Identity design & brand development

Jen Edney is an amazing photographer, but if that's all she was she'd be gloriously average. She is anything but that. What's more incredible is that the talented Ms. Edney is more a "visual storyteller" and adventurer than merely a simple photographer. Her pictures are featured the all over the world in sailing & adventure lifestyle publications. She is known for innovative maneuvering—camera in hand—to get shots that most photographers aren't even brave enough to try , let alone think about. So when Jen Edney approached RDQLUS CREATIVE to craft a new identity, it was immediately evident that "Jen Edney Photography" wasn't big enough to carry that story. Through the focused brand development process and many great creative briefing meetings masked as simple, engaging conversations, 'EDNEY Adventure Photojournalism' was born. But to finish the newly bolstered brand pedigree, a new mark had to be as clear and as daring as the person at the helm.

When investigating the theme of adventure & nautical sporting lifestyles, a commonality was flags; they are flown to send messages, planted to denote achievement & victory over the elements and are hoisted to adorn and celebrate crew & vessels. Taking this central theme would allow flexibility within the brand offering. Ms. Edney won't always solely shoot nautical photography, so how could we accomplish showing this without putting her "out to sea" constantly?

Let's start with the circular container; the flags were meant to be kinetic & flowing so they couldn't be trapped within the circle. So having them escape out to the right allows visual motion. The circular composition is kept but the circle is not the focus. To help this, the sun-burst above the flags acts as the sun in the sky, but also creates a glare as if to now make the circle a lens. It was important to subtly impart "camera" without the overt cliché. As an added, very obvious bonus—(3) flags were used to create an "E" to allude to the name.

For flexibility of use, a "boilerplate" logotype was created to carry the look into a mark that could be used in spaces where the main logo could not live. The "Adventure E" flags are moved into the space of the "D" giving them a place to continue their proud & triumphant waving.

Careful consideration is always given to brand pedigree and guidelines for proper use. It matters none if the artwork is award-winning if the life of said artwork is doomed to improper use and bad messaging. So to that end, 'EDNEY A.P.' was equipped with a brand pedigree document and a usage guidelines document, to aid in establishing the brand identity and keep the messaging strong and the overall look & feel on-track for consistency. It is meant to keep telling Jen Edney's story while she's off capturing and creating more.