Williamson County Brown Santa

Branding

Brown Santa delivers holiday cheer to families in need across Williamson County. By presenting families with a gift card for groceries and gifts for their children, they bestow hope and the spirit of the season to ensure the community it serves feels the warmth and togetherness of the holidays.

Task

Our team was tasked with creating a new brand identity for Williamson County's Brown Santa, a charity that delivers toys and food to needy families during the holidays. This included designing a new logo, developing brand guidelines, and selecting a color palette that reflects the organization's mission and values.

Tools

Sketchpad, Procreate, Wacom Intuos Pro, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Miro, Notion

Process

After our meeting with the Williamson County Sheriff's Office, we understood that they were keen on retaining Santa as the central element of their logo, but open to a modern and inviting interpretation.

Previous Logos

The original Brown Santa logo featured a jolly, white-bearded cowboy dressed in a classic Western outfit. He sported a sheriff's star, a cowboy hat, and a pair of gloves, holding a candy cane for a festive touch.

A later iteration of the logo showcased a sheriff's badge with a Santa hat on top. The badge displayed the words "BROWN", "WILLIAMSON", "STATE OF TEXAS", "COUNTY", and "SANTA", while the Santa hat featured a red and white pom-pom and holly berries.

Moodboard

We began the rebranding process by creating a mood board to visually communicate the desired aesthetic. This collection of images and colors helped us establish a clear direction for the logo design, focusing on a caring, gentle, warm, and inviting feel.

Sketches

With the mood board as inspiration, our team started sketching various logo concepts. These are the initial sketches I created, exploring different interpretations of Christmas, ranging from traditional to modern, and playing with typography and other elements to convey the desired emotions.

Given that Brown Santa is a program managed by the sheriff's office, I also incorporated cowboy-themed elements into some of the designs. I combined traditional Christmas symbols like Santa Claus and reindeer with Western motifs like cowboy hats and boots, creating a unique and festive visual language that resonated with the local community.

Rough Drafts

The most promising sketches were then refined into rough digital drafts. These drafts allowed us to experiment with different layouts and typography combinations to further develop the logo's visual impact.

Logo Proposal #1

This Brown Santa logo proposal aims to capture the essence of the organization's mission while maintaining a modern and versatile design. It features a distinctive Santa hat icon, symbolizing the holiday spirit and the organization's commitment to bringing joy to children during the festive season, with the text "Brown Santa" and "Williamson County" underneath.

Logo Proposal #2

The second logo proposal presented a playful and nostalgic interpretation of Santa. The design features a circular emblem with a Santa Claus wearing a cowboy hat, evoking a sense of Western charm and holiday cheer. The text "Brown Santa" and "Williamson County" is placed vertically within the circle, creating a balanced and visually appealing composition. The overall color scheme is black and white, providing a classic and timeless look.

Final Logo Design

After careful consideration and feedback from the client, we finalized the logo design. The final product incorporates the Western aesthetic and Christmas by using a Santa with a cowboy hat and a sheriff's badge, enclosed within an ornament-shaped frame. This design choice pays homage to the rural setting of Williamson County and the organization's unique identity. The logo effectively communicates the organization's mission and values while maintaining a visually appealing and memorable aesthetic.