Maren Winter

Choucas FW25
PRISMATIC PEAKS
digital + watercolor overlay

MWD Revival, Part 3: The Sunset Project.
“Founded in 2021 by three lifelong friends, The Sunset Project is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to investing in the betterment of Northeast Michigan through creative-based and mental health programs.” (www.thesunsetproject.org)

In late 2022, I was reached out to by Nick, a friend and one of the founders, to complete a new identity for The Sunset Project. They wanted a main identity and corresponding logos for programs within the organization. The previous identity was great for when TSP started, but the identity needed to be updated for numerous reasons. One factor that is good to note, and this was mentioned in our meeting, is color printing. Color can be expensive. The previous logo, although beautiful, had many colors, and it could not easily be switched to black and white.
Since I was completing a set of identities based on the main logo, I started with the main mark. You can see all of my doodles on the final slides. This is a great exercise for designers at any level to jot down and draw your ideas before hitting the computer. Once we discussed my ideas, I moved to creating solid solutions with type. After we landed on the artistic sunset mark, I began The Sawyer J. Boyd Creative Grant mark, mimicking a similar taper movement. Once both TSP and TSJBCG were approved, I created NEMWI and FOCUS45. These marks did not have the same squiggle as the first two but did include the same tapering and fluidness. When I placed all four marks together, I squealed with designer excitement.

The type, Fenwick, is a geometric type based on hand-painted signs in the 1900s. I loved the angular features of the letterforms. Between its fun quirks and how it held up next to the marks, Fenwick (BOLD) was the winner.

I have the joy of walking around my hometown of Alpena and seeing my work on coffee bags, apparel, murals, water bottles, and beyond. This organization means a lot to me and I will forever be grateful to have worked on this project. Before the rebrand project, my husband and I included TSP in our wedding festivities in honor of our late friend, Dall. TSP is so unique and very much nededd in NE MI. We are lucky as a community that The Sunset Project is here for our creatives.

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the third slide includes .jpeg.photography

That’s all! :)

MWD account revival, part 1. Aspen Haus Contracting provides remolding and custom building in Alpena, MI. The name “Aspen Haus” was chosen when I began this project. I approached the branding by associating the Germanic wordage with the German construction style. This led me to look at traditional half-timber style construction. The “A” and “H” were the best letterforms you could have in this creative situation.

In my original sketches, I had the right end of the “A” crossbar touching the baseline. The negative space was not giving what I wanted it to give. The right end was then shifted up and I felt the negative arrow to the “H” crossbar was much more interesting.

The type and icon relationship is unique. The weight of the icon was held in the middle where the “A” and “H” join. I made a visual decision to shift the icon to the left. Also, the icon has a similar width to the type. After many variations, the icon kept the original line weight and scale for a strong vertical logo. There is another variation for horizontal use in the brand kit.

I’ll end with this. It crossed my mind to make a house with the “A” and “H”…but hey, isn’t that Anna’s House?? lol.