Dusty Books
A rebrand for an independent bookbinding business, creating a more professional visual identity without losing the personality behind the original brand.
The Brief
Dusty Books had outgrown its original DIY logo. While the existing identity captured the personal story behind the business, it no longer reflected the quality of the handcrafted work.
As the business grew, the challenge was to create a more professional identity while retaining its warmth, character and connection to the original brand.
The Strategy
The brand didn't need to show everything Dusty Books did. It needed to communicate how the business felt.
Rather than creating another literal logo filled with bookbinding references, we focused on the feeling behind the business: old bookshops, vintage literature, nature and the care of something made by hand.
The identity could then work as a system, with different elements carrying different parts of the story.
The Solution
A vintage-inspired emblem and DB monogram gave the brand a distinctive central mark, while subtle botanical details and an open-book reference added meaning without making the logo overly literal.
Imperfect typography, dusty colours and decorative details created the warmth and character of an old bookshop without leaning too far into a dark or academic aesthetic.
Deliverables:
Logo suite
Font pairings & colour palette
Illustrated icon set
Brand pattern
Original Logo
New Logo
Making room for the rest of the story
The bookbinding tools and Dusty the dog were meaningful parts of the original identity, but they didn't all need to remain inside the logo.
Instead, they were reimagined as a hand-drawn brand pattern.
This allowed the logo to remain simple and versatile while the wider identity carried more of the personality and story behind the business.
The Outcome
The finished identity gave Dusty Books a more professional and flexible foundation while retaining the warmth and personality behind the original brand.
The client particularly connected with the softer colour palette and hand-drawn pattern, both of which captured the direction she had always wanted but hadn't been able to create herself.
