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Project · 05

Smo-King Joe's BBQ

Identity redesign · Production-ready system

The original Smo-King Joe's logo already had recognition worth keeping: fire, a circular badge, a ribbon, and a red-and-black BBQ feel. I did not want to erase that connection just to make the redesign feel new. I wanted to keep its character while giving the pieces more control, hierarchy, and purpose.

The new flame started as a drawing in Procreate, then became the idea that pulled the mark together. It is fire first, but its silhouette also reads as a crown. That gives the name Smo-King a visual payoff instead of using flame as generic BBQ decoration.

The bigger test was what happened after the logo looked good on a screen. I believe a mark should work in one color before texture, gradients, and other embellishments are added. Those details can elevate the identity, but they should never be what keeps it alive.

I built production versions with real applications in mind, including screen print, embroidery, signage, and laser engraving. I also made a simplified version without the distressed texture for processes that cannot carry that detail.

One of those applications became a small two-sided wooden pocket coin made on a Glowforge. I built a square alignment jig around the coin so I could engrave the front, flip the entire square exactly 180 degrees, engrave Joshua 1:9 on the back, and only then cut the finished circle free. The throwaway material was part of the design because it solved the registration problem.

That is the part of logo design I care about most. The polished version can have fire, color, and texture, but underneath it there still has to be a mark that can be printed, stitched, engraved, cut, scaled down, or blown up without falling apart.

The finished Smo-King Joe's BBQ identity.
Before and after. The redesign keeps the original badge, fire, and color cues while rebuilding them as a more controlled identity.
One-color construction. The mark no longer depends on photographic fire, gradients, or multiple colors to hold together.
Reconstructed from the original production file. A two-sided laser-engraved wood coin with the identity on the front and Joshua 1:9 on the back.
Color and reverse studies test the identity against very different backgrounds and reproduction needs.
Conceptual restaurant application. Even stripped to one color, the identity stays recognizable at environmental scale.
Takeout packaging study using a simple one-color imprint on kraft paper.
Apparel study showing the full-color identity on a dark garment.
Cap application. Apparel and embroidery were part of the production thinking, not an afterthought.
Exterior signage study. The silhouette and hierarchy still read when the mark leaves the page.
Sticker studies push the identity into smaller-format print while preserving the same core structure.
Billboard concept. The same mark that has to survive small production also has to command a large-format application.
Procreate recording of the flame-crown drawing process.