PP Smith

Branding and UI design for the imaginary ‘Howdy Partner Records’.
This was a self-initiated project, in which I wanted to have some fun while learning new tools like Adobe After Effects. I have always wanted to launch a record label, so this was the perfect excuse to do so.

I wanted the Howdy Partner brand to be welcoming and inviting, in name and in presence. I felt the brand should embody inclusivity, and promote exciting, new music from a range of artists. It would be important to subvert the machismo connotations of the cowboy, making the connection more to contemporary depictions of the aesthetic in film and queer media. The logo is intended to evoke the idea of neon signs, used in Saloons and bars across the USA.

This project started out in my sketchbook. I was doodling around the theme of cowboys and the iconography that accompanies it. After trying (and failing) to capture the essence of a friendly horse, I started to move towards the idea of the tipping hat, which went hand-in-hand with the greeting ‘Howdy Partner’. This really embodied the welcoming feeling that I wanted to convey with the branding. Once I found a configuration I was happy with, I scanned it and brought it into Adobe Illustrator.

For the Howdy Partner Logo, I considered hand-drawn typefaces with a DIY aesthetic and researched woodcut block typefaces, overall preferring their strength and directness. However, I felt the ‘western’-style typography was too literal. I settled on Rockwell, a slab-serif designed in 1934 by Monotype Corporation. I selected ‘Neue Haas Grotesk Display Pro’ (catchy title) as the chosen font for online content. It is clean, classic and optimised for screens with a large variety of line weights.

I wanted to include authenticity in the detailing, as a basis for informing my decisions. I looked into traditional natural and synthetic dyes popular in the 19th-century US. I used this as a basis for selecting accent colours as part of the website UI design. Overall, I wanted to create an identity that could exist primarily in black and white, with a flexible approach to using colour for categories, web links and other flourishes.

I created quick paper wireframes in order to develop the key components that should be displayed on the website homepage. I then moved these rough ideas into a digital wireframe in Adobe XD, using margins and a grid system to optimise the design. Initially I was set on using the visual logo more frequently. However, at a small scale the text logo retained the most clarity.

To illustrate the UI design, I created a simple animation in Adobe After Effects and converted this into an animated .GIF for use on this website.

Basic wireframe for desktop and a version of the navigation bar. The dropdown shown on the right would be accessed by clicking the navigation button in the top left.

In general, I wanted the music and the artists to be the most important elements on the site. I gave new releases priority, with the ability to dig deeper using the navigation menu.