Great Goteley Wood LOGO DESIGN & BRANDING
Brand Identity, Packaging Artwork and Illustration for a Woodland Charcoal Business.
Client: Great Goteley Wood
Skills: Logo Design + Brand Identity + Packaging Design + Illustration + Web Design
This Illustrated Logo Design & Brand Identity was created for Great Goteley Wood, a woodland charcoal business that needed a distinctive, natural visual style for its packaging, website, stationery and marketing materials.
The project centred around an illustrated owl logo, supported by bespoke branch, leaf and wood-type illustrations. Although the finished artwork was created digitally as clean vector artwork, I wanted it to retain the warmth, irregularity and crafted feel of a hand-drawn illustration.
The brief was fairly open, which gave me room to explore a range of logo concepts, emblem ideas and illustrative directions. Once the main logo design was approved, I developed the wider brand identity further with supporting icons and lineart illustrations to help distinguish the different charcoal products.
Both myself and Alex really appreciate the work you have done for us and will pass on your contact details to any friends who may need your services in the future.
Duncan – Great Goteley Wood
Great Goteley Wood’s Branding
The Great Goteley Wood logo and brand identity combines a bespoke illustrated logo with supporting vector illustrations created in Adobe Illustrator. Vector artwork allowed the identity to be reproduced clearly across different sizes and formats, from packaging and stationery to website graphics.
The main creative challenge was making precise digital artwork feel natural, organic and hand-drawn. I used varied line weights, tapered strokes and carefully drawn details to give the illustrations a more crafted woodland character while maintaining the clarity needed for professional reproduction.
For the font, I used Bonzer – San Francisco for its clean lines and subtle hint of spaghetti western character. The small details helped the text flow around the circular design and added a little extra personality without overpowering the owl illustration.
The banner elements were designed to frame the owl illustration, support the circular composition and give the text a strong, balanced area to sit within, while keeping the overall identity clean and practical.
Packaging Design
The primary purpose of the new logo, emblems and supporting illustrations was to create packaging artwork for Great Goteley Wood’s charcoal bags. Once the bag size and format had been chosen, I created the artwork around the practical requirements of the packaging, including safe areas, folds, seals and clear visibility.
Because the charcoal bags were made from brown paper, the artwork needed to stand out clearly while still feeling natural and understated. A black-only design worked beautifully for this, giving the packaging strong contrast, a traditional feel and a clean visual connection to the charcoal product itself.
I also illustrated different branch and leaf types for each wood type used in the charcoal. These supporting illustrations helped distinguish the product varieties while adding extra visual interest and depth to the wider brand identity.
Owl Logo Illustration
The owl illustration was based on a range of tawny owl reference photographs. I combined different references to capture the right characteristics while shaping the artwork to fit neatly within the circular logo area.
The client also asked me to incorporate oak leaves into the illustration. An early idea placed the owl within an oak tree, but this made the owl too small to read clearly at reduced sizes. Instead, I illustrated an oak branch with leaves and acorns for the owl to perch on, keeping the woodland detail while maintaining a stronger, clearer logo shape.
Website Design
I also designed the website for Great Goteley Wood, extending the wider Brand Identity into a more immersive digital format.
I used WordPress so the site could be expanded over time and allow the client to make smaller updates themselves. At this stage, the website needed to present information about the woodland management work, charcoal products and the story behind the business in a clear, visually engaging way.
The homepage used a one-page structure with animated and interactive elements, leading visitors into full-page sections for the main content areas. This helped quickly introduce the key parts of the business while allowing people to browse the topics that interested them most.
The main navigation was hidden behind a standard burger icon, opening into a full-screen menu for easy access. These links took visitors to more detailed pages with further information about each section of the website.
Business Card Designs
For the business cards, we chose a square format to create something a little more distinctive than a standard rectangular card.
Striking charcoal photography was used as the background artwork, helping reinforce the main product while giving the printed stationery a strong, tactile visual character.
Emblem Designs
These emblems were created for use on Great Goteley Wood’s charcoal bags. I achieved the natural lineart effect by drawing each line with pressure sensitivity in Illustrator using a graphics tablet.
Lineart Illustrations
The icons were created in the same style as the Great Goteley Wood logo design to strengthen the wider brand identity. I drew each line by hand using a graphics tablet, then refined the artwork with custom Illustrator brushes and line-weight settings to create more natural tapered strokes.
I carefully adjusted the line weight to draw attention to the most prominent features, while giving the more detailed areas enough breathing space to remain clear.
Alternative Logo Designs
A selection of alternative logo concepts and ideas created during the Great Goteley Wood brand identity process.
