We recently collaborated with Dobbins Vintage Horse Box Conversions to create a brand identity for their new business through the development of a new logo and a series of marketing materials, from business cards & flyers to banners & signage.
About Dobbins Vintage Horse Box Conversions
What initially started as a hobby-based venture during the first Covid lockdown in 2020 by George and Jo to renovate vintage horseboxes, quickly turned into a profitable business.
Dobbins was set up later that year – to provide beautifully refurbished horseboxes for hire or lease at weddings, birthday parties and outdoor events.
“We had been converting old horseboxes for a short while, but liked doing it so much we decided to make a go of it as a full-time business,” said George
Dobbins is a mother and son partnership; George has a bespoke interiors company, while Jo has extensive experience of managing previous businesses.
The Requirements
As a new business, they realised new branding was needed to help make the company stand out, as well as material to promote and market themselves, including signage, fliers, and business cards.
Having previously worked with Life Design and Print they didn’t hesitate in picking up the phone to explain what they were looking for.
Jo said: “We have used Life before, so we had an existing relationship, and we knew they were people we could really rely on.”
“We wanted to be really proactive in our approach, especially as things started to reopen and events began again. We knew we needed a new brand and logo for Dobbins, so we didn’t hesitate to approach Life.
We had an idea of what we wanted, but we didn’t have the skills or experience to really bring it to life ourselves.”
The Activity
After contacting Life, there was a consultation meeting to explore Dobbins’ needs and ideas further so that the branding would achieve their objectives.
“We had an initial consultation with designer Michael about our ideas and what we were looking for,” explained Jo.
“Michael was very helpful and instantly knew what we were all about, and spent the time to help us get exactly what we needed”
“Michael designed a logo for us, and we feel he really captured what we were all about. He then applied it to all the marketing material – fliers, business cards, signage, and banners. Dobbin is a name for a horse, especially a workhorse, often used in children’s tales, and so that’s where the idea for the logo came.”
Outcomes and Results
The new logo, branding and printed marketing material provided Dobbins with the new identity they needed and enabled them to effectively promote the business with confidence.
Jo said: “The new logo looks really sophisticated and helps us to present the business in a very professional way.
“Working with Life was very easy and stress-free. Michael even went out of his way to visit us in person to make sure all the material was right after it had been delivered.
I would recommend Life to anyone who needs design and print work. They were really efficient, there was no bureaucracy at all, and they were very easy to contact.”
– Said Jo
View from the Designer
Life Design & Print’s senior designer explained how Jo came to them with a rough basis of a logo.
“We took what Jo supplied and created a style from that,” explained Michael.
“The aesthetic was very rural, but the horseboxes are being used for things like pop-up bars, so their brand needed to be rustic and we also needed to get across the use of it and its functionality. We came up with a number of options.”
Once the final logo was chosen, Michael made sure it was applied correctly to all the collateral.
“Jo wanted quite a few applications of their branding, including Dibond signage, so as they are local to us, I thought it would be good to meet with them in person and make sure everything was ok, which I think is very important.
“Overall, Jo was thrilled with the result.”
