Artibrand worked with the Maid of the Loch team to create a new brand identity and brand guidelines.
The process of recreating a company’s brand identity can be a huge undertaking. The starting point is usually to research the product or service and benchmark against competitor offerings. In the case of the Maid of the Loch, there is the rich heritage of the ship being the last Clydebuilt Paddle Steamer, put into service in 1953.
The branding process has involved the company board of directors at key stages. The first phase consisted of 4 optional routes with the ship represented in a variety of permutations. A simplified angular design was preferred for it’s strength, solidity and flexibility. It echos an art deco era, still very much in use in the 50’s and in the fittings of the ship. The angular design was developed to pick up on the outline of the ship – the over hanging paddles, ships cowals, funnel and flag.
Playing with the evolving crest, the design came to life when light and shade was introduced into the design. This makes the design more open – past and present, reflecting on the ships heritage. A minimal colour 50’s pastel palette was devised closely matching the original colours of the ship. We even managed to get an original sample from the funnel itself to match the buff colour – see colour palette below.
