely to give them the personal, trustworthy care they want.

This client is typically someone who looks through Yelp reviews to find the highest rated plumber.”

— Aaron’s Plumbing describing their ideal customer

CORE VALUES

Trustworthiness

Empathy

Professionalism

Thoroughness

PERSONALITY IN 3 WORDS

Traditional

Personal

Conscientious

GETTING ON THE SAME PAGE

Aaron expressed his preference towards vintage aesthetics, and how it gave that old-fashioned feel that isn’t all too common nowadays. Here’s some examples he sent to me:

This rustic design was a perfectly fine direction to head in, however I noted the appeal of keeping things simple — modernity would be more familiar to much of his customer base (homeowners, and small businesses).

In response, I suggested a fusion of a clean, contemporary look, while also maintaining classic, vintage elements that will make it unique.

MODERN VICTORIAN

I sent Aaron a moodboard of my own to give him a better understanding of what I would be going for.

MAIN WORDMARK LOGO

FONT: VINTAGE ROUGH

I decided on this font because it gave the perfect balance between an old-fashioned look with the condensed, slab-like serifs, and still keeping it modern with its simplicity, and legibility.

Presenting Aaron’s Plumbing in uppercase with this font gave it a strong, classic look.

I stylized a few elements such as the “S”, as the original typeface was much more curvier, which made it look like an “8” from long distances.

The first “A” is distinctive in its size, and designed to capsulate “PLUMBING” into a rectangular block that resembles a pipe.

I introduced more pipe-like decorative elements on the top and bottom of the logo space to evoke a reinforced state and enclose the text..

SUBTEXT: HELVETICA NEUE

I wanted something easy to read, something instantly recognizable. Helvetica Neue was the obvious choice as it also blended the vintage fusion with a modern touch. Its san-serif characteristic makes it easy to read at long distances, which proves useful when dealing with van decals, and water heater stickers.

COLORS: #202830 #F0F2F2 #77ADB0

One iconic feature of the Monterey County is the proximity of the beach, and its dark blue waters. Additionally, I wanted something professional. So I combined this inspiration with the business’ values. It is reminiscent of a black-and-white style, giving a professional look. The light blue accents help differentiate the pipe-like elements on the logo.