Fette Designs 2021. All rights reserved.
Steve Dinan AutoTech needed a brand identity as they were a new player in a convoluted auto repair market. With the intention to expand beyond auto repair and into track support and machine shop work the business had a unique niche to fill. The business was all chock full of experience and knowledge stemming from years of building the award-winning engine shop at Dinan. This needed to be emphasized in all collateral to truly set the brand apart from others in the sphere. While the auto repair side was an existing business transplanted from previous ownership and didn’t need any major overhaul to get the word out the new track and machine shop-oriented endeavors needed advertising to get it going. In order to do this the goal that was tasked was to create a series of presentations and datasheets that they could give to potential customers on the track (via printed piece or thumb drive). This gave the prospective client information on the company, along with the storied history, in addition to a menu of services that were offered.
Being a new business with a new name meant that there was no logo to tie a brand identity too so that is where my work started. The name, Steve Dinan AutoTech, was too wordy so I immediately opted to shrink the name to initials instead which allowed a bit more versatility in a logotype. Seeing as how this logo would be presented as decals on race cars in addition to the normal storefront and shop cars the logo needed to be simple and readable. The unique application of being on the side of a swiftly passing race car demanded this versatility and simplicity. A basic block font was chosen as an homage to the mechanical nature of the machine shop and the inner workings of an automobile in general. This style also allowed for a vertical or horizontal style logo to be adopted depending on the application involved.
Once the logotype was complete the datasheets and presentation pieces were able to be worked around that same general design philosophy. With 2 distinct businesses being advertised for I opted for a simple base color change to signify the difference between each of the markets being pitched to. As noted previously the biggest advantage that SD AutoTech held over competing companies was their storied history and success in racing while under the Dinan name. This needed to be a focal point for differentiation purposes. Racing imagery was populated throughout the presentations as well as text that further emphasized the racing history. Making it it abundantly clear to the reader was not dealing with a no-name entity but rather one with a long, proven track record was the goal that was accomplished.
In under 3 months these datasheets and presentations assisted in garnering racing contracts that far exceeded short term aspirations while also spearheading a significant increase in machine shop business.
Client | SD Auto Tech
Category | Branding, Photography, Print
Year Created | 2016
Media | Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign