Hi! I have created a logo for Elephant's Tale Bookstore—online books, puzzles, coloring books for kids. Let's go through my creative process with me and cute elephants!
Task
I am tasked with creating a logo for an online bookstore for kids. The Elephant's Tale Bookstore offers more than 1000 products. Additionally, the store collaborates with Development Centers, Preschools, Schools, etc. Reading today, a successful child tomorrow. The logo will be used on Facebook and Instagram. Target audience is parents and grandparents of children aged 0 to 16, owners of development centers, teachers, educators, etc. Competitors of the store are stores from Usborne. The client expressed a preference for children's or developmental themes.
"Usually I find out project details, do some research of the niche and create a Mood Board after that. In this case, after research stage I draw sketches without the Mood Board and shown it right to the Client to discuss".
I draw several sketches and chose 4 of them to the Client.
Sketch #1 - Elephant-shelf
The graphic element is an elephant that reads a book. I used this concept in different variants. In one variant the elephant is filling knowledge from the book. In other variant the elephant is a shelf with books and he reads one book. And there is a variant where the elephant just read. I added several pictures from Pinterest to showcase similar elements as inspiration for the Сlient.
"I like this concept for its meaning. The elephant consists of the books and have the empty space on its shelf for new book, so the book will be there after the elephant finish reading. The elephant is open-minded and clever, as knowledge from all books are always with him."
Sketch #2 - Playfull Elephant
The core idea is to use font as a mant part of the logotype and add graphic elements to it. The graphic elements are the book ("E" letter from "E"lephant) that is blown by the cute elephant ("E" letter from Tal"E"). Additionally I used "T" letter to draw the part of the elephant. The logotype has two versions also. The full version is with whole store's name and graphic elements, while the short one has only graphic symbols - letters "E", "T", "E".
"The logotype is amusing and gives the impression that learning is a playful process".
Sketch #3 - Elephant-Book
This logo combines two elements are the elephant and the book. The logo is simple and can be used in different ways with text.
"Elephant-Book logo is clear and don't have any details that pays attention of the viewer to something else. The logo combines the business purpose and uniqueness of the store".
Sketch #4 - Book-Elephant that is read by little girl
I was inspired by Elephant's Tale Bookstore's tagline is "Reading today, a successful child tomorrow". I imagined little girl that likes reading, guides the text lines with the little finger and spend days by reading interesting stories. I drawn a composition that consists of the big book that looks like the elephant and the reading girl. I added the store's name to it, so first and last "E" letters were integrated into book pages. Also I drew the bookmark as I wanted to add "Bookstore" to the composition, so I divided the word on "Book" and "Store". "S" letter was used as a part of the bookmark. The logo can be used in many ways. So, in the short version, there is no full store's name. You may see the letters "E" and "T" from "E"lephant's "T"ale on the book pages and "B" and "S" from "B"ook"S"tore on the bookmark.
"It is a complex composition for the logotype, but I thought that it could be interesting to watch on it. In some case this idea is opposite to Elephant-Book logotype."
I sent the sketches to the Client to gather fresh thoughts on them.
Revision
The Client liked all the variants and chose Sketch #1 with Elephant-Shelf and Sketch #3 with Book-Elephant for implementation in Adobe Illustrator.
So, I created both logotypes and shown it on the layout of Facebook page of the Elephant's Tale Bookstore.
Logo #1 - Elephant-Shelf
As the logo is intended for use in social networks, I created various compositions. These include text in a circle with the graphic element in the middle, text positioned below the graphic element, and text both above and below the graphic element.
Logo #2 - Book-Elephant
For this logotype, I used text in a circle.
"I believe the store may eventually use graphic elements without text, once the audience becomes accustomed to its appearance".
Also I added several color variants for the logotypes.
Revision - 2
The client requested that I create a horizontal composition for Logo #1.
Horizontal Logotype
For the horizontal version I should choose appropriate text weight so the graphic element and the text looked harmonic. In other case the text would pay too much attention to it and the sense of using the graphic element got lost.
Revision - 3
In this revision, we determined that the colors of the logotype needed to be changed. The pink color used in the previous version made the new logo appear dull. To mitigate this, I presented several color options to the client from the color variants I had previously provided.
Color Options
I presented various color palettes to demonstrate how the logotype changes depending on them to the client. I included the logo with the pink variant at the end.
Revision - 4
The client compared the variants and selected the Elephant-Shelf in yellow, blue, and red colors as the logotype for Elephant's Tale Bookstore.
Client's Testimonial
"I collaborated with Kateryna as a graphic designer for the logo of my small hobby business. Kateryna approached the task very creatively and professionally, asking the necessary questions, considering all of my preferences, and responding quickly to any adjustments from my side. The collaboration yielded a positive result, and I hope this won't be my last order with Kateryna."(translated)
"I appreciate the Сlient for the collaboration. I'd like to highlight a few important aspects that made our collaboration effective: sincerity, well-established communication, and openness to new ideas. Grateful for the trust in choosing me as the designer for Elephant's Tale Bookstore. I wish success to the store!".
What's Next?
"I am thrilled to see my logotype on the Facebook page of the Elephant's Tale Bookstore!".
Since I created the logo, the bookstore's audience has increased by 70%.
Thank you for watching!
You have already read the story of Elephant's Tale Bookstore Logo Design. I appreciate your attention to my project and invite you to share your impressions in the comments. Thanks a lot!
Best wishes,
Kateryna P.
Graphic Designer
at Our Creativity Planet
from Kharkiv region
