YVR Petcare - dlee.design

How I helped a part-time pet care provider grow to run a full time business

TASK

Create a logo and website to establish a brand for a part-time student and pet care provider. Design a brand that is friendly while professional, and would instil confidence when owners are deciding who will be their pet care provider.

OUTCOME

Together we established a clear brand strategy and verbal system which guided the process and final design. The logo is a playful ambiguous creature wearing a bandanna shaped loosely as a heart. The supporting visual identity and custom templates set Justine up to cover the entire client experience–from a website and social presence, to editable invoices, and social media content.

Check out the Wix website I designed for YVR Petcare; and consider Justine if you need a pet sitting or dog walking!

CLIENT

YVR Petcare

DATE

October 2021

SERVICES PROVIDED

Logo System Design
Logo Reveal Animation
Visual Identity System
Wix Website Design
Canva Social Media Templates
Service Coverage Map
Invoice Templates

VALUES

Family
Community
Health & Wellness
Play Time
Patience
Environmentalism

PERSONALITY

Trustworthy
Friendly
Outdoorsy
Energetic
Coach
High Touch

QUALITIES

Adaptable
Honest
Playful
Attentive
Reliable
Communicative

To begin, we first met to determine the direction she wanted in order to establish a clear brand strategy. This included working to define YVR Petcares promise (or purpose), values, qualities, personality, mission, and vision.

We then took a deep dive into the potential audiences to identify the priority audience groups (who should be kept in mind throughout this process).

Next was considering potential taglines that could be used as part of the brand and verbal strategy. This could help set the tone for the brand, and be used throughout the visual identity creation.

YVR Petcare Tagline

By establishing these foundational aspects, I had the confidence I understood her vision for YVR Petcare. As together we had outlined what was important to convey, and identified which audiences groups to design for.

To round out this project discovery phase, I conducted an independent competitor analysis of local and international pet care providers. From this I was able to develop a baseline grasp of the industry standards and expectations, along with ideas to round out the client experience.

During our sessions I had Justine take a look through a gallery of logos to figure out what kind of style she could envision for YVR Petcare. From doing so we were able to settle on three different concepts to draft out: an animal incorporating the Y of YVR as the mouth, a distinct creature (rather than a dog or cat), and the use of negative space.

While I don’t guarantee these will turn out exactly how we discuss, it provides me with a starting point; while allowing for the client to be as involved in the process as possible.

Concepts presented

These were the 3 concepts I showed to Justine. The choice was obvious when we referred back to the outlined brand strategy and priority audience profile (created during the project discovery). This concept was friendly, modern, and most importantly ambiguous.

Once this was approved to refine, I began to develop a small cast of animals that would be used in the visual identity system.

Supporting visual elements

Final logo system for YVR Petcare

The final logo was designed as a flexible system with a horizontal, stacked, tagline, and icon version. This adaptable system ensures the logo can optimize the available space, regardless of platform or use. The logo is a playful ambiguous creature wearing a bandanna shaped loosely as a heart.

We both felt like purple, was the right colour for YVR Petcare–as let’s face it, many people treat their pets like royalty.

Social templates for days of the week

Alongside the brand strategy development, we created a loose social strategy as maintaining and posting regularly was a concern. To prepare for this we came up with content per day of the week as an option when creating social posts.

For these I created editable Canva templates that she could execute and export easily on her own.

Instagram stories to pin in YVR Petcare’s highlights

Instagram stories highlight covers

For the logo and social launch, it was important to utilize this opportunity to pin stories, by advertising YVR Petcares services. It was also an opportunity to share details about Justine and her path to becoming a pet care provider.

To round out the client experience it was important to think about every stage of their interactions with YVR Petcare. This meant considering all strategies and design solves to curate a painless experience, and minimize any potential holes or missed opportunities.

A service coverage map was one of those aspects we identified, a map was needed that would clearly outline the difference in pricing per service based on location.

Service Coverage Map

For the invoices I designed two layout options that she can use, both are created in Pages to allow her to edit and export jpegs or PDFs easily.

Editable invoices

Photography credit to Kenny Kao

To round out the visual system for YVR Petcare, we needed to get some photography that could be used for marketing. Our talented friend Kenny Kao, came out to help with this pack photoshoot where he was able to get some fantastic shots.

fun fact Having four dogs look at a camera simultaneously is quite difficult. Check out the below time-lapse video of how I created the perfect pack photo!

Time-lapse video of the Pack Photo photoshop process