19/10/2021
When Vas and Dave came to me last year to design the logo for their new tabletop gaming store Legion Forge, they already had a rough idea of what they were looking for. The two friends had a shared history in fabrication and forge work, and wanted to pay homage by referencing a hammer and anvil in their logo. They’d even produced some rough mockups to demonstrate what they were thinking.
As a designer, I think it’s really important to see your client as a collaborator - they know their business and their target audience well, and you want to tap into that insight whenever possible. I loved the story behind the name and I thought that the idea of the hammer and anvil applied brilliantly to the market they were going for – part of tabletop wargaming is the planning, assembling and painting of the armies you use in-game—literally forging a legion—so it was a great metaphor to go with.
The key for this project was refinement – the core idea was solid, but it was my job as the designer to refine the rough concept into something that would really stand out and feel distinctive as a logo. I sketched out a number of different variations of the core hammer and anvil idea, and we eventually settled on the bold and striking geometric icon that you can see in the final design. The client was delighted, and the logo can be seen across all of their branding – it’s quite something to see your design in vinyl on a shop counter!
Read more about the project at my website: https://stenhouse.scot/work/legion-forge-logo.php
