Heather & Little

PROJECT

Rebrand

Craftsmanship, Detail and Verdigris.

DESCRIPTION

Founded in 1925, Heather & Little has been recognized as a premier fabricator of custom ornamental sheet metal and historic sheet metal restoration throughout North America. The company has worked on some of North America’s most significant landmark and heritage buildings, from the Thomas Jefferson Library of Congress in Washington D.C. to the Canadian Parliament Buildings.

Significant effort went into researching approaches for the new brand, and visual identity. Heather and Little needed an approach that would encapsulate the company’s craftsmanship, innovation and attention to detail. Ultimately we focused on a version that was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement. Our design is meant to reference the look of a piece of stamped metal. The main type of metal used by H&L in their work is copper, therefore the logo was expressed as if reproduced on copper. The Verdigris treatment is both beautiful and a nod to the longevity of H&L’s work, which lasts for generations.

In terms of printing, the concept proved to be extremely challenging to execute. All the printers contacted said the same thing: “we’ve never seen this done before”. Flash Reproductions took on the challenge. Hours of testing and press approvals later, the final result emerged. The identity was expressed in a variety of collateral materials, stationery, stickers, purchase orders. The centrepiece of the stationery, the business cards, went through 4 production processes and 5 finishing processes. 2 different types of paper, duplexed, litho printing, copper foil stamp using “printable” foil, silk screen spot custom “patina” colour UV cured ink, litho black and custom metallic brown on top of foil, copper gilded edges and, finally, hand painting custom “patina” colour on gilded edges.

DELIVERABLES

Strategy, Visual Identity, Collateral, Website

CREDITS

Overdrive Design Limited—Creative, Art Direction, Design and Development
Flash Reproductions—Printer

LINKS

Visit the Heather and Little website: heatherandlittle.ca

When we were exploring logo design we came up we always aim to take a variety of approaches. Ultimately, we surprised and thrilled the client selected the more abstract option.

This is a tiling pattern we created to use as foil on folders and various other materials. The copper foil was a signature element of the brand we wanted to reinforce due to HnL’s significant restoration works done in copper.

HnL’s work is really special and so in our brand expression exercise we created their materials to echo that specialness, and demonstrate their attention to detail.

Copper eventually takes on a verdigris. In this case, hand brushed. It was impossible to replicate at the time at the printing press. This application was an absolute nightmare to figure out, but so worth it. We won easily half a dozen awards on this little card alone.

Website Design

The company needed a website that could showcase their many services and above all feature images of their work. The resulting website is both modern and traditional.
We knew the verdigris was also a really important part of the visual identity and so we pulled it into the website to break up content whenever we could.