Stephen Zane

Stephen Zane is a commercial portrait photographer in the Tampa Bay Area — more than that, he and I are long-time friends, with a great affinity for all things visual. Stephen’s dedication to cultivating his talent in photography has always inspired me to be more thoughtful as a creator, so being able to further enable his career through a fresh brand identity was quite the honor.

I always start with strategy — Stephen’s goal was to develop a brand that would jump-start his marketing efforts: Clarifying his ideal clients, optimizing his portfolio, and composing collateral that would appeal to the larger agencies that he wanted to shoot for.

From there, we identified the visual language that would reflect the sort of intention behind his work. The color red has been part of his brand for years — it reflects the vibrancy and humanity that he aims for — so incorporating it into the final design was crucial. Stephen also loves mid-century modern and classic Americana styles, so tapping into slightly seventies styles of typography really dialed in the vibe.