Visual identity for a luxury men’s jewelry brand

Context

Crius Jewelry is a company founded by Marc Botter and two of his friends. It started from a personal connection: one of the founders is a goldsmith, which is why every bracelet is handcrafted. The target audience is men who value artisanal jewellery in the luxury segment, real gold, hand-forged. The logo needed to be highly scalable, from packaging to the website.

Problem

Crius already had an identity built around a wordmark, but it didn't represent what the brand stood for.

Role and approach

I took on the visual positioning of Crius; the strategic direction had largely already been worked out by the founders themselves. One important value I had to incorporate into the visual identity was the so-called "old money" vibe. To achieve this, I researched major jewellery and fashion brands like Hermès and Cartier for inspiration. I designed a crown for the top of the logo, to give it a royal and luxurious feel. To finish the old-money look, I stuck with British racing green and a royal orange.

Decisions and trade-offs

For the crown, I did careful research and found that a five-pointed crown isn't just free to use in the Netherlands: it's reserved for Royal Warrant holders of the Dutch royal house. So I designed a different type of crown, one that still carries the same royal, luxurious feel without infringing on that restriction.

Result

Together, these elements achieved the vintage look and luxurious atmosphere that defines Crius' handcrafted jewellery. Marc and his business partner responded very positively; the branding worked so well that they went on to build out the website themselves and develop packaging using the colours and logo, and came back to me again for a follow-up project.