The Goal
Mimi Wagner is a registered landscape architect and a environmental planner. When she decided to start her own landscape architectural firm, she called on us to help her develop an identity, create her business materials, and launch a website that would attract clients interested in the long term, sustainable use and condition of their land and streams.
The Identity
The design process began with long discussions with Mimi. We needed to get to know her as a person, as an architect and planner, and as a businesswoman. Her particular interest and expertise in stream restoration projects and in the creation of sustainable landscapes became the driving force for the design materials created.
The identity, a pair of swirling cottonwood leaves juxtaposed near Mimi Wagner Landscape Architecture typeset in a playful, geometric sans serif, suggests both professionalism and strong ties to nature. In early versions of the logo, streams, paddlers, trees, and landscapes were incorporated. Though they all suggested the strong environmental ties, the decision was made to use the more simplified cottonwood leaves creating a more memorable symbol for the company.
The Print
Once an overall identity was established, we set to work on creating a stationery set that fit the overall Mimi Wagner Landscape Architecture brand. The business cards, letterhead, and envelopes all encompassed the logo with a subtle square lined grid to suggest graph paper used in the planning process.
Incorporating the grid served as a reminder to clients that landscape architecture is a process that begins with architectural mapping and drawing. The grid fades away at the edges signifying the process slowly revealing the finished project.
Everything was printed on Mohwak Pegasus Museum White paper, paper that has a slight cream color and a smooth texture with just a small amount of texture.
The Website
Mimi had a few stipulations when it came time to draft the initial set of parameters for her website:
- Incorporate her existing blog content into the website
- Make the website accessible from a wide variety of devices
- List all services that she has to offer
- List past projects she has worked on
- Allow for lots high resolution imagery
Mimi also had a smaller budget for the creation of the website so in order to save on design costs we went with using a more general template and modified it to fit her needs. The template provided a foundation for importing her blog posts, showing off high resolution imagery, and scaling the content to fit a multitude of devices. We then modified it to fit her identity and allow for the creation of services that she will be offering and projects that she has worked on.
The website when finished was a great fit for her and stayed well within her budget. It was ultimately implemented in WordPress allowing for the medication of her services and projects. The design itself ended up being a modified version of the WordPress twenty-eleven theme.
The website is available for viewing at http://mwlandarch.com/.
