This case study focuses on my process completing the Dribbble Weekly Warmup - design a modern logo for a new dog grooming service.

Initial framing

For this exercise, I set a few assumptions for Paw Parlor, a fictional dog grooming business:

• Let's assume they want to appeal to customers of all ages

• Let's emphasize playfulness, color, and the dogs themselves

Visual competitive analysis

I reviewed the visual styles of 3 comparable dog grooming businesses to understand how they used visual hierarchy, imagery, color, typography, and branding to position themselves in the market.

This analysis provided one form of inspiration for Paw Parlor: it could visually differentiate itself through a simple, playful logo that focuses on dogs.

Dog-o-Mat

Visual hierarchy and logo

• Landing page emphasizes reviews and customer service

• Logo subtly references dogs through paw prints, but mainly features a weighty serif typeface

Imagery

• Focuses mainly on photographs, featuring both a groomer and a dog

• Iconography is a mixture of outlined and filled icons

Color

• Dark, rich, warm colors

Typography

• Source Sans Pro

Bark Boutique

Visual hierarchy and logo

• Landing page emphasizes services

• Logo is quite complex, featuring a dog, a refined typeface, and an elaborate border

Imagery

• Focuses mainly on photographs; several are grooming-related, while others are not

• Limited iconography

Color

• Saturated and bright colors

Typography

• Dancing Script (titles) and Gentium Basic (body), which both suggest luxury and refinement

The Groom Room

Visual hierarchy and logo

• Landing page emphasizes an overview and details about the business (location, floor plan, etc.)

• Logo doesn't reference dogs, but typeface suggests informality

Imagery

• Limited, focusing on the shop and staff

• Limited iconography

Color

• Saturated and bright colors

Typography

• Lobster (title & logo) and Arial (body), which suggest informality but don't pair well together

Word Map

Following the visual competitive analysis, I created a word map. In this exercise, a designer starts with a set of initial words, and free associates from there.

Word mapping is especially effective because it uncovers related and potentially unexpected themes, inspiring thoughtful and imaginative visuals.

The words I brought forward from this exercise were play bow, wag, and bubbles.

Initial draft

A dog's play bow truly represents playfulness, so I started there. I hand drew two dogs, incorporating bubbles and experimenting with simple color and line weight.

I chose a type face that matched the illustration's line weight and featured the same casual and playful energy.

Critique & evolving the design

I shared the first draft and intentions with designer colleagues, and our conversation surfaced a few points of thoughtful critique:

• The pug illustration may not scale down effectively

• Framing the illustration can help to push the logo forward, and introduce an opportunity for more color

• There are opportunities to adjust the kerning and general treatment of the typeface (for example, connecting letters), or explore a typeface that isn't handwritten

Finalization

I evolved the logo from there, simplifying so that it scaled down successfully. I kept her head tilt and introduced additional color to maintain the playful theme, and opted for a non-handwritten typeface so they illustration could shine.