Dan Sheridan on Design
We asked Dan Sheridan to design a small word mark for us for “A Life of Wonder.” Dan is a a graphic designer from Connecticut and we’ve loved his work for a long time. We asked Dan to share a bit more about his work and his concepts for the design he developed for us.
My name is Daniel Sheridan and I am a graphic designer based out of Sandy Hook, Connecticut. I have been designing for about ten years now, and am coming up on two years working full time as a freelancer under Sheridan Studio. I specialize in hand drawn lettering and illustration, and my approach to design starts with finding the proper inspiration. I often find myself looking back to vintage design found on turn of the century items, labels, patches, and packages. Thing you can find at the flea market or the antique store, from old spark plug tins to spot illustrations in story books. Even the most mundane items back then had incredible design worked into their look, all created by hand, and that's just the way it was.
The term "a life of wonder" stuck out to me in this project. It's light and whimsical, but holds a lot of depth as well when you think about it. To me, it speaks to the root of why we as people do what we do, no matter what that is. It implores you to consider the reason behind taking action, and to never stop thinking and creating. And it is true that everyone deserves this.
After discussing the initial ideas for this design, we chose a classic bold script style for the lettering. Something that could live on its own with no added bells or whistles, just a well balanced and legible design that leaves the viewer to ponder the meaning. These days, I do most of my drawing on my iPad Pro using the Procreate app, which automatically takes a video of the process. Here is a time lapse view of my design taking shape.
