Services

Let’s uncover your unique story and create visuals that speak to the people you want to reach.

I create custom proposals for each project, detailing cost and scope but typically a visual identity begins at $5k. Reach out with specific budgets or questions anytime.

Identity Design

A distinctive visual identity for your brand—drawing insights from your company’s purpose, audience, values, and more. I recommend the following foundation:

  • Research, Strategic Insights + Mood Board

  • Primary + Secondary Logo

  • Brand Mark

  • Logotype

  • Color Palette

  • Brand Typography

  • Brand Style Guidelines

Add-Ons

Expand upon the foundation with custom add-ons that infuse warmth and texture, articulate complex ideas, and seamlessly narrate your story across platforms. Examples include:

  • Supporting Icons

  • Patterns

  • Merch Design

  • Illustration Systems

  • Print + Package Design

  • Signage Design

  • Social Media Design

Abby Swain

Hi, I’m Abby—an artist and designer specializing in visual identity and display type design. I work with brands to uncover their unique story and translate it into a thoughtful, strategic visual presence.

"Process" collage with paper, a facade of a classical building, with an 8-pointed star overlaying the collage.

Process

With a clear project schedule, brand questionnaire, and feedback prompts, you’ll feel confident and guided throughout the process. Together, we’ll uncover what makes your business unique and create standout brand visuals that reflect your story.

  • We’ll get to know each other while chatting about your business, challenges, and goals. Following our intro, a custom proposal will outline cost, scope, and a tenative timeline. I’ll send a contract and receive a 50% project deposit.

  • The discovery phase helps all of us identify your goals and problem areas on a deeper level. This phase includes a brand questionnaire, an optional discovery call, and strategic research.

  • We’ll start to define the ways in which your brand expresses itself visually—with research, strategic insights, and mood boards.

  • The logo presentation will include three logo directions and up to three rounds of design revisions before we refine the brand concept.

  • Once a logo is selected, I’ll refine your brand color palette. In addition to Pantones, the brand guidelines will outline CMYK, HEX, and RGB color codes.

    I’ll also deliver brand typography pairings—a collection of free, open-source typefaces.

  • I build out the final identity and compile the style guidelines with the opportunity to review everything together on a call.

  • Once the remainder fee is paid, files are handed-off within (3) business days and stored in Dropbox for 6 months post-project.

Inquiries

Interested in working together? Please fill out this contact form and I’ll get back to you shortly.

Hours

Monday - Thursday, 9 AM - 4 PM
Appointment only.

  • Brand: an intangible, emotional perception that consumers have with a company. It’s a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.

    Identity Design: the tangible and visual elements of a brand that collectively create a unified brand image. The visual expression of a company’s personality, values, and promise made to customers. This includes a logo system, colors, typefaces, voice, tone, icons, patterns, and other graphic elements. This is my specialty. It’s informed by the company’s story, values, and other unique identifiers gathered during our discovery process.

    Marketing: the set of tools and strategies a brand takes in order to promote and sell their products or services. This includes research, advertising, social media strategy, and a wide range of activities to convince prospective buyers to act.

  • A brand mark (or logo mark) is the symbolic image or icon, within a company’s logo. Examples include Apple or the Nike swoosh.

    A logotype (or wordmark) is the stylized appearance of a company ‘s name or the typographic portion of the logo. Think Google and Coca-Cola.

  • The final identities I develop for my clients are considered “Works For Hire”, meaning clients have full ownership over the logo assets once approved, signed, and paid for. Please refer to “trademarks”.

    Add-on licensing for icons, patterns, and illustrations may vary depending on scope and end use.

  • What is a trademark?

    The work we create for you isn’t automatically trademarked but we’re happy to point you in the direction of intellectual property attorneys with experience in trademark law. They’ll guide you through the formal process with USPTO after we design your logo.

    See trademark examples.

  • Identity design: 8-12 weeks.

    Illustration, icons, and pattern development add-ons: an additional 2-4 weeks or longer, depending on complexity.

FAQs

Recent Clients

Add Salt
Grow Girl Seattle
HighByte
Jennifer Judd-McGee
Juniper Byrd Hair Co.
Meadowsweet Midwifery
Paper Tides
Parallel Adventures
Pomona
Shorebird Whiskey
Sunnyside Partners
Swallowfield
Xenos Works

Frequently Works With

Pomona
Portland Design Co.

Education

Maine College of Art & Design
BFA, Graphic Design

Fonts

Purchase directly from my Font Shop or Creative Market.