Back in 2021, I had the great opportunity to work with Ladle for a new logo. Ladle was an upcoming social enterprise start-up launched by a group of university students, that aimed to ensure beneficiaries in Singapore facing food insecurity would have more consistent access to food aid. This was carried out by encouraging donations from F&B customers to a pool of donated funds, via the simple act of scanning QR codes placed at the cashiers of F&B partner establishments. Beneficiaries patronising these establishments would then be able to redeem discounted food items through an application.
Hearing all about their plans and their altruistic mission, I was on board to help them in some way. Being able to lend a helping hand in their mission to spread goodwill was something I wanted to be a part of, and what better way than putting my creativity to good use.
I remembered that when the team at Ladle first approached me regarding a logo project, it was the name they had come up for their start-up that immediately made an impression on me. It was a clever name. A fitting symbol for their charitable ventures. Being a large deep-bowled spoon capable of serving larger quantities of hearty soups to feed and nourish, a ladle was a symbol of warmth, generosity and nourishment. It was thus a no-brainer that a start-up with such a unique name would similarly adopt a logo that would somehow feature that name. However, there was something missing if the logo were to just be a ladle. It had to be “visually clever” as well. From an outsider’s standpoint with no context of Ladle’s premise and operations, a symbol of a generic ladle would add no visual aid in understanding the ambitious and good-natured goals of the start-up.
Besides that, the team at Ladle had a few overall requirements regarding the visual team that the Ladle logo would adopt. They were intent on having a logo that could be modern, minimalistic and clean, yet could still project a warm and inviting appearance that would appeal to young adults and professionals. With all these conditions in mind, I set out to think about the two overarching concepts that I would present to them.
Concept 1 for Ladle
The first concept, although visually striking, was not able to capture the notion of “giving and assisting” as well as Concept Two. Hence, the eventual decision was made to progress with Concept Two, which was more cohesive and understandable in its visual story-telling. The composition for the final logo essentially boiled down to the combination of 3 fundamental elements that I believed best embodied everything that Ladle stood (and would be known) for: a ladle, a giving hand, and for recognisability, the letter L together with its accompanying wordmark.
Being able to have the first letter of the word “ladle” double as the handle of a ladle was a golden design opportunity I did not want to miss. The reason for doing as such was that this could provide easy visual guidance and an orderly hierarchy in the ability to capture both the name and the distinct symbol when viewing the entire logo piece from left to right. Following that, to enhance the symbol from an ordinary looking ladle to one with depth and significance, the next clever idea was to have a giving hand incorporated into the bowl of the ladle. To make this intention look clean and effortless, in keeping with the overall look of the logo, a subtle curved worm-like cutout was done to the existing semi-circle bowl shape. As such, with just an insertion of a small negative space into the shape, the unique icon of a “giving ladle” was born.
Following this, the Ladle team worked with me in fine-tuning this concept, tying up loose ends by getting the logo to be as perfect as it could be. Firstly, the width of each letter and shape within the logo was made equal, to achieve balance across the logo. Next, the visual consistency was strengthened by giving uniformity to the shapes used for the logotype. In this case, the general rule of thumb that was applied was sticking primarily to the use of circles and rectangles to polish and re-work each letter’s form. With this achieved, the final check was in making certain that the kerning was to be perfect to enhance the visual clarity.
Finally, with the form ironed out, it was time for a coat of paint! The team at Ladle had already a rough idea of the choice of colour they were interested in, that being of a shade somewhere between peach and orange. I experimented with many different shades that fell within this range while I was working on the logo’s form too, but I eventually settled on selecting a shade that would be versatile. This meant that the colour chosen would be clearly visible when applied on different coloured backgrounds (especially white or black) so that anyone could always easily spot the logo, no matter where future partnering food establishments decide to “put” this logo of Ladle on.
And thus, once all these was done and dusted, Ladle was ready to embrace its new logo. It was heartening to see the team receive this logo with open arms, and even more heartening to see how it rekindled their passion in spreading kindness and renewed their aim in ensuring those in need never go hungry.
Finally, to round-up my write-up about this wonderful project, I thought it would be great to include a little “blurb” regarding the logo project’s premise and the working process with the team at Ladle.
This project was one of the very first few that I had the amazing opportunity to embark on upon my decision to pursue my passion in logo design professionally. I remembered how hard it was in the beginning to source for clients and projects, no matter how much you put yourself out there. Making this process more arduous were the many situations where potential clients would take advantage of me just starting out to bargain for cheaper prices and faster delivery on a rushed timeline, with little regard for the effort and time that was needed to create a logo that had meaning and stories to it. I was thus super grateful for my very first few clients who believed in the power of a logo in shaping their brand and vision, and took their time and consideration to ensure our logo creation journey would achieve its best possible outcome.
Hence, when Ladle kindly approached me for help to create a visual mark that could clearly demonstrate their powerful vision and mission, and who were willing to share with me every detail about what their start-up hoped to achieve, I immediately jumped upon this chance. Call it cliche-sounding, but being able to combine my love for graphic design with a good cause made it extra meaningful, something I definitely wanted to be a part of. Upon embarking on this project, it was heartening to see the team at Ladle putting in so much value in the work that they had done and would continue doing down the road. Working with them was a breeze as well.The Ladle team’s respectful and friendly demeanour, who also provided valuable feedback and input during the design and evaluation discussions, made the entire process in creating Ladle’s logo super smooth-sailing. It was no wonder why I found immense satisfaction in the final outcome of the logo that was born out of this journey, and this project being something I still fondly remember till this day.
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Client Testimonial
“James produced an amazing work for our logo. He displayed very good ethics and was responsive in communications. Would gladly work with him again!”
“James managed to provide us with 2 creative concepts initially that we were unable to think of, but yet fulfilled our requirements very well. He was eventually able to produce something we really liked, with only minor touches needed from conception to finalisation.”
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New Logo
Ladle
2021