Brief

Bartender Trevor Gilstrap and Chef Graham Chaney aproched me to create the branding for their pop-up concept that was inspired by the 70’s saloons frequented back in Vegas, but a little flashier. Chef Graham wanted to pay homage to nightlife fast-food staples like the Gordita and Crunchwrap, but make all the in gredients in-house.

RESEARCH

During the research phase for this project I considered “Why Benchmark? What does that name mean?” These days it’s used in technology to describe a standard measurement that can be measured against. Looking further back though, I found that the term originates from the chiseled horizontal marks that surveyors would carve into stones so that they could always measure from the same position. Various symbols were used, but all involving three intersecting lines to imply the triangulation of a point on a map.

Development

Being a black woman in an industry dominated by white men, Carmen has an opportunity to stand out. I wanted to create a brand that is more friendly and approachable than the common IT companies in most metro areas. Starting with the name, I chose a font that has more of a boutique feel than a generic tech company. I based the mark itself on an actual benchmark but updated it to simple vectors and added some circular contacts to evoke the shapes seen on a circuit board. In order to fully bring this circuit board motif to life I had the business cards and laptop drop-off forms printed with gold foil.

Final