A beautifully confident brand identity for Gem Standard.
Faye Waddle is a wonderfully passionate diamond grader, based in Kent, with a heart-led mission of making fine jewellery accessible to all. Her experience working in the jewellery industry highlighted that something was missing — bespoke pieces at reachable price points. “When marking life’s big milestones, people wish to buy their loved ones very special pieces of jewellery, and will often spend thousands in pursuit of the right piece. We have come to notice that most people are somewhat uneducated on the process and what to expect. You really can be robbed blind if you don’t understand the rules of precious stones and metals. We assist in finding the best value for money materials, taking into consideration what the receiver of the gift loves and holds dear, and incorporate them into the perfect piece.”
We knew from the beginning that this brand had to be rooted in a deep, unifying passion for jewellery. Faye is incredibly enthusiastic about what she does, and I really wanted to encapsulate that and create a brand experience that made people feel excited and cared for. Nuance was out of the window at this point, and we really wanted to communicate the passion and energy being brought to the business. We covered a lot of ground throughout the strategy process, but kept coming back to the concept of a brand that feels passionate, empowering, and confident. This brand is for the lovers, but also the creators, and that was something that we circled around a lot as we crafted the identity for Gem Standard.
Faye and I had a pretty clear idea, very early on in our collaboration, of where we wanted to take things. A big focus for us was strong typography and bold, leading colours. The type we used throughout the logo suite offers a clean cut, no-frills branding solution; we needed the products and personalities that make up Gem Standard to take centre stage, so we opted for something clean and crisp. A big piece of inspiration for Faye was the iconic Tiffany blue that we all instantly recognise, so we paired gorgeous, light, neutral tones alongside two complimentary, leading colours that really do make an impact. These are Gem Standard’s signature tones, so they needed to be bold and recognisable to quickly create that mental link with colour that we want Faye’s audience to feel as soon as they engage with the brand.
Statement jewellery does exactly what it says on the tin; it makes a statement. We knew that we needed the products to do the talking - they’re the all singing, all dancing element of this business. Because we opted for some bold, signature colours, the other elements of the brand are quite well balanced and slightly more delicate. We worked on building trust and recognition with the inclusion of a gorgeous monogram, which acts as a ‘stamp of approval’ and a brand icon. Incorporating a circle creates a feeling of welcomeness, and is a visual manifestation of the concept of turning inward and being connected; that it all begins with us.
This identity really does just feel so aligned with Faye and her business. It captures her character and charm, and offers a feeling of absolutely unshakable confidence (which, if you know Faye, just makes complete sense!). The passion and dedication she brought to our collaboration was so refreshing, and really did push us to create this wonderful identity that will see her through this new chapter of her career. Works will begin on a new website in the future, and there are plenty of exciting things coming for Gem Standard, so please do follow along on IG to experience everything come together over the coming months. You can learn more about Faye and her work at @gemstandardconsultancy.
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