Twenty years ago Jake Darnell started to mow lawns. Today, he owns his own landscaping and tree maintenance company. The trajectory from summer job to small business owner wasn’t linear or even planned. Like many small businesses, Cutting Edge started at home. In the company’s early days, Darnell split time between the burgeoning lawn care business and building new homes for area construction contractors. With time and word of mouth, the company slowly grew. Darnell added more equipment and, periodically, part-time help.

Cutting Edge became a stabilizing force in the Darnell household. As new home construction wavered and steady work became unreliable, Cutting Edge Landscaping provided dependable income. Slowly and steadily, the company added clients. In 2017, the company entered an informal partnership with a tree trimming contractor. The two agreed to operate under the Cutting Edge name and promote each other’s services. The agreement was a success. Business steadily grew and the additional tree services gave the company an (ahem) edge over its competition. Today, the relationship is formal and the partnership is a successful small business. Cutting Edge Landscaping offers year-round services including lawn mowing, lawn care, landscaping, plowing, tree trimming, tree care and removal.

Logo Design Brief

Cutting Edge never had a professional logo. As the small business was an at-home startup, it used what it had to promote its landscaping services and keep down costs. Company business cards and invoices used various clip art and stock images as a stand-in for a formal logo. The company wanted something simple and cost-effective for the new logo design. It was also important that the new logo look ‘cool.’ Defining and delivering the subjectively ‘cool’ new logo was Insomniac Studios’ next challenge.

Logo Design Process

Many of the company’s previous informal ‘logos’ included images of lawnmowers, trucks and other equipment. Insomniac Studios elected to focus on the idea of a spinning blade, or, in other words, a cutting edge, for the new logo design. With a name like Cutting Edge, Insomniac Studios wanted the new logo design to feel sharp and knife-like.

With a name like Cutting Edge, Insomniac Studios wanted the new logo design to feel sharp and knife-like.

A traditional lawnmower blade is a single, sharpened metal bar fixed at a central point on a shaft. A motor spins the shaft and the shaft spins the blade. Several design iterations of this concept produced logo concepts that looked like an unmoving straight line, a spinning circle, an airplane propeller or, in the case of some very unsuccessful attempts, a bowtie.

Adding a third blade to the logo in the form of another triangle created a sense of spinning movement and razor blade sharpness that lent itself to the company’s name. The logo’s shape provided the opportunity to create a repeating pattern for the brand. When the three triangle logo is repeated horizontally and vertically it creates a checkerboard pattern. The pattern has a dimensional quality reminiscent of the appearance of a well-mown lawn.

Using the logo to create the brand asset background pattern kept design time and cost down for the client. Insomniac Studios also produced only one version of the logo—a traditional logo lock up comprised of a logomark to the left of the logotype. This single-version logo approach also reduced client cost.

This single-version logo approach also reduced client cost.

Insomniac Studios used the single version logo design and the brand asset background pattern to design a business card and employee hat for the small business. Insomniac Studios also created a vehicle wrap design that can be employed at a later date to wrap the company’s trucks, trailers or other equipment.

To help the small business attract new clients, Insomniac Studios developed the marketing tagline “Your Lawn Is Our Logo.” The phrase appears on several advertisements that can be used on social media or in print publications.

Navigate: Logo Design | Identity Design | Marketing

Navigate: Logo Design | Identity Design | Marketing | Top

Navigate: Logo Design | Identity Design | Marketing | Top

Navigate: Logo Design | Identity Design | Marketing | Top

Contact Insomniac Studios

If you like the thinking behind this branding, logo design and marketing project and would like to put it to work for your company or organization, contact Insomniac Studios.

Marketing Case Studies

Insomniac Studios logo design, branding and marketing case studies are an in-depth analysis of a project or concept. Some marketing case studies are the result of a client relationship. Others explore solutions to hypothetical projects. Not all marketing case studies represent a contract or partnership with the entity presented. The logo design, branding, marketing, graphic design, advertising, strategies, concepts and analysis presented are the copyrighted and intellectual property of Insomniac Studios and its clients.