Cratus Strengthening

Branding

White Cratus logo with a dumbbell shaped symbol above the wordmark over a dark blue background.

The Idea

Cratus is a fitness store that sells fitness equipment. The goal was to create a brand for Cratus that would cater to an audience interested in fitness. Because safety is an important prospect when it comes to fitness equipment, the challenge was to make the brand look reliable and trustworthy.

Moodboard with black and white images of people working out.
Sketches I made of logo ideas, including a wordmark, a dumbbell, a kettlebell, an arm flexing, and a 'CS' initial.

The Process

I created a mood board of other fitness related logos and advertisements. I sketched a few logo ideas and then illustrated them in Illustrator.

Digital illustrations of my logo ideas in a grid pattern showing different colour combinations of each one.
The colour palette I used, which consists of dark blue, light blue, white, and light beige. Underneath, the font pairing i used, which include Baskerville - bold, and Poppins - bold

The Guidelines

I found that the dumbbell logo is iconic in fitness and does a good job representing what the brand is about. The name Cratus derives from the Greek god of strength, so I found that using Baskerville for the wordmark gives it the look of Greek lettering. Specifically, the "C" looks like a sideways Omega(Ω) symbol. I used a lot of dark blues in the branding to match with the colour psychology of reliability. I used a lot of black and white photos in the advertisements and branding to show seriousness.

A Cratus marketing campaign poster hung up on gym wall. It is advertising an upcoming 'Dumbbell Decathalon' with a chance to win Cratus gift cards.
Cratus giftcard designs for a $200 and $100 version.

The Branding

I made some mockups in Photoshop of posters that would be placed in gyms for events sponsored by Cratus. I felt that these posters fit right into a gym atmosphere and would catch the eyes of gymgoers.

Branding layout which includes the Cratus landing page on a desktop monitor, a youtube web banner ad, 2 Cratus stickers, and a Cratus drawstring gym bag.

End Result

I learned that establishing the brand values and voice really helps to set guidelines when laying out branding designs and working with certain colours that properly represent the tone of the brand.

⟵ Rolling Stone

Great Gatsby ⟶