Design Portfolio

Waterfront Auto Complex

Story: In 2004, I noticed a car wash that was being renovated on a street adjacent to one of the more impressive brownfield developments in the Pittsburgh region. Working as a freelance designer at the time, I decided to make a cold call to the owner to see if he would be interested in design and marketing services for what was a large expansion of the services he offered. After about 45 minutes, we had a handshake agreement that I would develop a logo for the newly-formed Waterfront Auto Complex.

Challenge: The company, operating as "Tunnel O' Suds" for more than two decades, was taking a risk in expanding their business and rebranding their entire operation. The new brand needed to be memorable and focused on location (near The Waterfront, a mixed-use brownfield development near Pittsburgh) rather than the various business services.

Goal: Create a brand that would be memorable, unique, flexible and help customers locate the business.

Solution: The brand identity was built using the river and the "stacks", the smokestacks used in cooking coke for the making of steel that were preserved as a distinctive feature of The Waterfront, as major symbols. It used several colors, all of which had meaning to the business: blue to signify location near the river; orange to signify the color of the bricks used in the construction of the smokestacks; and a metallic finish to signify automotive chrome. Combined, the mark could be used in a variety of contexts.

This design project led to the complete overhaul of the company's marketing collateral, including print and web. My personal favorite was the Pepsi hang tag, which was attached to every two-liter bottle of Pepsi within a 10-mile radius of their location.