DeVITO DEFENSE - INITIAL LOGO CONCEPT
This logo is pretty straightforward and doesn't need a whole lot of explanation to get. It's a shield with the company initials stylized to look cool af. That's it. If you're in a time crunch you can skip the rest of this text because it's really just a cool shield with 2 D's.
To give off that premium vibe, less is more. This logo wouldn't feel out of place being gold foil stamped onto a high end luxury watch box. While it positions itself as a higher end, clean brand, it firmly plants itself into the 2A space with its color and styling without crossing over into mall ninja territory.
If you look at this logo and think "This doesn't look like a gun store logo" then I think we're on the right track. Forget the airsoft quality junk, $99 Hi-Points, and pawnshop vibe. You're at DeVito Defense because you are a connoisseur - you want the best, you've already read and watched the reviews, and you're glad theres a shop that has a curated selection of accessories and firearms that just understands and gets it. This isn't the place where you're going to listen to bubba explain how things would have ended differently if he was in 'Nam, or tell you the only thing you need is a 12GA loaded with birdshot because just the sound of racking your shotgun is sure to scare 'em off.
Some more logo notes: The shield isn't pointy, but rounded and shaped like the letter D to really drive that D theme home. The D's are stylized in a way to try to bring the V from DeVito into the logo to keep things interesting.
I know you asked for 2 D's back to back, but it goes against everything I stand for to intentionally display a letter backwards for a premium brand. I hope this is a good compromise.
Let me know what you think and what changes you would like to see. If you hate it, don't hold back. Honest feedback is important so we can land on a logo you can use for years without feeling like you settled.
The Color Palette
The Shield
Full Logo
Alternate Layout
Styling Examples
Black and white variants
UPDATED TYPE
NEW FONT / Reset the text in a different font that has proper small caps to eliminate the lowercase /e/. This weight is more similar to the shield and ligature, the font is also a bit wider so the /D/ in the type matches the shield better.
New font without shield
Original font with small caps. Wasn't a fan of how the V interacts with the E and I in this font with small caps, which is why I went with the above. However, this is more similar to the original if you didn't want to stray to far from that vibe.
Original font without shield
Original font / All caps.
Unused/dead direction.
It's hard to show my unused concepts because my artboard is an evolving mess. A lot of stuff never actually leaves my head, I might look at the version on the left and try to figure out the best way to frame it before I delete it all and move on to something else. These are the remnants of some unrefined early concepts that you can piece together to see how I got to the version I presented. Nearly all of them are framed even though they are not all shields.
I had trouble making the geometry of 2 D's look balanced in a shield since it is not a symmetrical letter and didn't want to reverse one of them. This is how I ended up with the rounded shield similar to the early version of the presented logo (2nd from right). My thinking was if I can match the curve of both the D and the shield it would look less forced and more like it belongs there even though it doesn't take up equal space on all sides. The angular versions were ultimately tossed to avoid a runic look.
I try not to stray too far from client's ideas unless I have something that's too good to not use. Success on my end was measured by how well I could incorporate the letters into a shield and make them look good.
