A brand identity is more than just a logo! It’s an entire visual framework that puts your practice out into the world with a recognizable, consistent look across every place you show up. The colors, shapes, typography, and design style you use work together to create an immediate and tactile sense of “oh, I know that brand!” At Hydrate, we listen carefully to your story and work together closely to create a custom visual voice that’s intentional, authentic, and lasting.

Read on for a case study where we’ll share how Lyn Miller’s brand took shape through a collaborative, strategy-led design process. You’ll see how early ideas and draft concepts evolved into refined visuals. Plus, insights into the reasoning behind design decisions and how each element reflects her unique story!

Table of Contents

1. Beginning the Process: Understanding the Brand Before Designing
2. Translating Strategy Into Visual Direction
3. Collaboration & Client Feedback
4. Refinement
5. Bringing the Brand to Life
6. Why Process Matters in Branding

Beginning the Process: Understanding the Brand Before Designing

Creating a design that really resonates starts with listening and discovery before drafting concepts. We began our process by asking Lyn specific questions and doing a deep dive into her website and background so we could understand her message and goals.

Then we visited her studio at the brilliant AVA Gallery & Art Center to absorb her physical creations and meet in person to fully understand our task. Armed with knowledge of her craft from our research, we brought typography examples, a few color palette ideas, and loose logo sketches based on images from her website to begin the visual conversation!

Translating Strategy Into Visual Direction

After our initial discovery conversations, we moved into the first round of official logo and visual identity drafts. This phase was all about building on the ideas we discussed together and translating them into tangible concepts. First, we updated the color palette, starting with the rich red onion and saturated greens that Lyn was drawn to. We added supporting secondary colors: soft and warm yellows to introduce lightness and warmth, and an earthy brown for contrast. The result was a more flexible system that still felt grounded and natural while including the necessary range of values!

Alongside the palette, we developed icon concepts rooted in the compost and puzzle themes we had discussed, as well as a few possible use cases showing how the icons and color system could pair with typography.

Collaboration & Client Feedback 

After sharing the first round of concepts, we moved into refinement based on Lyn’s feedback. She felt the puzzle piece and fern logos were too obvious, but was drawn to the interlocking leaf shapes and how they interacted with the circular form, especially where elements overlapped rather than feeling rigidly contained.

At the same time, certain elements helped clarify what didn’t feel right. The orange sun felt inauthentic, and the darker brown soil shape on the right reminded her of mountains, an association she wanted to avoid. What mattered most was a sense of being stable, grounded, and rooted in the earth.

Refinement 

With that feedback in mind, we refined the logo further and drafted two new iterations with a sprouting pea pod emerging from grounded earth. The circular version of the icon with rays radiating outward and breaking beyond the circle itself immediately resonated and became the foundation for the final brand identity!

Along with the new icon, we updated the typography to something slightly more formal and secure, while still keeping it soft, human, and approachable. The previous rougher edges had felt a bit uneasy to Lyn, so smoothing the letterforms helped reinforce confidence and steadiness. We also included a simple tagline option inspired directly by Lyn’s language—three words that felt like a distilled version of her work.

We also made some final tweaks to the color palette for usability, lightening the dark green for a fresher, more inviting feel, and darkening the brown for increased contrast. The elements work together to reflect Lyn’s core themes of compost, renewal, and growth through life’s challenges. The final identity feels grounded, stable, and alive—an intentional balance that mirrors both Lyn’s work and the values behind her brand.

Bringing the Brand to Life

To bring the visual identity fully to life, we developed a brand guideline along with several logo and wordmark variations designed for different use cases. This ensures Lyn can show up consistently and confidently across platforms, whether in print, digital, or social spaces. With these foundations in place, we’re now carrying the identity into the next phase of the project by applying it to Lyn’s website, where the visual system can live, breathe, and support her work in an even more functional way!

Why Process Matters in Branding 

This project is a reminder that a thoughtful process leads to a brand that truly resonates. When time is taken to listen, explore, and refine, the result carries meaning as well as visual appeal! Rushing through design can skip over that depth, leaving brands with something that may look good on the surface but lacks lasting connection.

At Hydrate, our approach is always strategy-first. We believe the best work comes from collaboration, open dialogue, and bringing the client into the process every step of the way. By staying client-centered, we’re able to create visual identities that feel intentional, aligned, and built to grow with the brand.

"Loved working with Hydrate Marketing to develop my new logo and create a marketing plan!!" - Lyn

Working with Lyn Miller was a collaborative and meaningful experience, and we were proud to reflect the care and intention behind her work with this branding project! If this case study resonated with you, we invite you to think differently about branding. Value the process as much as the outcome, and consider what it looks like to build a visual identity with intention. If you’re interested in learning more, feel free to explore more of our work or reach out to Hydrate to start a conversation!