Case Study: Grand Passage

Client Profile:

Grand Passage is an outdoor clothing brand founded by Steven, an outdoor enthusiast from South Carolina. His love for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor lifestyle activities led him to create the brand in 2022. They cater to hunters, fishers, and other lovers of the great outdoors.

Project Details:

When Steven needed support in crafting the visual branding for Grand Passage, a college friend of mine referred him to Mae Creative (now SkellyDog Branding). After having a conversation about his branding needs, we began the planning process to create a logo suite for the brand.

The term ‘grand passage’ comes from the bird-hunting world. It refers to the phenomenon in which a cold weather event creates a mass migration. If you’ve planned a day of waterfowl hunting, a grand passage is great luck!

In addition to the meaning behind the name, here are a few other things we knew going into the project:

• Based on the target demographic, the branding would lean more masculine.
• The client wanted muted, woodsy colors.
• Because of the seasonal nature of outdoor activities like hunting and fishing, the client wanted two color palettes: a spring/summer palette, and a fall/winter palette.

Project Challenges:

Although I grew up in South Carolina, the outdoor scene has never been my ‘thing.’ I don’t have the same connection to game hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities that many of my peers do, and the style of the brand would be different than what I typically create. I knew going into the project that this would be my biggest challenge–thankfully, I love to be challenged.

Grand Passage was a project of ‘firsts.’ It was one of my first fully remote clients; I had just moved to Connecticut, and was still acclimating to being unable to meet with clients in person. And it was the first project that required seasonal branding variations.

Once the project began, I encountered one other obstacle: I found a font that perfectly fit the aesthetic and needs of the brand, but it needed to be purchased–and the project budget did not include that extra expense.

Creating Success

Overcoming the challenge of a brand that fell outside of my typical style meant leaning into research. It took time, but I researched the meaning and background of the term ‘grand passage,’ as well as the Southern terrain, to determine the imagery and colors that I would use to create the brand’s components. I spent extra time getting to know the seasonal landscape of the Southern US as I crafted the seasonal color palettes.

To offset any issues that may arise from working on the project remotely, I was especially careful to spend time communicating with the client throughout the process. Communication is a key aspect of any successful project, but requires even more intention when you are several states away!

Communication was also the key to the challenge of choosing the right font. After the client chose the logo concept that included the font, I took the time to explain why it would require an additional fee. We agreed on a plan in which I would purchase the font, and the client would reimburse me.

The Toolkit:

Since this was a logo suite project, the tools and skills required were fairly basic. I used Pinterest, Creative Market, and various font-finding tools to identify appropriate fonts and build a general aesthetic for the brand. I sketched out logo concepts using Procreate, then moved into Adobe Illustrator to create polished logo drafts.

The most important skills I turned to during this project were research and communication.

The Outcome:

The client was very happy with the final outcome of the Grand Passage logo suite. Unfortunately, due to financing complications, the brand never reached fruition–but we foresee promising new ventures in Steven’s future, and can’t wait to cheer him on.

We’re proud to have created an adaptable visual brand design that met the needs of the business and catered to its unique clientele. Through the process, I gained a better understanding of color theory and learned how to apply the concept of adaptable branding to a real brand–which I have now used within my own branding.

In the time since creating the brand in 2022, I’ve continued to learn and grow. Looking back now, I have even more ideas that would have elevated Grand Passage and its adaptable branding. I look forward to taking these ideas into future branding projects to help my clients flourish.