Atcan re-design
When ATCAN distribution services, a leader in their field, approached me to re-design them they were not "dressing the part" so to speak. But they were now ready to shed their fly-by-night image and suit up to express who they really are. Professional, competent and mature.
Here is a before image (contact info blurred out for privacy)
As you can see the logo is rather long thus making it difficult to apply to different collateral and the name of the company appears smaller than "distribution services" -due to the receding nature of the blue - creating undesired tension. Though an arrow is sometimes good in logos, in this case it is leading the eye away from the important information and the line weight is weak. An inappropriate logo for such a strong company.
Here are some after images 
and the series of hand drawn conceptual sketches. 
Once arrived at an appropriate solution. Some of these were taken to the computer and refined until just right (roughly 50 different digital versions).
The logo is not as wide and thus much more flexible to use. The custom drawn lettering is reminescent of a more mature typography tradition that evokes confidence. The C in ATCAN now becomes a crescent which suggests celestial navigation without resorting to gimmickry and blue is a nod to the previous mark to brings this graphic to life.
The business card itself uses a more modern font to contrast with the logo and communicate the fact that ATCAN is up to date. There is a very rigorous structure to the information to convey an impression of organization and care.
This new design has already helped galvanize employees to take pride in their brand and no doubt will continue to demonstrate its value for many years.
