Christine Chang
The Elliott Bay Book Company is one of the few remaining independently-owned, full-service bookstores in the Pacific Northwest. They are known for their curated books, events, the space they provided for the neighborhood to gather and explore, and their effort in supporting local writers and readers since founded in 1973.
Branding Team: Yvonne Chan 🎨 & Christine Chang 👩🏻💻
To develop a sound concept for Elliott Bay Book Co., we started by visiting the physical space, meeting their welcoming staff, and diving deep into their history. We discovered that what set Elliott Bay Book Co. apart is not merely its fine curation of books but also the engagement with the community, the warm environment it provided for every book lover. It is a place where visitors feel empowered to explore and learn, knowing they could encounter unique perspectives that brings them to the happenings or guide them in the future. These discoveries directed us to the core concept for the design: open book, open possibilities.
Our final visual direction is designed to encapsulate both the future and the past of Elliott Bay Book Co.— the flipping books of knowledge that bring us forward and the warm sensory experience that reminds us of the older times. The new logomark is composed of an abstract form of a flipping book that welcomes a sun, representing the customers and new ideas, entering into the environment.
For the brand guideline, we used the size of a regular novel to lay out the details that could help maintain a consistent visual identity in the future. Knowing that Elliott Bay Book Co. does not have an in-house design team, we optimize the rules to be easy to follow and include templates for print materials that could be used for future alterations.
2020