Anything But Gray Events

CLIENT: Anything But Gray Events
PROJECT: BRANDING AND WEBSITE DESIGN (Full Branding Suite)
LINK: anythingbutgrayevents.com

This branding project is truly anything but gray. Holly Gray, technicolor events planner based in California, wanted a complete rebranding when she approached brand strategist extraordinaire Ginny Krauss.  Her brand wasn’t hitting her ideal clients. She felt like she hit a wall, and wanted a new direction so she can grab the attention of clients that she wanted to work with – fun, creative, and colorful couples who wanted anything but gray. Ginny guided her through the process, and so Events by Holly Gray became Anything But Gray Events, with a totally new brand identity and design.

MOOD BOARD

As with most projects, after the initial consultation, Pinterest board curation, and design questionnaire, we started with a moodboard. This is a technicolor lady boss we are working with, so of course it will be as colorful and vibrant as she is!

LOGO DESIGN

The logo design process took several weeks.  Holly wanted the concept of having several colorful pieces forming a cohesive whole, with a circular element, gold confetti, and a mix of sans-serif and an edgy script. I forgot how many versions we worked on until she finally chose one – but that’s mainly because I kept trying to pare down the design and keep things simple & clean, when that’s not who she is. It was after chatting with her and getting to know her better that I realized where this brand identity design needed to go.

This was the design that she initially approved:

But when I showed her this submark, she fell in love with it and changed the primary logo to this one instead:

BRAND STYLE GUIDE

STATIONERY SUITE

Like her brand, her stationery suite is also technicolor and fun.

WEBSITE DESIGN

While I am usually pro-minimalism, there was no way that would have applied to Holly’s website. I had to remember that it is intended to target a niche market, not the general public. It is bold, colorful, creative, cheerful, and over the top! Holly has the most amazing brand images so it was so easy to draw inspiration from her photos alone. (Seriously, it’s worth the investment, you’ll see.)

This is her new website. It’s like entering into a technicolor dream world.

Compare this to her website before:

But don’t take my word for it, go over there and check it out!  Here’s what Holly had to say:

“I didn’t feel like I had to explain myself or my choices to either gal. They both just got it and ran with it! It was Ginny n’ Pat for the win! Our international trifecta perfecta was complete!”