I got to kick off the first of the year on this fun project with long time brother and client Mike Moroski.
Mike wanted a logo that reflected his music roots as well as one that honored his musical and creative partnership with fellow friend and band mate Jon Eskridge. Over the years of playing shows together their music has evolved into a deeper kind of brotherhood after the unexpected loss of Mike’s closest and dear friend Jason.
Mike and Jon have know each other since 2013 and have worked together in different ways since then, from Jon running sound at shows to playing guitar together at Mike’s solo shows. Mike & Jon’s sound has changed a lot over the last year plus, and even more than when Mike and Jason had started Jam Band Jovi as kind of a joke band back in 1999.
In the shows that Mike and Jon have played together, the audience often chants their names so Mike wanted to do something to honor that connection and relationship.
From Mike’s notes: “Jon has sat-in with me on 90% or more of my “solo” gigs the past year+. Over that time my playing changed dramatically with him. Our guitars started doing things together that were seemingly out of our control. Certainly above my talent pay grade.
Bottom line is the sound is very different now. And when he’s with me I cannot help but play the “Mike & Jon” way. These are no longer “Mike Moroski feat. Dr. Jon” shows. It hit me recently that the past couple tunes I wrote were not for solo shows, definitely were not for JBJ shows, but were with Jon and me in mind.
I have now played more live music with Jon than anyone else ever in my entire life.”
When asked about their style, he responded with this: “Think Loggins & Messina get into a fight with Simon & Garfunkel down by the schoolyard, but it gets broken up by the White Stripes. We will be playing different venues than Jam Band Jovi or me when I’m solo.”
Mike & Jon are also available for private parties. Their massive bench of songs is geared toward are dinners, wedding receptions, wineries, fancy, restaurants, etc. For booking: jambandjovi.com.
Here is a little behind the scenes on the creative process for this logo build
THE CREATIVE PROCESS:
BEHIND THE SCENES
As far as the creative requirements go, Mike really only requested the following and left the interpretation on what that looks like and how that goes up to me.
“The only thing I will specifically request is an outline, shadow, whatever you think works best of the Roebling Suspension Bridge.
GOALS:
- It literally connects us (he is in Covington)
- The metaphor may already be obvious, but we’ve truly helped one another bridge the gap between then and now, etc.”
- I wanted to visually add in the rich legacy of Baseball and Brewing that this great city is known for.
CHALLENGES:
Find the right angle for the lettering where it doesn’t distort the letter forms so much that it starts to look goofy.
The reason the timeless Dodger’s logo works so well is because it has fewer letters in it.
That is where there are several options shown here with a magenta key line to illustrate when I’ve pushed it to far.
Here are some slides showing some typeface options, angles and how it looks visually.
ROUND ONE: NOT QUITE THERE
After reviewing the three retro, baseball inspired typefaces, we agreed that the HERCHEY typeface was the best fit. It represented them as well as the city of Cincinnati that they hail from.
For those of you who don’t know, Cincinnati has a huge legacy of baseball and brewing, so if you ever visit there you need to take in a game or two and some brewery tours.
CLOSE BUT NOTE QUITE...
One of the things Mike had requested after reviewing the first round was for me to somehow feature the iconic Roebling Bridge with logomark, not just a silhouette of the portal. I’ve always kind of struggled with illustration but I thought let’s give it a try and see what I can do. For more on John A. Roebling, check out his history here on Wikipedia
This is the supplied photo he gave me as a base along with roughly where he wanted to have the logomark placed.
After several hours and quite a few layers, here is the final approved logo that they loved and approved.
If you are ever in the greater Cicncinnati area you maybe able to catch Jam Band Jovi or Mike & Jon playing at one of their favorite watering holes.
We’ll see you out there!
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’ve been doing all of Mike’s branding work since we met back in 2010 when we first moved to Cincinnati.
I am beyond honored and grateful for all the projects that we have collaborated on from Choices Cafe website, to his running for City Council, the Cincinnati School Board, Jam Band Jovi and now on to this.
I have learned a lot through our friendship over the years and will always consider him a friend but more importantly a brother.
Much love man!