Getting close to finished on a new logo for The Moose, a men’s salon in Nashville. They’ve been open for over a year as “The Moosehead” but have decided to rebrand with the shorter name. The throwback to old-school men’s salons is a trend that has incorporated a wide gamut of design elements, from super-clean British mod style to funky mid-century modern, but the predominant vibe always seems to be a retro late-1950s to early-1960s feel. We wanted to go a little further back without seeming too “old-man-ish.” Another obvious consideration was to avoid having ‘hunting lodge’ design elements which, while conveying masculinity, might send the wrong message.

The cigar-smoking moose takes a more prominent role in the new logo. I initially explored lockups with a symmetric moose head but having the moose facing to the side enabled a much more organic flow of typography, as well as allowing a much better balance between the scale of the logo’s elements. I expected to employ a more intricate illustration of the moose, but the more modern rendering seemed to evoke a professional sports franchise mascot, which adds a little masculinity and keeps things looking fresh instead of too old-fashioned.

Having a ‘historic’ feel to your logo certainly implies a trustworthiness to customers, but it’s always a fine line between a logo that feels ‘classic’ and one that feels ‘retro.’ When clients ask for something a little old-fashioned, I like to try to recreate the look of something that has evolved over a few decades rather than just go for something 100% period correct. The great thing about going for a somewhat elaborate logo like this is that you can build in a handful of elements (e.g., the moosehead, the typography itself, the diamond device, and the scrollwork) that can then be broken out to use on their own, or reconfigured for different applications.