Two brothers who had just settled a years-long feud came to me wanting to start a business together.
Because that’s normal.
One had a background in military logistics and the other a background in inventory management for large-scale companies. Between the two of them, they had the stuff for getting something serious off the ground. Most companies and organizations that sell goods netting in the hundreds of thousands typically handle inventory themselves with bespoke management systems and entire divisions devoted to loss prevention and product retrieval efficiency. But what if you’re a smaller, leaner company with grit and without the resources for high-magnitude solutions?
Enter Hive Solutions. They aim to present as a combination coach and hired-gun for companies who aim to leverage the cost-saving measures of proper product management.
Inspiration for the logo came from both the name and the industry. Considering that a hive is the home base and where bees’ “inventory” is kept, I created an oblong beehive form and treated each line as a shelf. On top of each “shelf” are various boxes, both to create unique visual interest and to represent stored inventory—the very thing Hive Solutions promises to help their clients manage.
Process
I started with some of the more obvious elements, like bees, hives, and distinctive hexagon honeycomb shapes. From there, things took some weird turns but it always came back the essence of what a hive truly is: a central location that stores product and acts as a hub for daily life. When you’re a small to medium business owner, that’s what your business is—an area of your life that you take more ownership over than anyone else and where much of your life is lived and invested in.
I don’t like obvious design but I couldn’t help but return to the visual of a hive. While I’m a firm believer that logos don’t have to be representative of their name or company, this one lends itself so well to it. So I allowed myself to think literally and I ended with a slightly abstracted and deconstructed beehive mark. In my eyes, each horizontal line of the Hive mark became a shelf; each sporadic vertical line became an item on that shelf.
The Final
