Logo and stationary for a photography collective

Photography plays a big part in my life. Be it analog or digital. There is something about capturing the essence of a moment that really struck me. When long time friend and photographer Alexander Rauch said he wanted to work on new a project with me, I was instantly hooked. Together with Simon Möstl he wanted to offer a location-based photography service and they needed some help with their Corporate Identity.

A new concept

Alex and Simon are young and talented photographers. They came up with the innovative idea to offer an on–location photography service that is way more flexible than traditional services out there and doesn’t compromise on quality. The idea is to be as flexible as possible with their equipment so they can be location independent and still offer studio quality images. Hence the name ONLOPH (abbrev.: On Location Photography). Some of their core services are Fashion and Beauty Photography as well as Business and Company Portraits.

The Design Approach

Now they needed to present their idea to the world, and that’s where I come in. After the initial meeting it was pretty clear in which direction they wanted to head. The first few ideas were based on creating a distinct visual identity with strong typefaces.

More often than not, the logos of photographers come short of the amazing work they have to offer. With ONLOPH, I wanted to incorporate that quality into the logo by using well–known and high–quality typefaces.

Didot Headline is the primary font and brings the logo into the right context due to its premium look and feel. Complimentary to that, Brandon Grotesque acts as the secondary Typeface and is used in the print products. To round that of Montserrat is the webfont of choice. Both fonts were chosen because of their clean look and legibility.

To make sure the Logo doesn’t distract from their work, when its used as a watermark for example, it remains black and white only.

A secondary logo was created for their website, to fit into the navigation bar. It is sized appropriately to make sure it is still readable even at a narrow height.

For social-media appearances I developed a tertiary version of the logo that fits into the square crop of the various profile images. It can also be used as a signet on the website or on their images.

Stationary Design

A minimal design for their stationary was key to make sure only the most important information is communicated.

The business cards were printed at the Infinitive Factory in Graz. They make awesome letterpress prints on their old Heidelberg printing machines. The look and feel of a letterpress adds a lot of value to the cards because it stands out from most of the other business cards out there, thus remaining memorable for a prospective client.

The letterhead is based on the well-known Marber Grid. Though slightly modified for use on DIN-A4 sized paper. The proportionally sized columns combined with the type clearly show the hierarchy on the page and guarantee optimum legibility and readability.

ONLOPH’s business model is tied closely to their visual identity, as it really compliments their work and their photography. The minimal black and white design puts a strong emphasis on the photographs while still retaining focus on the most important content in their stationary. The fact that I am so passionate about photography made working with Alex and Simon a breeze. It is probably the main reason why this project came out as it did and I hope to be able to work on similar projects in the future.