Case Study: Mississippi Fencing Club

What: Mississippi Fencing Club logo, website
Dates: 2021-2023

Project Information

The Mississippi Fencing Club, of which I am a member, is a small but growing club based in Jackson, MS.

Objectives: Create a logo and branding, build a website for the Mississippi Fencing Club

Role: Logo design, website building

Problem: The Mississippi Fencing Club’s logo needed to be updated, and the club did not have a website or online presence.

Solution: Create logo/branding guide; print logo on t-shirts; build website.

Old Logo

Brainstorming

Ideas/Requirements

  • Emblem logo, either with a shield or a circle.

  • Emphasize Mississippi and the fencing club

  • Fencing-related icon

  • Must work as a single color screenprint.

  • Design thoughts: should have a sports team-esque slab serif combined with a bold sans serif

  • Colors should be navy and orange

Research

Other Fencing Clubs/Organizations

Old USA Fencing logo

Current USA Fencing logo

Oxford Fencers Club (Oxford, MS)
Within target market

Birmingham Fencing Club (Birmingham, AL)
Within target market

Design

Phase 1: I used elements from the old logo to make a new logo. The idea did not work but gave us a direction to go in.

Phase 2: I began experimenting with the emblem logo. The first round featured a shield and laurel wreath and included the magnolia. I also reconfigured the weapons.

Phase 3: We decided to go in a different direction. I began experimenting with more options (see below middle image). The final design came out of the bottom row.

Phase 4: Once we decided on a circular emblem logo, I began experimenting with the fonts, colors, and symbols.

Final: The final logo has a half-shaded mask, three weapons (to represent weapon and grip types), and navy, orange, and white as the colors.

The logo works well as a single color, which allowed us to get screenprinted t-shirts made.