PitFunk was a fun little project I put together as a Christmas gift for my fiancé.

He's been a huge music lover for as long as I've known him and has played drums as a hobby since he was 15. Recently, he'd been wanting to learn guitar so he can eventually record covers of his favorite songs and share them on YouTube. So I saw an opportunity to make that dream a little more fun.

He's also always joked that if he ever started a rock band, PitFunk would be a pretty good name. So, for Christmas, I bought him an electric guitar and created an entire brand for his fictional band, PitFunk. The idea was to give him everything he'd need to launch his YouTube channel once he was ready to start sharing his music.

THE BRAND

"The client" grew up listening to a lot of heavy metal, which became a major influence on the visual identity. I took inspiration from the genre's signature spiky, over-the-top lettering when designing the custom logo.

I also pulled in a few things that are a little more personal to him. Purple is his favorite color, so naturally, it had to be a big part of the brand. Around the time I was working on PitFunk, he'd also just finished a six-year enlistment in the U.S. Navy, where he worked as a nuclear electrician on submarines. I used electrical motifs throughout the branding as a nod to that part of his life, which also felt right for a band with a name like PitFunk.

PitFunk was a chance to have a little fun with branding while creating something meaningful for someone I love. And now, when he's ready to share his music with the world, he'll already have a brand that's entirely his own.