Swallowtail
Tattoo Studio
Brand Identity
2023
For Swallowtail Tattoo, the challenge was creating a visual identity that stood out in a saturated market. I needed to create something fresh, trustworthy, and visually captured the artistic, edgy spirit of a tattoo studio.
The goal was to design a logo and website landing page that was unique from other tattoo shops’ visual identities, but still remained recognizable as a tattoo shop. In terms of the landing page, most tattoo shops rely on word-of-mouth for sharing reviews and discovering tattoo artists. I wanted to improve the accessibility and clarity of this experience by creating an easy-to-navigate website page that provides details about the shop and artists, while still maintaining Swallowtail’s intended visual identity.
The final deliverables resulted in Swallowtail standing out from the current market with a successful website, unique logo, and brand storytelling that weaves its way in every aspect of the studio’s branding.
With the name Swallowtail, I leaned into the butterfly motif as a symbol of transformation and beauty, which also ties in nicely with tattoo culture. I created a custom, symmetrical logo that blends delicate wing shapes with sharp, ink-like lines to give it an edge and represent the precision of the artists’ hands while tattooing. The slab typeface harkens back to traditional tattoo shop signage that keeps the brand recognizable to its market.The dark navy blue is not only a nod to the rebellious culture of tattooing or getting a tattoo, but also works in conjunction with the yellow as the colors of a swallowtail butterfly.
Creating an experience for the web, hierarchy of elements was the most important factor to consider in this part of collateral. The website landing page pushes forward the critical and credibility information that a customer would need before choosing to get a tattoo here, including about the brand, shop, and artists.
For my first project using Figma, I was successful in translating the brand message of Swallowtail into a visual array. The illustrative nature of the combination mark represents the art of tattooing as something that is both personal and expressive, blending precision with creativity.
