Stellen Design

My job as a brand designer expends to lots of different touch points my clients businesses have with their clients... branding really encompasses all of your senses! Photoshoot styling does fall under branding too and love working on these sets for Juice It Up!

The best part of my job is by far seeing logos I create off the screen and applied in the real world!! In this case laser engraved on wood check presenters 😊🌴🍹

Summer = Baseball! I have been having some fun lately working on different graphics for a local restaurant that is in the middle of a re-brand ( : If you are not from LA... this is a play on the Dodgers sign at the stadium!

You might LOVE your logo and think it's the coolest thing ever... but the question remains... is it a GOOD logo? Is it maximizing your visibility, is your audience remembering it, and is it appropriate for the market you want to be in??

I know that can seem overwhelming, so don't worry, I have made a quick and fun DIY test for you to test your own logo and see if there is room for improvement!

Link in bio!

What is a new logo worth? It varies from client to client... but I will say that if you are at a point of growth and are struggling to change the trajectory of your business it can be priceless...

Our client Sara had a successful business leading healing retreats through the Grand Canyon, but she had dreams of doing public speaking, becoming an author, and overall being seen as more than just a wilderness guide. We helped her with a rebrand and new logo that would still work with her wilderness retreats but also help her achieve her goals. Since doing her rebrand, she not only did a Ted Talk, but is also now a published author and sought after thought leader!

Renders are cool but seeing stuff off the computer is always so cool!! I am excited to work on the branding!

Shout out to for helping with the script Coffee!!

Had some fun illustrating the tiki from for an upcoming print ad.

The Hula Hula Room! Our most fun project to date!

Bar creatives are always so fun! Signage, cocktail napkins, coasters... Here are a few things I designed for The Hula Hula Room, a tropical cocktail lounge in Torrance Ca.

We don't design "just logos"... it's never JUST a logo clients need and we have learned from experience, delivering just a logo doesn't serve the clients well. Once you have that logo you need to know what to do with it, what fonts to use, what colors are best for you brand, most importantly, what is your brand?

Think of it like this... your brand is the whole mountain, now your logo is the flag on top of your mountain saying "Mount Everest".

Social media templates are something all of our clients can ustalize and we have found them to be a great way to show fonts, color, and accents all working together to visually represent the brand.

Custom script wordmark logo for The Hula Hula Room.

This bar was supposed to be called The Lahaina Room, but during the renovation the horrific fire in Lahaina took place. It didn't feel right to be opening a bar by the same name so we opted for a name change. While it sounds easy, the letters in Lahaina vs Hula Hula are very different, 4 letter words can be tricky to work with, and so can repeat letters. This called for a new logo all together vs just tweaking the orignal.

We still wanted to pay tribute to the beautiful Hawaiian town and found the prefect piece for it... a friend was clearing out some stuff and we found a hand drawn illustration of the Lahaina Harbor. It's now hanging proudly above our bench seating. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the fire, we don't take lightly what happened.

What is a tiki bar with out a tropical print??

Menu Design for The Hula Hula Room!

I love working with bars and restaurants! The supportive collateral is so much fun! Match boxes are sort of a thing of the past but so fun for a tiki bar!

Your logo is NOT your brand! Think of your logo as a flag that is on the top of the mountain that says "Mount Everest"... but the mountain itself is your brand! ⛰️🚩

I think today is the day that I will either be rejoicing in all my efforts or getting some closure on a project that has been in the balance for way too long 😬… I am nervous but trying to just let things be.

If you have been following my Redondo Beach logo project and have time this evening please either come to the meeting at 6pm at RB city hall or join on zoom! I included the link to register for the meeting in my bio. You can still comment and speak up via zoom ☺️ and I would appreciate it more than you would ever know.

I woke this morning wondering why I care so much about this project, is my ego that big that I want to see my work up around the city? If so yikes Jordie lol… but that’s not it… I have spent the last 10 years of my life building my branding business based on really solid logos that work. I have studied this, looked at logo evolutions of all the major companies, and read books on all the greats. It’s truly a niche to understand the simplicity a good logo must have while also understanding all the functionality it needs. I am not good at a LOT of things, hand lettering, my taxes, or understanding web 3 😂… but I am good at understanding and designing practical logos that can serve brands, business and cities for decades. I feel like my preaching is falling on deaf ears and I want the city to get this right… I know that the logo I designed with the logo committee or the slightly modified one I entered in the contest will serve the city well and last decades. It will increase visibility, build trust and promote pride in the city. 🤞 keeping my fingers crossed for tonight!!

Your logo is your face. It's JUST your face! It's not your hair, not your personality, not your look... it's an identifying mark. Your brand is the rest!

For everyone who wanted more... the logo is not the place for more however, I wanted to demonstrate how graphics like t-shirt graphics, patches, or stickers are the perfect place for MORE!!!

The opportunities of fun things we can do with this logo are endless... the logo is just the starting point and keeping it simple will keep it around for the long haul, and make sure it's usable and adaptable in many applications.

Think about all the big logos in the world! They are all a little bit boring with out context or applications. 🙂

I love testing logos for versatility... if you know Redondo Beach you know we have a few beautiful deco style building like the Catalina Room. Not that the logo would necessarily be used in this application, it was fun to play around!

Out of all the exploration I have done I still feel confident in the logo as is... the only thing that I think MIGHT have some legs is tweaking the sail boat... What are your thoughts?? A or B?

A: First slide original: feels sleek and minimal

B: Second slide tweaked: a little more complex but very clear it's not a shark fin 🦈

Branding your franchise…. I have been so lucky to work some major franchises in the past and it’s given me a glimpse into the struggles franchises face when it comes to maintaining and nurturing their brand…

Best words of advice… get your branding dialed in before you grow! I chat about this and many more struggles franchises face w the Fran Man himself, Kit Vinson.

Link in bio for the full episode!

I LOVE simple logo marks... but not everyone sees it the same way. On the Redondo Beach project I was worried I went too simple and some comments were about adding another element so I wanted to explore it.

I am also painfully practical and like things that work. So in this case, after doing the exploration, I personally couldn't get behind adding more to the logo since I know it will pose problems and hinder the visibility of the logo down the road.

What are you thoughts??

I can't tell you how many times when I ask clients who their target audience is they say "everyone"... I then walk them through why that is a false statement.

The truth is, when you are trying to attract everyone, you will attract no one.

Want to know more on this topic? Book a risk free chat with me! Link in bio!

Part of my process is always checking for timelessness… when designing a city logo this is especially important. The logo should feel like it would have work 30 years ago and could work 30 years from now… I always reference Saul Bass, one of the masters of timeless logos when working on logo projects… if the logo can sit w his logos… it passes the test. Slide 2 is all Saul, slide 3 I dropped in my proposed logo in the middle of his.

I also like to test my logos in applications, here I did a rough of a retro graphic and a modern clean layout… ✅✅ on both boxes!

More explorations on the Redondo Beach City Logo project... I want make sure was as thorough as possible in exploring different things. A lot of complaints were that the water was too calm and didn't look like an ocean, so I wanted to try some other ways of showing water and see if any of them worked... what do you think??

My goal in doing this is that if something really works wonderfully I am going to enter it in the contest.

Brand has always mattered, but in today's world it matters more than EVER! I want to take a moment and outline why it matters so much and why you can not afford to ignore it anymore.

Badge for Max's

I love it when my clients need merch designed too... it takes me back to my roots in fashion and time in the surf industry.

Max's...

Pint Glasses