Brand identity · November 2025

Lumara

CONSTRUCTION PROCESS

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02 · Brief

The brief

A fictional brand identity, built from scratch. The guideline itself is assembled in Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop.

03 · Logo

First sketch + generations

I knew that for the logo I wanted to base the design around a strong sense of a grid and order. After my third sketch attempt I handed it off to AI to see if it could give me any other interesting starting points.

04 · Logo

Into Illustrator

Recreating the logo sketch in Illustrator didn't yield great results.

05 · Logo

Version 2, then blocky type

For the second version I wanted to give the idea of industrial architecture that was collecting packets of energy from the sun, while sticking to my blocky grid. Logo text was cut from the same grid.

06 · Logo

Further exploration

Went back to AI and asked for some more generations, while also going to Adobe Stock to browse some of the assets that I might use in the final brand guideline.

07 · Identity

The point of differentiation

We are the only company that turns everyday surfaces into sources of energy.

If it can be sprayed on anything, that has to come first in everything: the logo, the marketing, all of it.

08 · Logo

Star and coating

This version of the logo I liked up close, but at a distance I couldn't tell what it was. Although I liked the direction, I had to eventually abandon this route for looking too much like just a confusing piece of tech.

09 · Logo

The simplicity test

If just one part of the logo looks better than the whole logo, then you've probably done something wrong. Like the Nike swoosh, we want to be recognizable and simple, not just techy.

10 · Logo

Day 2

Did I have a logo I could have used? Yes.

Is that why I do this? No.

11 · Logo

Drawn with a finger, rebuilt at 32×32

"It should be simple enough to where you can draw it on the car window with your finger during a long car ride."

I went back to the drawing board on the iPad: sun, surface, solar coating, transfer of energy. The logo only had to communicate those things, and I should be able to communicate all of that in my 32×32 grid.

12 · Logo

The journey so far

The 32×32 grid became the foundation. Thinking in pixels: a square icon should ideally stay readable inside a 64×64px square, such as a browser tab icon.

13 · Identity

Lumara is not trying to look friendly.

Lumara is trying to look inevitable.

14 · Logo

After two days, I can breathe

The smaller square is sized and placed exactly. The whole shape is a symmetrical diamond.

15 · Identity

What we are, what we are not

Answered before opening a color picker. Color has to carry the identity too.

16 · Color

Three roles

Was searching for a 3-color palette that read like a 2-color composition. The blue ("energy coat") and green ("nature, sun") would serve as the primary and secondary.

17 · Color

Working the wheel

18 · Color

Tested on the mark

Applied and compared, I preferred the original scheme. The first pick was the better pick, and saturating the coat blue restored the hierarchy.

19 · Lockup

L is for Lumara

If it still communicates sideways it might be the better lockup. The inner square also runs slightly large, an artifact of building at 45 degrees.

20 · Lockup

Upright wins

Decided at the last moment. Upright feels more like a brand emblem.

21 · Type

Typeface

Something that says tech and plays into the blockiness already set up. Test Söhne takes primary headings.

22 · Guideline

Spreads and export

23 · End