case study
Couture For You
Learn how we revamped the branding for a thriving trendy women’s boutique in Flint, Michigan.
01. The Challenge
Building a winning retail store is hard?
Try owning a women’s boutique in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Flint, Michigan.
Located about an hour north of the infamous Motor City Detroit, Malika Baker is the owner and operator of Couture For You.
Despite the challenges of running a brick-and-mortar in one of the most economically challenged areas in the country, Malika’s store had thrived and had active plans to open a second location in their local mall.
As part of her company’s expansion, Malika wanted to invest in rebranding her store by revamping her outdated logo and adhere to a consistent color palette.
Enter Blue Surge Marketing Agency.
02. The Strategy
Before working with Blue Surge Marketing Agency, Couture For You had no defined brand style guide. So we worked with Malika to create an official handbook that helped present her a unified vision of her brand to the public. As a result, she would no longer have a vague look and feel of her branding. Her target audience, urban women of color, would be more likely to recall her brand during advertising and marketing campaigns.
Brands use typography to express themes, personality and messaging. Being a fashion boutique, we knew specific custom font choices would work and some that wouldn’t. Her original font relied heavily on a script layout with ‘by Malika Baker’ underlying the logo. While this may have worked as a starter logo, we felt it no longer conveyed the company’s direction moving forward.
As Couture For You grew outside the shadow of its owner, we determined the updated logo could thereby lose her name tag underneath. So, in the new logo, we pivoted away from the script and instead focused on a more legible serif-based font with a significant weight with just the business name alone.
Colorwise, the old logo only used a white and black schematic without any supplementary colors. However, women’s boutiques regularly make use of bright, flashy colors in their advertising and promotions. So, to advance the final design, we pushed for an expanded palette of colors. We utilized a theme of pink and gray tints that complemented each other. The palette presented her brand with a calm aesthetic tone but with enough injected life to keep it attractive.
03. The Results
After spending years with the static version of the original logo, Malika wanted the new direction of her brand to be more dynamic. With that requirement in mind, our Senior Graphic Designer produced her logo in a format that allowed it to be both flexible and deconstructed. The refreshed logo could stand alone with just the ‘C’ element, which could be used for app icons, stickers, and profile images.
Our creative digital advertising firm, Blue Surge Marketing Agency, ultimately compiled the brand guidelines that now governed the Couture For You composition, design, and aesthetic.
Work with a talented graphic design team that can bring your branding vision to life.
