In With the New : A Fiddlin' Frogs Story

A few months ago, an eager business owner walked into Digett looking for a new identity. Not as a person, but as a company—Fiddlin' Frogs, to be exact. Fiddlin' Frogs was, at the time, a small boutique in Boerne specializing in trendy, wearable clothing, unique furniture, and some other merchandise you'd have to see to believe.

With the mounting success of the business came a need to grow and expand beyond Boerne's Main Street, which prompted the purchase of a luxurious new storefront in Leon Springs, just up the highway toward the big city.

The Problem

A change of scenery provided Fiddlin' Frogs with an opportunity to rebrand the company. The owners had felt for some time that their original logo was "too juvenile" and didn't capture the spirit of the unique blend of merchandise sold in the store. With competition like Neiman-Marcus, Anthropologie, and large furniture chains, their cartoon logo did little to attract that type of customer. A new logo was a must-have and at the heart of this project.

Although the company would need a logo, the name Fiddlin' Frogs was a keeper. There continues to be a great deal of recognition of the store's name; even one-stop-shop tourists remember "the frog store."

The Challenge

With a better understanding of the client's goals and my goals as a designer, my challenge became clear: Design a unique, sophisticated, and expressive logo for Fiddlin' Frogs that would better represent the company and what it has to offer its customers.

The Process

I began this task as I do most, seeking inspiration. I browsed through hundreds of logos, trying to extract reason behind why some were more sophisticated than others. Clean lines, plenty of room to breath, and a censored color palette seemed to be common themes.

With some tentative guidelines in place, I began “sketching” logo concepts; I use my computer to sketch. Some ideas were literal—a frog playing the fiddle, for example. Others were more abstract. I thought it best to start with a wide range of concepts and use client feedback coupled with collective opinion to drive the logo in a certain direction. 

The Solution

The batch of concepts I presented yielded a bumper crop of logos the client liked. The ones they didn't care for, they said so, which I appreciated. It's important to me that clients be completely honest with their feedback because I think it's the only way the project can
move forward with all parties content.

The owners wanted some time to think about the logos they liked and to share with friends and family. They returned a short time later with the field narrowed to just two logos. After some thoughtful discussion, we came to an agreement that one logo was a perfect fit. And, it was done—the logo had been chosen and all parties involved were excited to implement the new design. Interesting note: the logo chosen was the second out of about 20 I sketched.

The big payoff for me as a designer came when the new Fiddlin' Frogs storefront was adorned with an enormous, neon-lighted sign of the new logo. I was there on the day they installed the sign, and it was certainly an impressive display. It was very rewarding to see my hard work pay off in such a big way—and I mean big. This sign is colossal and something you should see for yourself, in person. So if you're in the neighborhood, drop into Fiddlin' Frogs and tell them Andrew sent you. You'll be glad you did.