Mattson Creative

OnWords Logo

We recently completed a brand identity development project and I think the logo turned out great. OnWords is a Washington DC based political organization that develops strategic messaging and specific language around progressive issues. We worked closely together to develop a name and visual identity that is simple, bold and sophisticated.

I think the best logos are the ones that communicate the “most with the least”. Below are two other logos I designed which I also think are successfully simple.

Most of the time, the trademark initials don’t compliment the mark, but in this case I used them to accentuate the intentionally incomplete type.

And I have always liked how this logotype integrates a “V”, the Roman numeral five, into the “M”.

World’s Biggest Fan of the World

Continuing our creative collaboration with Discovery Channel, we recently completed designs for their World’s Biggest Fan of the World brand campaign. We developed a series of logos, each comprised of multiple icons from the Discovery universe. The logos were applied to apparel, banners and products. This was such a fun project to work on and it turned out great!

The icons even found their way onto the table tops at the Discovery Times Square Exposition in New York. Cool!

Thought For Food

This was a fun project for a great client. Lunar is an incredible multidisciplinary design firm with offices in California, Europe and Hong Kong. I worked with their San Francisco team to develop a brand campaign around a student competition that they held. At this year’s IDSA conference in Portland, Lunar challenged students to rethink the way we transport food by creating a container made from found objects. I developed the name and logo for the competition, and applied the identity to posters, t-shirts, tags and cards.

Since the theme of the conference was DIY, I proposed that they actually print the campaign internally instead of hiring it out. The Lunar team was so excited to experiment with screen printing, they wound up creating all of the pieces of the campaign themselves. So cool!

360 Performance Driving

Most days, being a graphic designer is fairly mundane. Long hours in front of a computer. Searching for just the right Pantone color. Deciding between 6pt. or 7pt. type. But every once in a while…if you’re lucky…you get to do 360′s in a Lamborghini at 200mph.

A while back I designed the brand identity for 360 Performance Driving Academy, an elite training program where pros teach clients high-speed driving techniques. The logo was a simple, type-based solution, but the applications were very cool.

I designed a metal business card, similar to mine – which is two color (black & white) printed on die-cut aluminum, with embossed elements. I wanted the visual system to convey speed and motion but also the idea of control. So I tried to balance these dynamic, diagonal shapes with very structured type encasements and containers.

The same visual language was applied to a simple website concept, as well as vehicles and merchandise below.






I had the opportunity to actually go to one of the 360 programs, where world-class drifting champion, Samuel Hubinette was instructing. Here are a couple pictures and videos from the academy.




Samuel is known as “The Crazy Swede”. Which makes sense after you watch the videos above. Here is a logo I designed for his brand, Toxic Drift. I loved how this little mascot turned out.

Discovery Kids Rebrand

Discovery Kids started in 1996 as an extension of Discovery Channel but has since grown into an international retail and entertainment brand. We worked closely with Discovery Kids to align its new look with the Discovery Communications parent brand while still reflecting its unique character. The new identity encompasses a new logo, a packaging system, and a comprehensive style guide.