MINOT → Logo & Web Site
- Responsibilities:
- Art Direction, Design, Development
- Timeframe:
- April 2011 – April 2012
- Tools:
- Photoshop, Illustrator, BBEdit
tl;dr
- Refined logo for indie rock band
- Designed and developed custom web site with photography-forward layout
- Built bespoke PHP CMS for non-technical content management
Introduction
One of the founding members of the indie rock band MINOT asked me to refine the band’s existing logo and build them a web site.
Refining an Existing Mark
Their existing logo was functional— the radiating lines from the O were already in place— but I felt the typography could be stronger and the lines more prominent. I presented seven type treatments, all bold and sturdy typefaces that would hold up at small sizes and in single-color applications, each featuring the radiating lines from the O, plus an alternate approach with a backslash through the O to clarify the pronunciation (“my-NOT”) for new listeners.
The client selected option seven but requested alternatives to the backslash approach.
Ultimately, we settled on the initial radiating lines treatment. Next up was the web site.
Building the Site
The brief was intentionally open-ended, allowing creative freedom. They wanted to showcase photography from the band, so I designed two concepts with prominent imagery alongside essential band web site elements: news, tour dates, and streaming links.
A combination of the two initial designs is where we landed. I wrote custom PHP to randomly rotate their photographs in the site header, keeping the site dynamic while requiring minimal effort from the band. They simply uploaded new photos to a specified directory and the code handled the rest.
The responsive design ensured the site looked great on desktop and mobile alike, which was critical for a touring band that needed to make updates from their phones on the road rather than waiting until they were back at a desk. It was also an opportunity for me to gain experience with responsive design techniques during the early days of mobile-first thinking.
Backstage Pass
To enable easy site updates, I built a lightweight custom CMS in PHP with JSON-based storage, which I named Backstage. This approach avoided the overhead and maintenance of running a MySQL database or a hosted service, like Squarespace, keeping costs low, which was important for an independent band with limited budget.
The intuitive interface allowed the band to manage tour dates, post news, and update content without technical knowledge.
Outcome
The refined logo appeared on the band's debut release An Era of Institutional Failure (2012). The web site and CMS served the band throughout their active years, requiring minimal maintenance while giving them complete control over their online presence.