Mae Smithing
Mae Smithing is a Bozeman based metalsmithing business that specializes in modernly designed, silver jewelry and wearables. Mae Smithing needed everything. From an identifying mark for the business to a simple website for online sales, and we were happy to oblige. We also took care of the product photography, social media marketing, and packaging design to round out the project and business presentation.
Logo Creation
For the Mae Smithing logo, we decided to produce a very simple, stylized, and modern word-mark that would emulate the clean and modern style of the jewelry offered. The logo is the visual representation of the business, so the goal is to bridge the product or service to the visual in a way that makes sense and can be used effortlessly across the brand extension.
In selecting the color scheme, we were faced with the challenge of matching a custom palette to packaging availability. We knew we wanted a deep, dark color against white with a metallic accent, but really needed to research the options before we could solidify the brand colors. Since Mae Smithing primarily works with sterling silver, we incorporated that as our metallic component, and then went with a simple but elegant black that would look classically bold and would be easy to find jewelry packaging for. While that is a somewhat backwards way to establish the brand colors for a business, it worked with a beautiful result.
Packaging
Because packaging can be a major expense, and this is for a new small business, we decided to utilize a mix of pre-made jewelry packaging and custom labeling to accomplish a high-end and clean aesthetic for the final product.
The black boxes come from the same supplier Mae Smithing uses to order metalsmithing supplies, so ordering as needed to replace packaging stock would be easy. The banded labels were then developed by creating a standard postcard, printed front and back, and then cutting out each component. This reduced waste and allowed for a cost effective way to get a custom jewelry card or box-band with the metallic detail that is visible on all printed items, and adds to the clean, high-end feel.
Website Setup
Mae Smithing does sales strictly online, so a well-functioning website is a necessity. We chose to put together a Squarespace Commerce site because they are easy for clients to update, it's simple to fulfill orders and track inventory, and they are affordable and efficient to run.
Product Photography
While photography isn't typically a service we offer, we did need to build a stash of product imagery for use on the website and on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. For this we chose to photograph on a solid white background to highlight the pieces and really make the detail stand out. The simplicity of the imagery supports the simplicity of the Mae Smithing branding, and is carried on throughout all visual communications.