When Sarah Kleven McGann, a San Diego based criminal defense attorney, came to me for help branding her new law firm, Kleven McGann Law, I just knew that she needed something a little different from the run of the mill boring lawyer logo. She isn’t like all the other lawyers I’ve met in my life … no stuffy office, no ascot, no circular speeches. Instead she is all smiles, fun energy and warmth.
This project is a perfect example of balancing what the client wants (something fun, energetic, feminine) with what the client needs (a professional brand that will appeal to other lawyers, which is where she gets all her referrals).
While the brand needs to appeal to other lawyers, who generally go for super traditional looking, solid brands, we also needed to keep the look “her” — modern, feminine, professional. So I went with a strong peacock/teal, jet black and bright white color palette, to express her professional/serious side. Peacock is a teal blue color, so it rests comfortably in the “I’m a professional, you can trust me, I know what I’m doing” BLUE world, but pushes into the fun zone a tiny bit with the green undertones.
A really colorful peacock envelope keeps it “Sarah” without making it too girly or frilly. I chose a fairly traditional, but warm font (Neutra) to add stability to the brand, and threw in a lot of white space and played with scale (her business cards are super tiny: 3.5in x 1.25in … standard width but short) to keep the overall look modern and fresh. To give it all a luxe polish, we letterpressed everything on bright white 100 percent cotton paper.
I had lots of fun working on this project, which is not something you can usually say about working with lawyers! Readers, I hope you never are in need of a criminal defense attorney … but just in case keep one of Sarah’s snazzy cards in your rolodex.
//photos Erika Firm
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