Danny Harms, partner at Studio DNVR
Jeff and Joan Flaugher, owners of Dark Skyz RVing
Dark Skyz RVing rents high-quality camper trailers to adventure-seekers online. The name refers to the Dark Sky movement—protecting public and private land from light pollution.
The client wanted to use the company as an opportunity to educate their customers about the value of keep our night skies dark and the damages of light pollution. This inspired the name they chose for their new company.
By renting a Dark Skyz RV, customers get the opportunity to access remote areas of the country and experience the starry night sky.
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.
I assembled visual moodboards from inspirational examples already in use by other brands, then met with the client to discuss and have a conversation about the boards in order to surface insights, which helped us identify the essence of their ideal brand.
I start the design process by quickly brainstorming, sketching, and exploring lots of ideas. Then I refine the strongest concepts into vector artwork.
Both the "dark skies" concept and the company's adventurous products offered lots of inspiration.
I expanded the primary logo design to include alternate logo variations that are optimized for a variety of placement constrictions (such as embossing or embroidery).
This flexible logo system offers a robust toolkit to help those who work with the Dark Skyz RVing brand.
To complete our logo and brand identity package, I designed the brand’s visible elements, such as the color palette, brand typefaces, usage guides (safe margins, sizing guide, incorrect usage), and image file explanations.
Then I created a set of custom brand guidelines help Dark Skyz communicate a professional and consistent brand identity.
With the new Dark Skyz RVing brand identity in place, I began to design and develop their website.
I first created a sitemap to make sure all pages and hierarchy are accounted for.
I worked with the client to outline content and goals for each page, then developed user flows—how the user can accomplish each goal in as few steps as possible.
The next step was to design the website's visual user interface. This stage includes buttons, colors, photos, illustrations, icons, typography, and layout.
I illustrated a custom hero image for the brand to display first on the website and later in other brand extensions.
Designed and developed the clients' websites in Webflow, set up analytics, and optimized for search engines.
Designed responsive breakpoints for accessible, optimized viewing on mobile devices.
To showcase the personal touches of their vehicles and camper trailers, I illustrated their RV fleet to help customers envision their ideal camping experience.
I integrated the custom illustrations, logo, and brand identity guidelines throughout the design of the website.
The website includes an integrated a Content Management System (CMS), which allows the clients to make updates on their own using a web-browser.
