Phillip Lehnert (That’s me!)
Creating powerful visual identities is a huge part of my job as a designer. What better way ist there to prove my skills and understanding on the matter to potential clients than creating a visual identity for my own business and personal brand? Right, none. So here it is, a little overview and deep dive into my thought process behind my own visual identity design.
Services
Logo Design, visual identity design, social media templates
Year
2023
The idea
Coming up with my own visual identity and branding was such a toughy! This was a project where the inner critic really came out with a vengeance! I worked on countless ideas, concepts, and designs, and none really hit the mark quite right. I actually stopped working on my own identity and took on client projects to reaffirm to myself: You can do this!
One day I was overthinking again (I am a pro at that) and I got so exhausted that I just stopped. And as I let go of the idea of ever having a logo and visual identity that really spoke to me, the idea just popped into my head. There truly is power in letting go!
Since I am a one man army, I wanted to emphasize this in my branding as well. I am not a big studio, there are no other people involved, it’s just me. Why hide behind a fancy name that means nothing to anyone but myself? People want to connect with people and I wanted to make it easier for people to connect with me, hence I decided to work under my regular name.
I created a neat monogram out of my initials and added a little detail to it – the smile in the L. When people come to me and decide to work with me, they give me a ton of trust and a good chunk of their money. The only way for me to show my appreciation for these things is to create my best work for them, leaving them satisfied and happy with their decision to hand their project over to me.
Colors & Type
My favorite color is green. So you may wonder why I haven’t chosen this color for my visual identity. Because the color green did not fit the overall feel I was going for. I wanted a highly energetic and driven color since this reflects my own character much better. Orange is welcoming, yet powerful and emits a lot of heat, paired with an ash black it brings together a strong color combination that speaks of professionalism and my creative edge that drives me to excellence in every way.
For the logotype, I have chosen the typeface Arboria. I liked the bold character of the letters and their friendly and warm aesthetic. It just perfectly combines power, boldness, and a sense of approachableness. In order to marry symbol and type together, I created gaps in the Ps and cut off the cross stroke of the T. This reflects elements of design choices made for my monogram and aids in creating a powerful visual team.
I could blow my own horn here and write how great of a designer I am, but I think there is power in being humble. I create pretty darn good work and am satisfied with what I created in this case, since this was the hardest project for me to this day, but I never rest on my current set of skills and am in this type of work for the long run. Pride is not a good thing to harbor as it makes you immune to criticism and the possibility to grow beyond your current state of being. I will push myself with each new project to new levels of understanding, skills and competence so that I can serve my clients even better in the future.