Overview

A comprehensive rebrand for a multi-location pawn and retail business with a rich history and a trusted customer base. Best Collateral needed a visual identity that honored its legacy while modernizing its presence across digital and print platforms.


Role

Senior Designer | Brand Strategist | Freelance Consultant

Scope of Work

  • Brand discovery and strategy

  • Logo refinement and typography update

  • Color palette development

  • Visual identity system

  • Digital and print asset design

  • Website mockups

Challenge

Best Collateral’s existing brand lacked cohesion and modern appeal. With inconsistent use of color, outdated typography, and minimal digital presence, the company risked falling behind competitors. The brand needed to feel trustworthy, elevated, and accessible to a diverse customer base—without losing the grounded, community-focused identity it had cultivated for decades.

Approach

I began with a full audit of the brand’s visual presence across stores, ads, and digital assets. I then developed a brand refresh strategy that:

  • Evolved the color palette from a dated bright yellow to a sophisticated combination of deep navy, rich gold, and a warm gray—striking a balance between luxury and approachability, while better aligning with the brand’s value-driven identity.

  • Transitioned typography from Open Sans to Montserrat, enhancing legibility and lending a cleaner, more contemporary presence across all print and digital platforms.

  • Developed a modular brand system that adapts seamlessly across signage, in-store displays, digital marketing, and social media—ensuring brand consistency while allowing location-level flexibility.

  • Designed implementation-ready usage examples and visual standards to support internal stakeholders, empowering future brand stewardship and cohesive execution.

  • Designed a versatile icon system spanning categories like retail, jewelry, pawn services, and store environments—created to unify in-store signage, digital content, and marketing collateral with a cohesive visual language tailored to the industry’s unique service offerings.

I worked closely with stakeholders to ensure alignment on vision, and I packaged final deliverables into a streamlined presentation to minimize revision rounds and support buy-in.

reflection

This project exemplified the balance between retail strategy and design refinement. Working with Best Collateral gave me an opportunity to lead both the strategic and visual direction of a brand with deep roots, modernizing it without sacrificing the authenticity customers already trusted. It also allowed me to apply my print expertise while growing my digital design portfolio.

tools used

Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, Figma, Adobe Express, Adobe XD

client

Best Collateral, California-based pawn and retail chain

design highlights

  • A new logo system with horizontal, vertical, and icon-only configurations

  • Elevated, flexible typography pairing Montserrat with an accent serif

  • Defined brand colors with HEX, CMYK, and Pantone references

  • Sample marketing assets including billboard mockups, social media posts, and POS signage

  • Website homepage and store location collage banner mockups using curated stock and branded visuals

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Way of the Hornet