It’s been an incredibly busy summer and early Autumn here at a Girl Named Fred. I am so blessed to work with such a wonderful range of clients. Now that some projects have wrapped up, I get to share. And first on the sharing list? Hillside Studios!

Kristi Hill is a wedding, lifestyle and boudoir photographer based in Greeley, Colorado. She has a photo-journalistic style with a distinct flair for the artistic! When she approached me about refreshing her visual identity and marketing materials, she had this to say:

I feel a little “mom & pop.” I feel like my current logo doesn’t encompass “weddings”, which is my primary business focus right now, it’s not feminine enough and feels a little corporate. Also, since there’s been a lack of an actual “look,” I feel like my marketing items are a little disconnected from one another. I want everything to work together as a whole, hip, but still classic, package. Also, as much as I love my Hillside box, I say that I am a creative and think outside the box, which clearly my logo does not say.

Kristi really wanted to keep the hills of her current logo, but other than that we had lots of room to work with type, colour and overall design to develop a visual identity that was much more representative of Kristi and her photography. Here’s the before and after:

Although I’ve looked at script typefaces for logos before, this is the first time that it really made sense for both me and my client. Something about the open, feminine shapes of this particular typeface really work for the message Kristi is trying to communicate: that she is a professional photographer that clients can connect with on a personal level, and who will deliver high-quality images through fun and creative photography sessions.

We kept the hills, but treated them as a layered landscape – you know those hazy days when hilly landscapes look dreamy? That’s what we were aiming for.

And the blue? Well, blue has always been Kristi’s favourite colour. So we went with it!

Once the logo was done, we developed business cards. Kristi had a hard time picking a favourite design, so she went with two: one traditional size and one square size. You can print high-quality business cards at a great price these days, which makes it easy to have options.

Next we tackled her blog. Here’s what it looked like before:

And here’s the after – fresh and open a little bit dreamy!

Kristi has a separate portfolio site from her blog, so we re-designed that, too! Here is the before:

And here is the after. That’s more like it!

(This is a customization of a CMD site template. We were able to make it completely Hillside Studios!)

Finally, we developed a brochure. Keeping with our design guidelines (fresh, open, lots of white space, emphasis on the photography) we put together a piece that really helps Kristi tell her story effectively. Here’s a peek:

How does Kristi feel about the new look? You can see her comment below!

It was such a pleasure working with Kristi – if she’s half as wonderful working with her clients as she was working with me well, her clients are in for a treat.

You can connect with Kristi through her blog, her portfolio site, on Facebook and she’s on Twitter, too!