Alliance Law Firm P.A. is a modern, forward-thinking law firm in southeastern Minnesota. Their website was beginning to look a little dated, and they knew it was time for a refresh. During our early discovery sessions, I recommended they consider a logo refresh due to some problems I identified with it.
I served as the designer, developer, and primary point of contact for this project. A colleague of mine also helped manage the project and assisted with hosting and network configuration. Two lawyers and a paralegal from Alliance Law Firm worked with us on this project.
Logo
This was Alliance Law Firm’s old logo:
![Alliance Law Firm's old logo](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/old-logo.min_-1024x104.png)
There’s a few issues with it, but the main ones I identified were:
- Mark is too busy, causing scaling issues
- Kerning issues
- Linear arrangement of words may not be ideal in some situations
The folks at Alliance Law were very open to exploring some options to fix the issues with the logo, however there was some concern about deviating too far from the old design. Being an established business, they already had a lot of printed material and signage that would be expensive to change.
New logo
My goals for the new logo were to:
- Redesign and simplify the mark
- Keep it familiar enough that it felt “at home” alongside the old logo
- Fix lettering issues
- Improve versatility by providing flexible arrangements of elements
By far, the biggest challenge was simplifying the mark. Initially, I attempted to redesign it while keeping all the existing elements (sword, shield, scale, leaves, and the sound block). I was struggling to come up with any kind of simplified arrangement, and realized that I needed to remove elements to make it work. During a discussion with the folks at Alliance, they suggested that the most important elements to them were the sword and shield.
The original logo is set in Abhaya Libre. I experimented with other Bodoni and serif typefaces, but found that Abhaya Libre has some unique characteristics. I didn’t want to stray too far from the original design, so I decided to keep the typeface the same.
After several more iterations, we had the finalized design.
![Alliance Law Firm's new logo](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/alliance-law-logo-final-standard-white@2x-1024x292.png)
I then designed a “flat” version of the mark, and different logo additional arrangements to provide flexibility in many use-cases.
![Overview showing different arrangements of the Alliance Law Firm logo](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/logo-arrangements.min_-1024x255.png)
![Alliance Law Firm new brand colors](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/colors.min_-1024x210.png)
Logo mockup examples
![Alliance Law Firm logo and mark examples on the front and back of two business cards, with notebooks and pens](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/business-card.min_-1024x761.jpg)
![Alliance Law Firm logo mark stamped in silver on a papery material](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/icon2.min_-1024x682.jpg)
![Alliance Law Firm logo printed on a white coffee mug being held by a woman using a laptop](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/mug.min_-1024x697.jpg)
![Alliance Law Firm logo foil printed on a curved package made of a papery material](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/paper2.min_-1024x683.jpg)
![Alliance Law Firm logo printed on the cover of a notebook, displayed on top of a black organizer with a black pen next to it](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/notebook.min_-1024x682.jpg)
![Alliance Law Firm logo stamped in gold foil on white paper](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/paper9.min_-1024x695.jpg)
![Alliance Law Firm logo on glass](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/sign4.min_-1024x731.jpg)
![Alliance Law Firm embossed in gold foil text on black leather](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/paper11.min_-1024x655.jpg)
![Alliance Law Firm logo on a pen](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/pen.min_-1024x1024.jpg)
![Alliance Law Firm logo on an outdoor building sign](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/sign9.min_-1024x682.jpg)
Website
As I mentioned, the primary goal of the website part of the project was to refresh and modernize the look and feel.
Actual screens from old website
The folks at Alliance Law hired a professional photographer to take new staff photos, which we incorporated prominently in several areas of the website. They also recently opened a new office location in Eagan, Minnesota – so we revamped the contact page structure to clearly show both offices.
Another goal was to improve the information architecture of the website content through improved structure and wording through out the site.
The new site is a customized WordPress theme. After several rounds of iteration and revisions, we launched the new website.
Actual screens from new website
Website mockup examples
![Alliance Law Firm website displayed on an iMac screen at a slight angle in a dark setting](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/desktop.min_-1024x768.jpg)
![Alliance law firm logo and website displayed on letterhead, tablet with keyboard, front and back of business cards, sticky notes, and a pencil](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/hero.min_-1024x768.jpg)
![Woman sitting at a park bench holding a tablet displaying the Alliance Law Firm website](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/tablet.min_-1024x684.jpg)
![Mobile phone displaying the Alliance Law Firm website, sitting on a darkly lit desk, surrounded by miscellaneous office supplies](https://www.hoopsbrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/phone.min_-1024x683.jpg)
Wrap up
Overall, this was a fun project with several challenges that I could help solve. The team at Alliance Law Firm were also a pleasure to work with, and were very invested in the project.
This new website and brand refresh will help Alliance Law Firm continue to lead by example – helping clients with a modern approach in a traditional industry.