Logo and Branding: Michael Barley Photography

Michael Barley is a Texas-based commercial photographer with experience in the corporate, advertising and healthcare sectors. His visual identity and business cards, developed by 3advertising, is a lovely mix of simple typography and a crafted and communicative business card solution that adds a tactile dimensionality to the vivid detail of Michael’s photographs.

This is a fantastic example of brand values being delivered through a more tangible and physical experience that goes far beyond just a simple visual identity. While the logo-type appropriately leverages the contemporary build but classic slab-serif details of Archer – set along a traditional curved baseline with a well spaced, uppercase formality and professionalism – it is the tactile richness of the business cards that appear the most communicative. Their framing of photography through the die cut window of a mixed fibre/recycled, unbleached, uncoated, substrate sleeve is a lovely idea that has a care and crafted quality that really draws out and compliments the detail of the images which are printed on an internal board with a layout reminiscent of vintage and collectable cigarette cards. A letter-pressed finish and sticker treatment, franked, numbered and hand-written elements introduce the themes of travel, individuality and exclusivity, layering the identity with a conceptual and representative depth. For me the business cards deliver a smart juxtaposition of material and image that should give Michael’s corporate work an earthy, humanistic and grounded sensibility and compliment the rest.

Visit the BP&O Logo Gallery for a chronological guide to all the identities reviewed on BP&O.

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Richard Baird Richard is a British freelance designer and writer who specialises in visual identities and packaging. He’s written for Brand New, Design Week and The Dieline, featured in Computer Arts magazine and also runs the resource Design Survival. Follow:     |     Twitter     |     Facebook     |     Portfolio     |     Contact