Jack Watson

Kindred Mobile Grooming. December 2024

, , , , , , , ,

Kindred is a freelance project I completed on Behance for the Adobe Firefly Boards team. They reached out looking for folks to create case studies using the app. I immediately knew I wanted to work on a branding project and sent them an overview of the project before getting to work.

Kindred Mobile Grooming, final logo in burnt orange and pink. Bowed "Kindred" type overtop of the dog logo mark with a sparkle, complementary color circle in the background, "mobile grooming" text below.

Our Name

Kindred reflects our brand values. Leading with kindness. Being similar in kind to our canine companions; our family and friends.

Brand Statement

Kindred is a mobile grooming service for new dog owners providing a private at home fear-free customizable experience.

Our Goals

  • Appeal to new pet owners
  • Align with a younger audience lifestyle and values
  • Adapt well to digital media
  • Compete with larger pet brands in a new and niche space

Why Mobile Grooming?

  • Mobile grooming popularity on the rise
  • No big players dominating this space
  • Looking expand beyond brick-and-mortar clientele
  • Flexible scheduling

Brand Traits

  • Clean and simple
  • Playful but not overly cute
  • Clever
  • Modern
  • Calm
  • Natural
  • High quality

Brand Values

  • Kindness
  • Trust
  • Family

Audience

Kindred Mobile Grooming, audience. Left, age 25-35 gen z pet influencers and new pet owners. Right, brand research, popular gen z dog brands, food, dog clothing, creates, leashed, carriers, treats.
  • Largest percentage of new dog owners
  • Prefer experiences when shopping
  • Wants custom/personal options
  • Use social media to find new products
  • Prefer TikTok, YouTube, Instagram
  • Prefer to shop online

Audience Considerations

  • Offer a lifestyle brand that aligns with their values
  • Offer sustainable and ethical products

Competitive Analysis

  • Earth tones and pastels
  • Sans serif display fonts
  • Indirect characterization
  • Wordmarks

Brand Inspiration

Kindred Mobile Grooming, logo inspiration, gen z bright colors, geometric patterns, maximalist spaces.
  • Fresh, light, fun, should be inviting to the humans
  • Geometric patterns and organic shapes
  • Maximalist decor

Things to Avoid

Kindred Mobile Grooming, logo inspiration, imagery to avoid, blues and generic grooming and bubble bath imagery.
  • Overly cute or sweet bath imagery
  • Scissors, soap, and blues, feels cold and medical
  • Primary colors, used in larger dog brands

Marketing Content Inspiration

RV/Van life inspired vehicle designs with branded wrap. Marketing products such as bandanas, toys, leash and color, to sent clients home with.

Kindred Mobile Grooming, marketing moodboard. Top row van inspiration, bottom row dog collar, leash, bandana inspiration.

Sketches

After completing the brand research, we felt confident moving into concepts starting with font and color exploration. We knew our audience resonated with wordmarks so that was a logical first step. Originally we though that the comb as the “E” would create a strong word mark but in exploring some of the letter shapes, we found the “K” for one of the fonts made a perfect foundation for the shape of a dog’s face.

Kindred Mobile Grooming, sketches of logotype. Different fonts, lock-up with the comb icon. The creation of the comb and the dog logomark from the "K" in "Kindred. Color palettes, top right, light pink, light green, brown, yellow, light brown. Bottom yellow, cream, pink, green, purple

We continued to explore the mark and fonts from the initial round, testing the idea and refining the color palette. At the same time we started taking a look at supporting art and came up with some “day in the life of a dog” spot illustrations that could complement the brand, as well as iconography.

Kindred Mobile Grooming logomark sketches, dog faces in color variations, dog comb, with logo in various lock-ups and colors, Top right color palette, burnt orange, yellow, punk, green, purple. Bottom right icons of dog food falling into a bowl, van.

Color

Color palette and fonts friendly and approachable.

Kindred Mobile Grooming, color palette, top left to right carob (burnt orange), gold, cream, salmon pink, grass green, lilac purple. Bottom color usage, primary colors carob and salmon, accent colors gold, grass green, and lilac purple, cream in the middle.

Type

Large, bold, quirky display fonts

Kindred Mobile Grooming, fonts, primary type TotalBlack VF, secondary type Neighbor. Silhouette of a dog on orange background.

Primary Logo

Kindred Mobile Grooming, final logo. Top row color variations on light background, bottom row color variations on dark background. Bowed "Kindred" type overtop of the dog logo mark with a sparkle, complementary color circle in the background, "mobile grooming" text below.

Logomark

Kindred Mobile Grooming, final logomark. Top row color variations on light background, bottom row color variations on dark background. Dog logo mark with a sparkle. One color version has a line instead of circle in background.

Logotype

Kindred Mobile Grooming, final logotype. Top row color variations on light background, bottom row color variations on dark background. Bowed "Kindred" type, "mobile grooming" text below.

Alternative Logos

Kindred Mobile Grooming, alternative logos. Top row color variations on light background, bottom row color variations on dark background. Left versions, dog logomark and sparkle with "Kindred" text right of the mark. Center version dog logo mark with a sparkle, complementary color circle in the background, Kindred and mobile grooming stacked right of the mark. Right version dog logo mark with a sparkle, complementary color circle in the background, Kindred and mobile grooming stacked above and below the mark in a circle.

Logo Clear Space

Primary logo and variations should have spacing equal to “x” height on all sides.

Kindred Mobile Grooming, logo clear space. Logo should have "X" space all around when placed.

Logo Usage

To keep the branding consistent across all applications, use this guide for what to avoid.

Kindred Mobile Grooming, logo usage, no alternative colors, no alternative font, no effects, no stretching or rotating the logo.

Icon and Art Style

Art to support the brand and build a consistent visual language.

Kindred Mobile Grooming, top left spot illustrations, day in a dog's life, action line of a ball bouncing, dogs point of view of a sidewalk and park bench, dog food falling into a bowl, 2 color illustrations. Bottom row icons, dog sitting, standing, and in play bow, comb, and van. Right houndstooth pattern made out of grooming combs.

Dog Product Mock-ups

Kindred Mobile Grooming, collar mock-ups. Left white collar with pink logo mark and logotype horizontal repeating around logo. Top left green logo with green and yellow logomark repeating around collar. Bottom right blue collar with repeating purple comb pattern around collar.
Kindred Mobile Grooming, bandana mock-ups. Left golden retriever type dog wearing a light green bandana with the Kindred logo large in green and yellow. Right Labrador type dog wearing a white bandana with pink comb pattern all over print, and small pink and burnt orange Kindred logomark on the bottom of the bandana.
Kindred Mobile Grooming, treat jar design, mock-up on the left, decal design on the right on an orange background. Badge style logo with "Kindred" in a circle at the top and "mobile grooming" at the bottom. Logomark in the center.

Mobile Grooming Van Mock-ups

Kindred Mobile Grooming, van vehicle wrap dielines top row, mock-ups bottom row. Back of van badge style logo, sides of van large wave shape containing dog silhouette in a play bow, with a ball action line and ball coming toward the dog. Grooming comb pattern on the front. Kindred horizontal logo and type lock-ups on the back. Cream, yellow, green, burnt orange color palette
Kindred Mobile Grooming, van vehicle wrap dielines top row, mock-ups bottom row. Back of van badge style logo, sides of van large wave shape containing dog silhouette in a play bow, with a ball action line and ball coming toward the dog. Grooming comb pattern on the front. Kindred horizontal logo and type lock-ups on the back. Cream and purple color palette
Kindred Mobile Grooming, van vehicle wrap dielines top row, mock-ups bottom row. Back of van badge style logo, sides of van large wave shape containing dog silhouette in a play bow, with a ball action line and ball coming toward the dog. Grooming comb pattern on the front. Kindred horizontal logo and type lock-ups on the back. Cream, pink, burnt orange color palette

Scheduling App Mock-up

Kindred Mobile Grooming, employee app for scheduling mock-up.

Process Video