Danny Harms, partner at Studio DNVR
Jay Coussens and Austin Tarrant, owners of Trail Ridge Cattle Company
Trail Ridge Cattle Company makes beef and bison jerky products from their headquarters in Athens, Texas.
Jay worked previously with Studio DNVR to brand White Bison Ranch, and we were excited to work with him again on this new venture.
With so many jerky brands available to consumers today—from convenience stores to online subscription boxes—the clients recognized they needed a unique, original brand identity to have any chance to stand out on the crowded store shelfspace and online marketplace
To begin, the clients completed my brand questionnaire and I met to discuss their answers. This helped me discover their target market, what makes their company unique, and where they want to take the company in the future.
I researched other brands in their market and created a competitive analysis. From these insights, I determined a strategy and creative direction.
Because Jay and Austin hired Studio DNVR early enough in the process—before the name was even chosen—we were able to capitalize on this early opportunity by utilizing our creative process to chose a memorable brand name from the start.
First step was to brainstorm name options for the new jerky company, then check which names were unavailable from registered company lists, URL/domain ownership, and social media accounts.
The final choice for the new name was Trail Ridge Cattle Company, one with great storytelling potential designed to connect with jerky lovers and stand out from other brands on the store shelves.
After determining a strategy and conducting a competitive brand analysis, I assembled curated visual moodboards from inspirational examples in use by other brands in a wide spectrum of different styles.
I met with the client and discussed their thoughts about the moodboards, which helped me quickly determine their preferences, surface insights, and identify the essence of their ideal brand.
I started the design process by quickly exploring many ideas by sketching. Then refined the strongest concepts into vector artwork.
I build in 3 rounds of logo design and presentation review meetings with clients. In the first round I shared three concepts I believed could serve as a strong, winning option.
The clients loved the middle, scene-driven concept and I agreed that was the best option to continue with into the final logo design.
In the remaining two rounds of the design process I finessed our logo concept and locked in the brand's primary logo design.
I designed an expanded set of brand logos that built upon the primary logo.
The set includes logo variations with alternate orientations that help the logo look great when displayed within a wide array of applications and constraints, from digital screens to a literal cattle brand.
I designed this particular system to also includes alternate representations for either cattle or bison jerky products to add depth and flexibility.
To complete the logo and brand identity, I designed the brand’s visual elements like the color palette, brand typefaces, usage guides (safe margins, sizing guide, incorrect usage), and more.
I then assembled a set of brand guidelines to help Trail Ridge (and any of their vendors or partners) communicate a professional and consistent brand identity through all customer touch points.
