life’s not a paragraph

our first project in graphic design four is the rebranding of porter square bookstore, which means a whole new look for the store from logo to advertisements. i’d never been to the bookstore before, but it was really cool! i wish it were closer to where i live. it was small but they have so many different sections and variety of genres. they also have a coffee shop which sells equal exchange coffee (probably the BEST coffee i’ve ever had) and other local tea and pastries. i’m pretty aware of the return to local business movement, but i have never thought about it in the local bookstore sense. porter sq books store is all about being local and independent. their ability to bring together the community over books is amazing. they have only been in porter sq for a short time, but they have really made themselves a part of the area.

creating concepts for this project was both fun and challenging. there was a lot to explore, but it was hard to stray from the typical book and coffee cup logo. i definitely had to push myself for this project. my professor laura golly has some really high expectations for us, so striving to meet them was a little stressful, but i ended up coming up with some solid concepts.

i decided to go with an adventure concept. using the north star/compass rose as the logo, i referenced the adventure and mystery of books, like sailors sailing the sea during the 1700s. the idea that, because of their focus on personalized customer service, porter sq books is the customers “guide” toward their next adenture, aka follow the north star to find your way. i am pretty happy with the idea and now it’ just a matter of flushing it out more to create a solid, complete identity. wish me luck!