Logo design for Niemi, Jerabek & Kretchmer, a full-service family law firm out of Minneapolis.

The client (yes, related - more on that later) provided the following words when requesting the design of the logo: bold, modern and professional. They also wanted to see some traditional options.

I’ve done many logos/wordmarks for lawyers over the past few years, and honestly most of the requests follow the same pattern of bold, modern/traditional and professional. Because of this, when starting a project that I’ve done for another client in the past, I refer back to old designs so I don’t end up delivering something too similar.

After creating a handful of both modern and traditional options, the client narrowed it down to one of each. In the end, they decided on the more traditional logo. I used a bold typeface (Trajan) and added a strong flair with the ampersand that reaches out across the name. As for colors, navy blue was a requirement and I added gold for richness and a traditional, nostalgic look.

As far as working for a relative (my older brother), it can get tricky. You want to provide the service that you would any other client, but you can’t help but remember the time they stole the twinkie from your lunchbox. Thankfully we  kept it pretty professional and both he and his partners liked the logo so much they had a large sign created for their office hallway.

Still mad about the twinkie.