The Kirk Brothers team came to me with an existing logo that had been designed many, many years earlier by their local newspaper. They only had a pixelated JPG file and wanted to update to something more clean with a vector file that could help them produce a website, signage and more. The existing logo held a lot of sentimental value for the locally owned small business – so we quickly established that we would evolve the logo, not overhaul.

I started the process by tracing the exiting logo art and refining the fuzzy edges to create a mark that was clearly an auctioneer with a microphone. Then, I adjusted the balance of the logotype to give emphasis to the recognizable Kirk Brothers name. Over multiple generations, the auctioneers had earned widespread recognition for their best-in-the-business services – so I found it important that when a customer would see the logo, they’d see Kirk Brothers before much else. “Auctioneers” was set more lightly underneath, providing the full name without being a distraction to the mark and reputation that was already well known.

We added graphic accents and textures to give trendy flexibility to how the brand could be implemented, but overall – it was a beautiful update that enabled the business to take new action with their longstanding brand.

See the kit in action in my sign design timelapse:

Client