DWC Project: Chicago Performance Training

Another client project almost completed — Chicago Performance Training! The newest client to the Design With Chon roster, and this team was a pleasure to work with. Cedrick, also known as Coach Mac, has been working with teens and aspiring NBA players in the local Chicago community for years now. It was recently that he, and his wife, Jessie, thought it was time to really get serious and push his business further by getting incorporated and truly investing in the logo + brand of his newly established company, Chicago Performance Training (CPT).

I wish I could say this logo + branding project was a breeze, however, it had its challenges in for me. I definitely haven't played in the realm of masculine and sporty in my repertoire of design work, but I was ready for the challenge. I researched the heck out of NBA and sports-like logos before I began working on the drawing board. Logo mandatories: established, sophisticated, graphic, masculine and sports-like influence

The client was presented with 4 logo concepts (only 3 is shown) and were thankfully elated with all designs. It literally took them almost 2 weeks to decide on the winner. With my recommendations, we ended up going with a logo version that allowed the business to expand beyond basketball since Cedric mentioned about football and baseball down the road. It wouldn't have been good to be tied to a basketball as the core of their logo as seen in the "Blue Shooting Basketball" concept seen above on the left-side.

The face of CPT is a bold, typographic treatment of the name stacked on one another. The word "performance" highlighted in red reminds me of those "physical education t-shirts" that students wore back in the day during school practice, and it's perfect for Cedric's business, but definitely more elevated and polished in terms of design. I warped the typeface to created this bold stamp-like structure and to activate the visual space vs. the standard horizontal arrangement. I especially love the Willis Tower "aka Sears" nuance that I incorporated into the "i" of Chicago. It's those little details that make a logo memorable.

With all my clients, I provide a very simple "Brand + Graphic Guideline" (see below) to help them maintain and understand the elements that go into developing their identity — primary + secondary colors, use of typography, etc. In CPT's case, the logo is only the stacked type version of the logo. The basketball graphic is an added element that can be used with their logo, but it is not the actual logo.

SIDE NOTE: This one-page guideline is no where near the size of a typical Brand + Graphic Standards Manual (minimally 15 pages) that I have worked on for other clients. If a company plans to have several individuals develop marketing materials, a good Graphic Standards Manual should be developed in order to maintain the strong brand identity to your viewers so the messaging is unified, clear and it won't confuse your audience. Why invest? Consistency is key to earning your client's trust. 

 

{Logo + Brand Identity ©2011 Design With Chon}

There will be more upcoming projects on Chicago Performance Training down the road. Like any small business, it's on a budget so the website won't be launched for some time. CPT is going to be utilizing Facebook Business Page to spread it's wings and connect with their audience through training camp events, practice videos and galleries of images of past and present clients. "Like" it today byvisiting this link so they can secure a domain page with Facebook! Support them and me by liking their page. :)

Also, business cards will be going into printing soon so I will take snapshots of the final product eventually and brochure/flyers will be in development, too! Stay tuned on DWC work.