clark & conley

Seriously where has the time gone?! Are we really in November? Life and business has been moving so incredibly fast!

We were recently commissioned to design an identity for a local family owned and operated Christmas tree lot.

We had a lot of fun with these two families. Here are the two concepts we designed for them...one is more clean, modern, and playful while the other concept is more nostalgic and traditional feeling.

If you live in the Yuba Sutter area, we encourage you to shop local, support small business, and support  local families! Clark & Conley Christmas Trees will be opening on Black Friday and you can find them on Bogue Road next to North Valley Calvary Chapel. Why not make your tree a Clark & Conley? :)

promotional postcards we also designed 

tuff stuff jerky company

While Tuff Stuff Jerky Company has been around for as long as I can remember, it recently went under the new ownership of Pete Stocker.

Pete contacted us shortly after taking over and wanted to find a way to keep using the iconic "Tuffy" logo but in a refreshing, more modern, clean way.

We started out by cleaning up some of the lines on Tuffy and we played with a couple ideas Pete had...how about that cigar smoking Tuffy? :)

We then set out designing new labels for the jerky packaging. As you can see the old labels were rather gaudy and cluttered and they didn't do a good job of portraying the fact that Tuff Stuff Jerky is actually an all natural jerky, free of artificial ingredients, nitrites, and MSG.

We also wanted to make a clear distinction between flavors because there's nothing worse than accidentally buying one flavor when you wanted another because the packaging doesn't do a good job of distinguishing between different flavors!

The evolution of Tuffy.

Old label.

Picture by Sunflower Natural Foods Market, where you can purchase Tuff Stuff jerky.

Photo of the new labels we designed.

We are now currently in the process of getting a web site going for Tuff Stuff Jerky Company and getting Pete some new business cards that will match the updated look of his company. 

Thanks for thinking Different By Design, Tuff Stuff Jerky Company!

surprise!

We recently threw a surprise birthday party! My mother turned 50 years old and we thought it would be special to gather her family together to celebrate those 50 years! My mom is half Japanese and so we kept that part of her heritage in mind while designing these invitations. We also wanted to include some pictures of her throughout the years...we were short on time, but I think they turned out great!

Happy 50th, mom!

mtr photography studio

Web advertisement we designed for MTR Photography Studio here in Yuba City, California. We love working with Michelle and her staff! While MTR Photography Studio has taken adorable photos of our boys over the past couple years, we recently stepped in front of the camera ourselves to capture our last pregnancy!

MTR Photography Studio did an amazing job capturing this moment in time for us. In fact, we're certain if you book a Mother's Day Mini Session you too will be thrilled to have these fleeting moments saved in time. Thanks again for your business, MTR Photography Studio! We appreciate you!

identity design

Pulled a late night at the studio preparing for tomorrow's logo presentation.

Identity designing is probably our number one design love.

There's just something about creating a perfect visual identity for both start up businesses and established businesses that are looking to rebrand or invest in branding for the first time!

Here's a few samples of some of the logos we have designed. Not only do we have a thorough design process, everything we create is original and designed with your business needs in mind. We take pride in designing "on purpose" unlike the thoughtless clip art logo designs that seem so prevalent in today's markets.

If you're interested in branding your business, give us a call! We'd love to talk to you about how a strong brand image and visual identity can grow your business!

530.790.5762

hello february!

We've been busy little bees over at the studio...and it's true what they say. Time sure flies when you're having fun!

We recently designed these 4x6 promotional postcards for Moments To Remember Photography Studio. We first began their rebranding in 2010 and it has been a pleasure to continue working alongside them in guarding and promoting their new identity.

happy friday!

May your weekend be colorful and filled with unexpected surprises!

Today we finished up some packaging designs for the innovative company Slide Fire Solutions. Below is a picture of some proofs hanging up on the clip board wall at the studio...love those bright pops of color.

And a sweet little surprise that was brought to me today by Billy on his lunch break. What's not to love about a kokeshi girl and freshly picked flower?

Happy Friday everyone!

Heads Together Salon & Day Spa

Last month we were contacted by Heads Together Salon & Day Spa owner Linda Lomeli about designing a new logo for her business.

Although Linda has been in business as Heads Together for 17 years, she recently expanded the services offered in her salon and day spa along with relocating to a beautiful historic home which she had completely renovated.

Though her business name includes "heads together", Linda did not want a literal interpretation of having heads in her logo, as the term refers more to her business philosophy of the employees of her salon and spa working together for the satisfaction of their clients.

For the new logo for Heads Together Salon & Day Spa, Billy hand drew the ornamental design inspired by design patterns from the Art Deco era, the same era the building that houses the business was built. I love how he cleverly incorporated a pair of scissors, a hair stylist's trademark tool, into the design.

The font used in the logo was customized off of the typeface Century Gothic. The clean, geometric font works nicely with the more delicate design, giving the overall logo a balanced feel between the feminine and masculine.

We chose the colors for the logo based off of the muted interior color palette. Green is known to be a soothing color, which evokes the relaxed feel of Linda's upscale salon and spa, while the contrasting richer brown is bold enough to catch your eye without being overwhelming.

Thank you so much for choosing to think Different By Design for your design needs, Linda. We genuinely enjoyed working on this project with you.

ribbon cutting!

If you follow us here or on our facebook page, then you know that on Friday, May 27th we held our grand opening/ribbon cutting ceremony.

Like I mentioned previously, so much got left undone that we wanted to accomplish, but all in all it was a great night!

We have so many wonderful pictures to share with you between having Jessica Cole Photography out taking pictures and our good friend Debbie of Wow Now Photography took many wonderful shots for us as well.

To view the pictures, just click here and then click on "the studio" tab.

You can also view all the wonderful exterior shots taken by our talented client Michelle of MTR Photography Studio.

different by design-grand opening

Just a couple pictures we wanted to share with you from the Grand Opening. These pictures were taken by our building owner and work neighbor Erik Jens from Square One Drafting & Design. Thanks Erik!

it's official!

Yesterday we got the keys to the studio and today was our first day working at the new location! We LOVE it! Of course most of our days right now are being spent moving things, but we were able to stop and work on some client proofs this afternoon. It was a great day! We will be holding our Grand Opening later this month, but in the mean time if you want to pop in and say hi, we'd love to see you!

Different By Design is open Monday-Friday from 9am to 5pm and outside days and times by appointment. You can find us at 546 B Yolo Street, which is off of Bridge Street, headed towards the bridge.

Of course no update would be complete without pictures...these are from the cellphone, so please excuse the quality!

Happy Monday everyone!

stu stu studio update

Blog title to be sang to "su su sudio" by the lovely Phil Collins.

We've been working like mad people on client and personal deadlines as well as preparing for the studio opening!

Thought I'd pop on here and share some progress updates that Square One Drafting & Design owner Erik Jens was kind enough to share with us.

Back office before:

Can't wait till we are up and running at the new location! Wasn't the old wood paneling horrible? :)

our toolbox

10 years ago Billy bought his first computer. It was an Apple imac in graphite and at the time it was pretty cutting edge.

4 years later he picked up an Apple ibook to begin his student years at Chico State.

Sadly, a little over a year later the ibook died and we picked up an Apple MacBook Pro.

Now that we are less than a week until we move into the studio, it's time to upgrade again.

27 inches of pure Apple goodness with customized upgrades. Can't wait for it to get here and to set it up at our new studio! It's fun to see how much technology has changed just in the past 10 years...but that's Apple for you! Always leading the way through innovativeness and plain old good design.

*stock images from google search

our toolbox.

I remember the day Billy came home and said he had to purchase a $300 marker set for school. I thought it was absolutely absurd.

Well. After watching Billy create with these markers, it would be safe to say I have since changed my mind and now view them as a worthwhile investment.

We spent this weekend doing many things including organizing Billy's PrismaColor markers and for the first time ever, purchasing a Sam's Club business membership.

People often asked Billy what kind of discount he got for being a manager at Sam's Club and the truth was he didn't! Sam's club employees get a free membership...so you know...you can actually shop at the store you work at...but that's it!

After a productive and restful weekend we are ready to tackle this week! Happy Monday everyone!

thank you

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for the warm words and encouragement you've given us since we announced Billy will be leaving his management position at Sam's Club so that we can pursue our dream of opening a design studio this May!

We appreciate all of your positive energy and as always we love hearing from you!

As you can see the studio is coming along...Erik (owner of our building and of Square One Drafting & Design) sent us these pictures of our flooring and the paint progress! Thanks Erik!