Sarah Cyr - Leadership Martial Arts

Martial Arts has played an integral role throughout my life through self-confidence, discipline and a better quality of life. When Rick Griffin, who practiced in the same studio as I did approached me to design his logo and advertising for his own martial arts business, I was very excited to take up the challenge. Since his grand opening in 2017 Rick's new studio, Leadership Martial Arts, is thriving in Southington CT with new students and making an impact in the community.

Based off of researching existing martial arts logos and knowing what many look like from experience, I concluded that the best format for the logo would be inside a medallion shape. This shape would make the logo more accessible for other products in the studio such as T-shirts and Gi Patches. Brand requirements for the logo included a full-color griffin mascot, to play off of the Griffin name and incorporate a blue and black color scheme. The overall feel of the logo would exude confidence and strength, which would be reflected in the demeanor of the Griffin character. For reference, I also looked at various sport team logos that used a bold outline approach to their mascot illustrations. The final product used Illustrator for clean and scalable vectors.

Advertising for the studio included 6ft interior banners. Each banner included short, inspirational messages that accompanied photography, becoming the focal element of each piece. Each message showcased a contrast in colors and typography; power words focused in bold sans-serif reds. The goal was to appeal for a wide age range of students within the studio and inspire them during their classes. Illustrator and Photoshop were used for the banners' photo editing, layout and print prepress optimization.

Confidence Banner with Child in Sparring Gear

Teamwork Banner with 2 children in karate stances

Print and web advertising creation was the last phase of the marketing package offered. The first to be delivered was a "Back to school" theme promotion for new students, which was displayed on various martial arts and local news websites. The second advertisement focused on an anti-bullying message that is prominent in one of Leadership Martial Art's messages to students.