Logo Design

Following are logos designed and produced by Active Lightning.

Smith Farm Stores Logo

Smith Farm Stores wanted to pursue a strong ecommerce presence for workwear, outerwear, and footwear. In addition to this product focus, they still wanted to be able to sell other products online such as toys, animal health supply products, Holland Grills, United States Stove Company products, and Koenders Windmills. We determined that in addition to their primary logo (used throughout their physical store, signage, and trucks), they would have a related derivative logo that demonstrated their commitment and focus to the workwear, outerwear, and footwear products.

The client's target market includes people who work outside, who have pets and who live on farms. They wanted something that was friendly. They wanted to broaden their image beyond farm-related products while letting people know that their products were built to last. The company identity was described as: professionalism with respect to business management but informal and friendly with respect to customer service. They have an emphasis on relationship and satisfaction. Evidently in Indiana, diamond-plate steel is a common surface associated with ruggedness. So "Smith" is punched out like "Ford-tough" and the diamond-plate steel echoes the ruggedness.

In the second logo, we clothe the arms with a Carhartt jacket. The green accents in the gloves infer the green of outdoors.

Stoughton-Lumber Logo

Their company identity was described to us as:

a store that does business the old-fashioned way with great service
carrying quality products they stand behind
special-order desk to help purchase specialty products with next-day delivery
a one-stop place to shop for products and services to do a building project

Case Study

Logo Development Process for Stoughton Lumber

The process for developing the logo for Stoughton Lumber started with a meeting to capture aesthetic and business values from the owner who we worked with on the project, Jim Gerber. The designer on the project was Baker Galloway. So, Jim, Baker, and Sally, met via phone. Out of discussions between Sally and Baker, Baker developed sketches for 3 logo designs. Jim approved the direction, so black and white images were drawn digitally and posted to a webpage where Jim could view them.

Click here to see the logo options in black and white

Jim picked this one:

Then Baker developed color options.

Click here to see the color options for Stoughton logo design

From this, Jim chose this one:

The logo has been very well received and features prominently in the Stoughton Lumber website.

A-1 Appliance Parts Logo

The logo has a bright open feel which appears to be very distinctive in the appliance parts marketplace. Also, “bright” and “open” are characteristics that reinforce the great customer support that A-1 offers from the sunny state of Alabama. The logo provides an abstract reference to “parts” by coloring parts of the (whole) name that is rendered in a distictive typeface.

Cox Hardware and Lumber Logo

We like the fact that the gray border and letters abstractly refer to metal hardware; the woodgrain fill for the Texas shape refers to lumber. This logo is a redesign of an original idea conceived by the owner. It conveys Texas pride, western sentiment, while being professional.

Logo Design

Website Design

Custom Skins and XML Pkgs

Help with Setting Up
an ADNSF Shopping Cart

Content Creation

Integration with
Other Software Systems

Site Promotion and
Internet Marketing

Active Lightning helps clients to establish their online presence. Successful online marketing involves online branding. The visual symbol identified with the client's brand, i.e. the logo, is critical. As Wikipedia says: "A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to the product and serves to create associations and expectations around it." It needs to:

a) be aesthetically appealing

b) represent the company's values well

c) be used consistently

Over time, users should be able to immediately recognize

When the look/feel of marketing communication consistently submits to the company's band, there is a feeling of order, consistency, good business practices, and professionalism. Also, solid branding works to differentiate your business from the competition.

CONTACT: 617.275.4413 | Sales@ActiveLightning.com