Branded hat with one color Holland Vans logo
Holland Vans Logo
Holland Vans is a Flagstaff business started by two brothers, Hamilton and Harrison Holland. They transform work vans, pickup trucks, and school buses with beautiful craftsmanship into adventure vehicles that enable their customers to explore the world around them.
The brothers came to me because they needed a new logo for their growing business to add as a finishing touch to their builds and to create branded merchandise. They wanted something impactful with a nod to being based in Flagstaff. Flagstaffians are proud of their city.
They sent me some inspiration images and a napkin sketch of what they were thinking - they wanted to build on the old logo. The old logo presented several challenges but I really wanted to give them the logo they didn't know they wanted. I developed a series of rough thumbnails with the existing logo then scheduled a dinner meeting to begin the process.
I took the time to explain to them that we would want to create their own brand and not piggyback on another's (VANS). I also pointed out some of the difficulties of that logo, it could never be used in a stacked orientation which really limited the potential of the logo.
We had a great meeting and heavily discussed the sketches, ultimately we choose to move away from the line, but keep the same font.
Design
I began with adjusting the typography of the logo, I adjusted the kerning and created a ligature for the "AN" that had been producing an awkward space. Then I tackled the mountain designs, I limited myself to 4 colors. This makes the logo more reproducible in screen printing and embroidery. The trees were a challenge, this logo is going to be used as one color cut vinyl often, cut vinyl can be very difficult to weed when it is highly detailed. Initially we tried to make a Ponderosa Pine work in the logo, it was too busy and would not be good for production. After some discussion we decided to opt for a more traditional looking pine tree. The full color version was completed first. Once that was finalized I began simplifying the design for one-color applications keeping vinyl production at the forefront of the decisions I made.
In the end we created something everyone was happy with. We moved away from the confining line and now the logo draws the viewer in with the promise of adventure, memories, and the exciting unknown.
Visit Holland Vans on Instagram @holland_vans