Sherwin Williams
Sherwin Williams is one of the world’s most-known companies for paints, coatings, and floor coverings. Their customer base ranges from retail customers to industrial and professional customers. With a company history that spans almost over 160 years, its logo has undergone quite an evolution. In today’s age of digital media and small screens, it’s facing quite a challenge – I made it my mission to turn its old logo into a versatile design system that beams with innovation and ensures the company is equipped with with a design that withstands the test of time.
Services
Logo Design, Visual Identity,
Branded merch
Year
2024
The idea
I looked at the current design of their logo and found it to be a bit… messy I guess? It does show a bucket pouring color over the earth, but I’ve read from a lot of people that they think it looks like the world is being covered in blood, and that was my first impression as well. I think it does the company a disservice and there was so much room for improvement – a wonderful opportunity to rethink their logo.
My idea was simple: Keep the imagery of a paint bucket, but give it a neat twist. By combining the S and the W into the shape of a paint bucket, I created a memorable mark for a historical company that translates its current design into a visual language that fits the landscape of all the challenges they may face regarding versatility and scalability. This gives them a chance to position themselves even stronger in their market and enables them to reach new audiences, increasing their share in the market and thus their profit.
Colors & Type
For the colors, I decided to keep the combination of red and blue – it’s so iconic for their logo that it would be an unwise decision to completely change them. I decided to make them a little less saturated which helps them achieve a more friendly look and conveys a sense of a fresh coat of paint – highlighting their new design.
For the type, I went with Montserrat and customized the W in the company name to establish a stronger visual connection to the created symbol. Customized type is a powerful tool to push a logo to a unique look and helps to create a visual powerhouse that really marries together the design. Nothing is worse than a beautiful symbol made with care and love for detail only to be paired with a typeface that doesn’t speak the same visual language.
This is a portfolio project and not an official design for Sherwin Williams.