As the senior graphic designer for National Shoe Specialties, I had the pleasure of organizing, planning and directing photo shoots in order to successfully produce and design their bilingual Biotime® footwear catalogues on a bi-annual basis. 

Thus, I have successfully managed and coordinated all aspects of design work from conception through to final production of every catalogue, including their 250 page product catalogue.

Biotime footwear initiated plans to re-build brand authority, starting with re-branding their logo. This was followed by introducing a new line of stylish footwear, we refreshed all  in-store communication materials, along with creating exciting and effective internal/external marketing collateral and product catalogues (B2B, DM for trade and consumer publications and promos) that consistently built brand awareness, promoted product benefits, and enhanced the product’s appearance. 

Biotime footwear should reflect a more modern and fashionable footwear brand to appeal to a larger market such as the 25 - 65 year olds, without sacrificing comfort, but also maintaining all of Biotime’s key benefits.

When creating a brand or re-branding an existing brand such as Biotime, a lot of ideas are carried out through vigorous brain storming sessions.  As a designer it is imperative for me to stay current with all the latest colour and design trends, and to be aware of how they’re being applied today. That being said, we needed to do some market research, however we didn’t have a budget for that.  So I had to conduct my own research and apply my own knowledge in terms of market trends such as colours, styles etc… to see what our competitors are doing by exploring other high-end brands of footwear.  

After the research, came the exploration of fonts.  Through the exploration of clean modern fonts, we collectively decided on the font “The Sans Light” as the foundation of our logo. I like this font for it’s clean strong lines and it’s easy to read. Then, I needed to set it apart as a logo rather than simply text, so I made a few modifications to it.

Upon completion of this step it was time to explore colours. We humans relate to colours and engage with visuals without us even realizing that a subliminal message has been sent to our brains.  Colour is very important in today’s society and the meanings of colours have changed over the years. This is primarily due to the strong influence of different cultures which play a huge role in colour interpretation.  Considering all of this, it’s easy to see how colour is an incredibly important aspect of our Biotime brand identity.  Oh did I mention that this colour also had to be unisex in order to appeal to the senses of both men and women. 

Thus, given that the font we chose reflects a clean modern feel, we needed to choose a colour that reflected this too, while injecting excitement into our brand....I feel red embodies our brand as it is the “colour of attention”.  However Pantone 7427 is a sophisticated version of red, and works well for both men and women. Traditionally red is a warm colour that evokes excitement, passion, and imagery of flames or heat from a crackling fire...Red has always been a timeless colour, and will continue to give Biotime the longevity in this incredibly competitive market place.

With the launch of our Biotime brand, lets ignite or re-kindle our customer’s passion for footwear!

Naturally photos need to be touched up and or colour corrected, but in some cases photo manipulation is required to achieve the desired image.  Here are just a couple of examples of some basic photo manipulated images.

The first two images are examples used in the creation of the cover for the Tana® & Kiwi® product catalogue.  The original stock image was too risqué for the brand, but I still wanted to keep in-line with the fun playful feel of their campaign.  Also the shoe care products are for both men and women.  Thus some adjustment were needed.

The next two images were used to create one image used in our Biotime® Fall catalogue.  The boot worn by the man in the photo was a style not carried in the men's collection of footwear. Thus he needed to be removed from the photo along with all religious elements to keep the photo neutral.