Splat.
Welcome. This site features the work from Geoff Matheson Studio. Please browse around and learn about our projects. We are interested in taking on your next creative endeavor, so please use the estimate form to send the details of your project to us.
Geoff Matheson Studio is a graphic arts studio whose focus is on graphic and website design and development, including branding and identity design for print and the web.
Featured Work
- Traditionally Hip
- View Project
- Hawgs For Dawgs
- View Project
- Classic Modern Elegance
- View Project
- Contemporary Identity
- View Project
Project: Logo & Website
Client: Tile McGee
Art Director: Geoff Matheson
Tile McGee approached Geoff Matheson Studio and EJ Host to create a simple eCommerce website that was content managed. We again turned to WordPress as our CMS and began developing the site, and Tile McGee in general. The studio was also hired to design a logo and brand identity. Crafting a logo for a new business is about so much more than just the mark. It is about the brand, and how that brand is perceived by its audience. What does it communicate? After some good ol’ research, and asking ourselves and Justin McGee of Tile McGee lots of questions, we began to craft Tile McGee’s image. The brief was to create a hip, young brand that appeals to everyone, and exemplified the tradition of mosaic tiles as an art form.
The logo uses a custom drawn, lower case sans, tile textured typeface, with mosaic like elements that create interesting negative space. A tiled symbol was created from the dot in the “i” and carried through in the geometry of the logotype, and used in the brand identity. Warm colors were used to further the pleasurable aesthetic the customer experiences.
Every new identity needs stationery and business cards. We designed the letterhead and envelope to further develop and enhance the brand. Using the symbol created in the logo, we tiled the edges of the pieces, creating a unique impression that would be discernible against the boring backdrop of other mail.
The website is a presentational piece for this start-up. It shows off the many uses for this custom product. It also serves as a store front, as you can order from different series of Tile McGee’s tile. We again utilized WordPress, creating a custom theme for this robust, yet simple CMS.
Project: Event Logo Illustration
Client: Faithful Friends
Art Director: Geoff Matheson
This illustration was created for the Faithful Friends event, Hawgs for Dawgs. The pro-bono project was to create an illustration of a biker cat and dog on a Harley. The illustration, or logo even, had to appeal to everyone as this was a family friendly event, but with lots of bikers! It needed the power to make a biker look at it and smile. And this was achieved through the 2010 Hawgs for Dawgs logo, which was a huge success (over 700 riders!), and was used on promotional mailings and tshirts.
Please check out Faithful Friends and support the dawgs.
Project: Logo & Website
Client: Baiada Photography
Art Director: Geoff Matheson
This project started as the design of a custom Flash website with a CMS for Baiada Photography, a father and son team of photojournalistic style event photographers. Tony and Sal Baiada’s work is truly inspiring. Their primary work is for weddings of all cultures, however, they don’t want to be pigeon-holed into any one genre of photography. Their approach to photography is unique and special and is not limited to any one subject matter.
This job started with the website project, which was tackled with long-time friend and colleague, Jesse Zimmerman of EJ Host. We examined Baiada Photography – their target audience, internal workflow and overall web presence. They were spending an extraordinary amount of time making custom slideshows for their existing (at the time) website. We wanted Tony and Sal and their team of photographers to focus on what they do best – photography. Using SlideShowPro Director as a CMS, we built a custom Flash website that is simple, effective and lets the photography do the talking. The site was built using ActionScript 3.0, and a custom menu was produced to allow SSP Director to populate the gallery menu. This site will resize to your browser’s window, allowing all computer displays and resolutions to view the photography in a beautifully presented format. After the design and development of the site, EJ Host came in and did all of the SEO, fully optimizing the site for search engines, and has received impressive results for many search queries. The site is also hosted by EJ Host.
After the successful completion of this job, this site received mention from SlideShowPro in the March ’10 newsletter and is listed as one of the Top 10 examples for March ’10!
We completed this job precisely within the original estimated timeline, in just under 6 weeks. After presenting the site to the client, Tony and Sal Baiada, they had this to say: “What can we say!? You guys did a great job and in the timeline you stated!”
Client satisfaction, and the successful completion of a job as stated in our agreement are top priorities with Geoff Matheson Studio.
Shortly after completing the website, Tony approached Geoff with the job of redesigning Baiada’s logo and identity. This is great news! Having a client hire you to do another project with them after just finishing one is a true testament to their satisfaction, and there is nothing that makes us happier!
Baiada’s (at the time) logo was a logotype using a standard script font. The project brief involved designing a logo that was warm, classic and that did not pigeonhole them into any one genre or category. After several rounds of concepts and revisions, we created a logo that features a modern symbol that uses a compelling figure/ground relationship common to the Gestalt principles. The graphic of this “B” uses a visual representation of a shutter in a camera to create the figure or ground of the symbol. Combined with this logo, we created a classic logotype that gels with the symbol beautifully to create an entirely new logo. The logotype uses color to distinguish hierarchy, and when combined with the background filigree illustrations, it creates a truly beautiful and memorable identity.
The client, Tony and Sal Baiada were blown away with the final outcome for the logo. It presents the concepts and ideas from the initial project brief in an exemplary way. Most importantly, this logo and identity will represent Baiada Photography for years to come. At Geoff Matheson Studio, we provide graphics and websites for clients to “grow into,” as each job has its intended function and purpose. Any good identity design and website should be aligned with the goals of the business and be ever more relevant years from now. It is our hope that through our graphic and website design, your vision, goals and objectives will be brought to fruition. Our designs will meet the intended objectives that will effect your company’s bottom line.
Project: Logo & Website
Client: Woodin + Associates
Art Director: Geoff Matheson
I am presenting this project a little prematurely and am going to show details of this job while in progress. The project was initially to create a new website for Woodin + Associates, a land developing and civil engineering firm in Middletown, DE. I am going to be doing this one with the excellent web development and hosting service, EJ Host. After further examination of their existing website and logo, it was decided that we would rebrand Woodin + Associates, but to build off of the current brand that was already in place as to not confuse the current customer and client base. Their existing logo was dated and actually used a typeface that was in the Art Deco style, Broadway. Wow.
Using an industry device, called a Philadelphia Rod Target Vernier, I drew inspiration and developed several logo concepts that would suit their company and provide them with a contemporary look for today’s marketplace. This Rod Target device was originally used as reference for the first logo, and pushing this concept several steps further, we created a beautiful, contemporary logo and lockup to represent them. The concept of using an industry tool for a graphical reference is actually quite brilliant, as the majority of W+A’s business comes from within the industry. This mark is easily understood to those “in-the-know,” and to those that aren’t – it is a beautiful graphic that is not indistinguishable from their old logo, but provides much more of a solid, contemporary identity.
This project is now in the Website Development phase, as we have already created several website comps and decided on the final direction. We are again using WordPress as the CMS for this site. WordPress is a perfect solution for this client, as it is simple and user-friendly. Check back soon for a full slideshow of the finished project.
News
- Old Website Moved
- New Website, A Work In Progress
For those of you interested in viewing the old website that was up from 9/09 - 8/10, you can access it here.
The Studio's website has been completely redesigned and developed. We've spent the last two weeks setting up this new site using WordPress as a CMS, and SlideShowPro Director. This new site is designed to tell Geoff's story, display the Studio's work...
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