Much like a book cover might represent pivotal plot points
without spoilers; Shakti’s visual identity was born out of finding
fundamental elements within the brand’s
story that represent without explanation.
Shakti Elementals provides wellness and healing through massage therapies and birthkeeping services.
Very early on, the client gave very good insight into what the vision was for her company, how she perceived herself in the business and what kind of message she wanted to give. She wanted to be professional, approachable and feminine – without being too feminine and alienating other clients.
The task was to come up with a name and then to create and curate an appropriate logo, a colour palette, typography and a system for representing the four elements; Air, Water, Earth and Fire.
As a collaborative effort between myself and a fellow designer and good friend of mine, we mixed up researching and working together and separately to bring our individual styles and perspectives to the table.
After initial and in-depth questions, we set out to land on a name that resonated. A mind map was made based on keywords which branched out to some strong ideas. Research was done into names of Hindu and Norse gods and what they represent. A few mockups of potential names as wordmarks were presented and after careful consideration with the client, we arrived at “Shakti” – A well known word within the wellness community and the first part of three that make up the company’s name and symbol.
The wordmark started with the typeface, Canto Pen; A curvy serif font which we refined to bring about more sophisticated and confident lettering.
For body copy, Priory Sans was chosen for it’s strong structure.
The second part came from the client expressing that her spirit animal was a black lioness. A fictional, hybrid-like creature, but a solid representation of her spiritual energy and a key component of what also represents her business; feminine and powerful.
Different variations were considered to get the right balance; how much could we reduce the graphic so that it was still recognisable without too much detail. The eyes were the perfect solution as they also evoke a sense of wisdom.
The third part was to include the word “elementals”.
The elements, which, as well as being a cornerstone of Ayurveda theory, were to be pillars in the language used by the client. We illustrated these pillars typographically by using a wide and capitalised typeface with a wide tracking, showing sophistication while visually holding up the logo.
Extending the concept of the elements, we created illustrative icons to represent each by using colour and a gradient effect that showed an organic reactivity and movement. These icons could be used independently or in conjunction with the logo or type.
A separate and extensive colour palette was created from each that gave the freedom to have many products and therapies sat under each category, with rules outlined in the guide to keep the palettes separate.
The client expressed on an early call that she envisioned creating products such as placenta capsules and creams, candles and oils to sell in future so to push the boat out a little further, we created some mockups of what that future could potentially look like, helping to show the identity as an expandable system.
We also wanted to give guidelines for the type of imagery to be used that would complement the aesthetic created in the identity.
