Shred Comps: Redefining the Guitar Community
PROJECT Overview
SERVICES:
BRAND IDENTITY
LOGO DESIGN
ILLUSTRATION
SOCIAL MEDIA
MERCH DESIGN
EVENT COLLATERAL
Shred Comps is a guitar-based community offering prize competitions, free guitar lessons with industry-leading players, gear reviews, demos, and free professionally recorded backing jam tracks. A collaboration between three friends deeply rooted in the music industry - Kris Barras, Josiah J. Manning, and Rich Turner - Shred Comps needed a bold brand identity that matched its edgy, rock-and-roll personality.
I was approached by co founder Kris Barras to create a visually striking and cohesive identity system that would resonate with guitar enthusiasts worldwide.
THE CHALLENGE
The challenge was to develop a brand identity that encapsulated the essence of Shred Comps: loud, bold, witty, edgy, and full of attitude. The goal was to create a cohesive visual language and marketing assets that would amplify the brand’s personality while remaining versatile across platforms, including merchandise, social media, and packaging.
THE PROCESS
Discovery Phase
To ensure alignment, I conducted a deep dive into the brand’s target audience, user personas, and market position. This included defining the brand’s personality with key descriptors such as loud, bold, rock & roll, witty, edgy, and full of attitude.
Moodboard and Art Direction
I developed a moodboard to explore visual directions and gather feedback, ensuring the brand’s aesthetic aligned with its personality and goals.
Logo Concept Sketches and Development
The logo went through multiple concept sketches before arriving at a bold, dynamic design that embodies Shred Comps’ energy. Custom typography and a strong visual mark became the centerpiece of the identity.
Brand Asset Development
I created a suite of brand assets, including:
Custom illustrations and patterns
Typography and a vibrant color palette
Rock-inspired taglines and language
Style Guide Build
A comprehensive style guide was delivered, outlining the proper use of all brand elements to ensure consistency across all touchpoints.
Website Mockup
The website design emphasised bold visuals and user-friendly navigation, capturing the brand’s vibrant and engaging essence.
Social Media Templates
I designed versatile and visually striking templates to maintain a cohesive presence on social platforms.
Graphics Kit
To ensure seamless execution in marketing and merchandise, I developed a graphics kit featuring custom typography, illustrations, and tagline-driven designs tailored for packaging and promotional material.
THE solution
The final brand identity system for Shred Comps is bold, clean, and vibrant. It reflects the brand’s rock-and-roll spirit and speaks directly to its audience of guitar enthusiasts. The cohesive visual language and assets provide a strong foundation for the brand’s growth and engagement across platforms.
THE result
A visually striking identity that resonates with Shred Comps’ target audience, Seamless implementation across merchandise, social media, and the website, and a glowing testimonial from Kris Barras:
“Alex was an absolute dream to work with. From the very first conversation, he completely understood what we stood for as a brand and was full of exciting ideas from the get-go. I trusted him enough to hand him the reins and have full autonomy over the brand identity. What he delivered was nothing short of perfect. Exactly what we were looking for, and not even one amend was necessary. Great person to work with and would highly recommend him to anyone that wants to take their business’s branding to the next level.”
Kris Barras - Co Founder
CONCLUSION
This project for Shred Comps showcases my ability to create bold and cohesive brand identities tailored to unique industries. By diving deep into the brand’s personality and audience, I delivered a system that not only met but exceeded the client’s expectations. Shred Comps now has a strong foundation to amplify its presence and connect with its audience on a deeper level.