July 31, 2017

Retail sales have been declining over the years, and one of the latest victims in the change of purchasing habits is Gander Mountain. There's nothing I love more than an awesome comeback story. When my husband sent me a link that Marcus Lemonis, from The Profit, was holding a contest to design the new logo for Gander Mountain (now Gander Outdoors), I couldn't resist. I have a lot of respect for Marcus and his no nonsense, logical, yet kind approach to struggling small business owners.

Although I didn't win the contest, I did place in the top 99, won a generous cash prize, and even got retweetwed by Marcus Lemonis! Talk about a geek out moment for me!

Here's my process, and the final branding I came up with. Save

My logo design process usually involves in depth research and color and texture exploration. Since I wasn't sure when the contest ended, I decided to dive right in. My goal was to create a logo that was completely different than the typical outfitter logos and move away from the colors and styles of competitors. Here's the result.

An effective brand should always include supporting marks that coordinate with the main logo. For situations that require a simplified logo or for the option to create spin off brands, alternative marks are necessary. Here's what I included.

Here it is my friends! All of the final elements pulled together!