Client: HRH ARFAQ
The crafted bespoke emblem acts as a majestic seal of authorship and provenance for the House of HRH Arfaq. Reflecting HRH Arfaq's commitment to uncompromising craft and bespoke luxury.
Projecting a sense of theatre, the illustrative emblem encapsulates HRH Arfaq's unique and extraordinary life story in the craft details.
As a previous fashion designer to the iconic singer and performer Michael Jackson, HRH Arfaq is a notable British designer and perfumer. He is Known for creating ultra luxury bespoke fashion art products and award winning fragrances.
His extraordinary design work is very much admired by a clientele that desires exclusive bespoke products, built and crafted by his world's best artisans.
A brand emblem custom created for a designer such as HRH Arfaq had to possess meticulous detailing, exquisite geometry, craft of negative space and printed in premium materials to reflect timeless luxury. As a house identity logo it needed to be striking and sophisticated, while exuding grace and beauty.
Chris Mitchell was tasked to completely redraw the previous linear HRH Arfaq emblem whilst retaining its content. This was an opportunity for Chris to really push the boat out from an illustrative craft design perspective.
The project deserved only the very best of print outcomes. To elevate the brand emblem beyond standard design, premium print execution was vital. The level of craftsmanship required relied upon working with a specialist print houses that expertly translated exquisite detailing into tangible luxury, using specialised finishes.
The development process is all about bridging the gap between creative vision and technical print and material constraints.
Chris's full understanding the print method ensured that the initial design sketches and following vector developments to final artwork translated into beautiful and practical hand crafted production-ready vector artworks.
Chris has too often seen examples of print restricted in outcome by the poor standard of artwork that skilled printers were supplied to work with.
Mastering this development phase with an eye on the detail ensures the illustrated artworks are truly fit for purpose. Providing the printer with the very best possible chance of a great outcome is paramount.
The emblem represented a very personal story for HRH Arfaq, it features discoverable details that were very significant in his journey of always aspiring to craft perfection.
A highly skilled specialist printer was entrusted by HRH Arfaq to print the house emblem.
A combination of blind embossing and gleaming metallic coloured foils provided a craft tactile finish projecting a rich layer of exclusivity.
HRH Arfaq went to great lengths exploring different cards for their weight, colour and finish. Trial print runs were then performed in order test final choices.
The results in fine print were quite breath taking, the illustrative artwork that been crafted by Chris had been transformed from a flat design to an exquisitely sculpted work in fine print.
Being present at the printers to assist on such an important first print run was all important, especially given the importance to retain clarity of the fine details at its scaled-down printed size. The depth of embossing can change drastically depending on whether you use different weights of card.
Where so much design work is now created to just feature on screen, there is an undeniable tactile magic when you see your work printed in premium materials.
The brand emblem currently features in colour alternatives as key brand assets across all of the HRH Arfaq brand platforms, whether for fine print and on line.
Maintaining high design standards of all required artwork versions is curial to maintain clarity and profile of their collective brand presence.
Here is featured the illustrative emblem locked up with the HRH Arfaq custom word mark.
Two alternative artwork colour-ways were provided for when featured on the HRH Arfaq website. This was to ensure that the emblem retained clarity when featured either on a light or dark background, or indeed as an overlay to photographic imagery.
Whilst the illustration emblem is the dominate locked up feature, the word-mark crafted by associate lettering designer Chris Weir is refined in its simplicity. Crafted to elegantly compliment the emblem with out overpowering it.
I have had the pleasure of working with many clients that care passionately about the brand projects they are working on. HRH Arfaq takes his brand devotion regarding his own work to an entirely new tier, more as an elusive creator pursuing total perfection. This thinking opens up many creative possibilities for pushing the envelope beyond normal expectations.