This week, I’m diving (slowly, hesitantly) into the world of mark-making. This summer, my older brother started a painting/carpentry company and asked me to design a logo for him. He wanted it to be clean, simple and a little pretty. Ok, I added the pretty but he agreed.

Wanting the simplicity of Helvetica without Helvetica, I used Linotype’s Avant Garde, designed by the unputdownable Herb Lubalin. The ampersand, however, is made of Linotype’s Helvetica Neue, used for its relative proportions and modified slightly to reflect the curve of the U. Over the next few weeks, I’ll fill out the identity with business cards, collateral, shirts and other papery goods. Nonetheless, here we are, into my first* logo.

*Actually, I designed a mark for myself a few months ago but then I stopped using it…for the time being. And I’ve designed and discarded other logos too. So this is the first one that’s actually being commercially printed on things.