Messer Studios

Overview

Messer Studios is my design practice, so this is the one brand where I’m the client. The goal is simple: give every customer a serious, professional experience, and make it obvious that this is a one-stop shop for design work.

Approach

The identity is deliberately minimal and bold. Three attributes guided every decision: professional, serious, trustworthy.

• The M. Three slanted, parallel strokes with rounded terminals that stack into an M. It holds up alone as an icon, a favicon, and a pattern.
• Type. Forma DJR Banner Bold for headlines, Forma DJR Micro for subheads, Acumin Variable for body copy. Tight, heavy, and all business.
• Color. Two primaries do almost all the work: Whisp, a soft off-white, and Coal, a near-black with a hint of green. Infared, Moody, and Sage are accents and stay rare.

System

A primary lockup (mark + wordmark), a stacked alternate, a standalone wordmark, and the M on its own, each in light and dark versions, all documented in a one-page style guide.