Hand-drawn logos and identities for independent businesses

Paola Adam

Brand identity for florist

Paola needed an identity for her floristry business.

The direction

Home-grown, seasonal, UK-based. She was looking for something playful and not too serious yet also felt ‘grown up’. Words like romantic and elegant were discussed whilst also keeping in line with the organic, free-flowing and natural importance of her ethos.

She wanted understated elegance. She came to me for the linear style. So I kept the illustration delicate and let the branding around it do the heavy lifting.

I started by creating this board from her ideas. Thin elegant line with plenty of white space, repetitive forms, but nothing too ‘perfect’, a muted palette of warm creams, ochres and rust. One or two colours in any single piece, less was more here.

The drawing

I drew the poppy by hand in my own line with very fluid ink and then worked through variations with thicker line against finer. Seed pods were trialed for a different look with the heavier version to stop it reading as too solid. Her name is handwritten so the logo and her name become one as they are the same hand.

The outcome

Two designs with the freedom to use them many ways. Her brand name can stand alone, repeat as a pattern, or sit alongside or beneath the logo. They both work large or small, in positive or reverse and within a palette that she has now built her whole site around.

The temptation with a florist is to make the flower the whole thing. Keeping it fine, and letting my handwriting carry the weight, is why it feels unique. A delicate line is a risk, it can disappear. It works here because the name does the heavy lifting, so the flower never has to shout.

See it live at paolaadam.co.uk

Poppies Plates

Illustration suite for a private chef

Poppy was looking for a logo to set up her business with. To be able to be used across her website, socials, business cards, menus, aprons or napkins.

In keeping with my line drawing, I created very fine but recognisable hand drawn designs, subtle but they lift the whole business. These designs could either be used together or separately, creating an overall brand for her to use as she wants.

Each one was supplied as a transparent vector in both black and white line so they could be used on dark or light backgrounds, be used at a large or small scale and of course printed or stitched.

It's now embroidered in white thread on her aprons, and looks absolutely beautiful.

One logo would have been enough for a website. A set is what let her put it on an apron, a menu and a napkin and still look like one business.

See live at www.poppiesplates.co.uk & original drawings here

Echlin Studio

Bespoke Commission for Newton Road, Notting Hill

Echlin Studio reached out because of a specific drawing I had created. The reference piece was from when I was drawing in a more continuous blind line style. I kept this same loose sty

le for their project to emphasise the branches reaching towards the space, expanding the work beyond the paper.

See live at www.echlinstudio.com and the story behind it here.

Orange Pekoe

Bespoke Christmas Card Collaboration

I was commissioned to create a bespoke Christmas card for Orange Pekoe in Barnes, London. As my work is usually more minimal I was excited to create this, adding pops of colour for the festive season. We created a Limited Edition card which sold online and in their cafe.

See collaboration in detail here

Jane Perfect Interiors

Interiors Project Collaboration

This commission was created in order to fit an exact place in a Jane Perfect Interiors Project. Being a project in Edinburgh it felt natural to bring my continuous line to the well known Edinburgh skyline. The simplicity of this piece is why it worked so well in this project.

What it costs

Prices depend on how much is being drawn and how many ways you need to use it. As a guide:

A single illustration - from £450
One mark. A shopfront, a flower, an object that stands for the business.

A small set - from £750
Several drawings that belong together, like Poppy’s poppy head and seed pods. Enough to cover a website, a menu and a label without using the same image everywhere.

A full identity - from £1,200
The drawing, your name in my handwriting, a palette, and the variations you’ll need - horizontal, vertical, drawing only, name only, in two weights and two colourways.

Everything comes as vectors, transparent PNGs and print-ready PDFs, so you never have to come back to me for a file.

How it works

We organise a call. What the business is, who it’s for, how you want it to feel.

Create a mood board. References, palette, the feel of it before any line is drawn.

Drawing begins. By hand. We work through variations together until it’s right.

Files created. Everything you need, properly named, ready to use.

Usually 6 weeks from first conversation to final files.