A Monifieth man who has designed logos for several businesses in Dundee has shared his secrets after being nominated for a Scottish Design Award.
Kevin Blythe, 40, has designed for many well-known city businesses including Jon Frullani Architect, the Gidi Grill and The Tayberry.
Now, he has received the award nomination for design work he did for luxury Aberdeen housing development Bayview Estate.
Design clients include major banks and Dundee restaurants
Kevin has always been passionate about design, attending Dundee College and Duncan of Jordanstone after Madras College.
He went on to work as a designer for firms in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London, but when Covid hit he was made redundant.
He set up Kevin Blythe Design in 2020 and NatWest become one of his first customers.
“NatWest asked me to help design their new bank card. They wanted something bright and colourful that made you want to touch and hold it,” he said.
“Some of the other work came through recommendations from Jon Frullani. After I did his redesign, he’d suggest me to his clients.
“I also designed the Dundee Stars’ training kit, which Jon Frullani sponsors.
“For the Gidi Grill, the West African and Caribbean inspired restaurant in Dundee, I wanted a logo and colour scheme which reflected different elements of what it offers.”
‘Simplicity is hard’
Mr Blythe said ideas spark off in his head as soon as he receives a brief from the client.
But then a lot of work goes into distilling the ideas into a clean design which looks quite clean and simple.
“Simplicity is hard,” he said.
“Most of my designs might look simple but that’s not easy when you’re also reflecting what the business is all about.
“The new nomination for the Scottish Design Award is for the Bayview Estate development where one of the key features is its scenery and gardens.
“That led me to incorporate the foliage into the B of the company name. The fonts are a mixture of modern and traditional which also reflects the development.”
Passion for design
Kevin returned to working for an agency full-time earlier this year, Tayburn in Edinburgh, though he is still working on some freelance projects.
“The decision to go back to employment was really due to the uncertainty of businesses nowadays,” he said.
“A lot of my clients are in hospitality or property. I started working at Tayburn one day a week and gradually that increased to five days.
“I love my job and every day is different – I can be working on a luxury property development one minute and whisky packaging the next.
“Seeing the boost a rebranding can have for an established business is also really satisfying.”
