Perry Ting
  • Branding
  • Visual design

Upward Counseling Center

A logo, style guide, and business cards for Upward Counseling Center, a therapy practice in Cupertino, California.

Role
  • Brand designer
Timeline
  • September 2022–March 2023
Tools
  • Adobe Illustrator

Upward Counseling Center asked me for a logo, a style guide, and business cards. Over four rounds, seven ideas narrowed to one: a figure helping another one climb upwards.

The client requested three feelings to convey: hopeful and upward; welcoming, loving, and accepting; understanding, empathetic, and validating.

A sketchbook page listing the three feelings, above sketches of hands, hearts, flames, speech bubbles, and birds.
Reference icons sorted by those feelings, and a moodboard of other counseling brands.

01 / 02Round 1: hands lifting a heart, a speech bubble, and a flame, each with a note on what it stands for.

Round 3: color iterations upon the sprout, the figure, and the arrow U, each in black, white, and two color schemes. Stars mark my favorites to give the client suggestions.
Round 4: narrowing down to two general ideas with an emphasis on exploring the two figures. A star marks the final pick; the two figures, light green on mint.

The style guide: the primary logo, secondary logos on light, dark, black, and white, the symbol on its own, six colors, and Roboto for a clean type (also because it is free to use commercially via Google Fonts). The colors and their names are designed to connote calmness and nature.

  • Business card on mint.
  • Business card on forest green.
  • Business card on white.