Samantha Loiacono project was to create a logo and develop the branding around an organization within an organization GARP - Gives for Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). GARP Gives in a nonprofit philanthropy driven part of the company that does annual events such as coat donations, toy drives, can collection for food pantries and so forth.

I’m a fan of minimalist work and logos that have something hidden within them, something really conceptual. Since GARP Gives is all about giving back the idea of having two hands within the G would further that concept and that message. The typeface and lockup of the logo mirrors the branding of GARP’s current logo so they feel like a unit.
-Samantha Loiacono

I work at GARP now as an art director so the idea to create a logo and branding around this new branch being started came to me from someone else and it was definitely exciting to come up with a design from scratch and then to write the branding guidelines around that logo. I started off simple and made a basic logo with our company colors and then a knockout version to match but wanted the option to have event specific logos as well so I created versions where the icon can be interchanged with what type of event we’re doing. Coat for coat drive, ribbon for cancer awareness etc. and the lowercase G will always reflect the color of the icon or the cause we’re trying to raise awareness to.
-Samantha Loiacono

I always describe what I do as stylized realism when it comes to my illustrative work but in terms of design I would say I lean towards clean, simple, modern aesthetics. Something bold with high contrast that will grab your attention. My inspirations, well I have several across the board, I grew up on Tim Burton so his art directly impacted my illustrations but I love Sam Spratt, Gabriel Moreno as illustrators. In terms of designers Michael Bierut, Jacqueline Casey, Paul Rand, Milton Glaser, Paula Scher, Susan Kare, Chip Kidd’s Jurassic Park Books and Massimo Vignelli his famous mantra was always, “If you can design one thing, you can design everything”
-Samantha Loiacono

I love design that makes a difference, if it’s going to help people or help to portray an important message, I’m in, that’s the work I gravitate towards. Do something creative everyday. Draw, sketch, doodle, color whatever it is. Don’t stop doing what you’re love and what you’re passionate about and if you keep going at it you’ll have a body of work you’re really proud of and be doing work that means something to you, which is important.
-Samantha Loiacono

About Samantha Loiacono

Samantha Loiacono is an Interdisciplinary Designer and Art Director originally from Upstate, NY residing in Brooklyn. She is an alumni of Pratt Institute and freelances mostly for nonprofit and philanthropy organizations such as Women’s Take the Lead, NY Harbor School, the Billion Oyster Project and Playable Toys. She currently works out of Jersey City as an Art Director while pursuing her side projects such as her debut novel The Fun(NY) Girl. See more of her works on Behance or her website.