THE PINK CAT had the honor of collaborating with Carob Tree Publishing, the first 100% women-owned publishing house committed to producing Made-in-Monaco books, by designing their logo and establishing their visual identity.

About Carob Tree Publishing

Co-founded by internationally recognized journalist Nancy Heslin and award-winning film producer Lacey da Costa, this “Monaco’s bookshelf” is dedicated to promoting women authors and women-driven projects that share inspiring stories related to the Principality. They shared some exciting news with us: Carob Tree Publishing is expected to release their first book this September. Titled “100 Years of Women Driving Motorsport in Monaco,” the book explores the many roles women have played in steering motorsport in Monaco. We can’t wait to read it!

Carob Tree Publishing reflects the co-founders’ values by combining the art of storytelling with a commitment to advocating for inclusivity and community. The Made-in-Monaco books aim to create a publishing ecosystem that supports local writers, designers, photographers, artists, businesses, and printers in the Principality, with the goal of bringing their stories to a global market.

Nancy is also known for her not-for-profit project “Good News, Monaco” founded in November 2020 to support local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This initiative regularly publishes inspiring personal and professional stories of Monaco’s residents. Our founder, Barbara Buljat Raymond, had the honor of being hosted by the Good News, Monaco, introducing The Pink Cat, and sharing a few secrets of creating a good logo.

Visual identity for Carob Tree Publishing

Creating a visual identity for a new brand is always exciting. The process usually starts by capturing the contagious enthusiasm and passion from the brand’s founders, ensuring their ideas are effectively transferred “from mind to paper.” Needless to say, agency-client communication is a crucial element in creating a visual identity, especially at the beginning of the design journey. To help our clients fully express their needs and to ensure we understand their vision, we follow these four key steps:

1. Research and Discovery: Understanding the brand’s mission, values, target audience, and market positioning. We gather this information through an extensive brand questionnaire and discussions.
2. Concept Development: Brainstorming and developing concepts that reflect the brand’s personality and goals. The founders of Carob Tree Publishing were particularly helpful here, as they had a clear vision of the brand’s logo, which they expressed through descriptions and inspirational images.
3. Design Elements: Creating core design elements such as logos, color palettes, typography, and imagery styles. Following two rounds of revisions, we defined a branding kit consistent with the brand’s values and personality.
4. Guidelines and Documentation: Developing a comprehensive brand style guide that outlines the visual standards and usage guidelines. In addition to delivering the logo in vector format, we provided a comprehensive “Visual Identity & Brand Guidelines” package that includes: logo variations, color palette, typography guidelines, design elements, photography inspiration, print & mockups, moodboard, and instructions on how to use the brand guidelines.

This structured approach ensures a cohesive and effective visual identity that accurately represents the brand.

The founders of the Carob Tree Publishing, Nancy and Lacey, had a clear vision for the visual identity of their new brand: to embrace the look and feel of this unique tree, with an interesting detail of illustrating the tree growing from an open book. “Challenge accepted!” We embarked on a design journey and proposed a few logo versions.

By the way, did you know that there is an important symbolism behind the name of this brand? The carob tree is the national tree of the Principality of Monaco. Rich, gracious, and perfectly imperfect, this tree can produce about 1,300 kg of fruit each year. Therefore, historically, the fruits of this generous tree was used to feed domestic animals. After some exchanges, we found common ground and—tadaaa! We created a perfectly imperfect, unique tree. And that’s how the Carob Tree Publishing brand was made!

To ensure the logo works well in different types and sizes of digital spaces, we created four versions of the logo: the main version, an alternative version, a pictorial mark, and a textual mark. This allows for logo versatility — the ability of a logo to be effectively used across various mediums, sizes, and contexts without losing its impact or clarity. Additionally, we ensured the logo is visible on various backgrounds by delivering an alternative pack of logos for dark backgrounds.

Finally, sticking to brand guidelines and maintaining consistency across materials is vital for branding because it:

• Enhances Recognition: Consistent use of brand elements like logos, colors, and fonts makes it easier for customers to recognize and remember the brand.
• Builds Trust: A cohesive and professional appearance across all touchpoints fosters trust and credibility with the audience.
• Reinforces Brand Identity: Uniformity in branding materials helps communicate the brand’s values and personality effectively.
• Prevents Confusion: Consistent branding avoids mixed messages and ensures that the brand is perceived as unified and reliable.

Overall, consistency strengthens the brand’s presence and impact in the market. If you want to learn more about why defining brand guidelines matter, take a look at this article.

Carob Tree Publishing was Presented to Monaco’s Community

On June 10 2024, we had a pleasure to participate in the MonacoUSA Networking Event “Meet The Publishers”, where Carob Tree Publishing was introduced with great interest. Nancy and Lacey presented the main objective of the project, elaborated on their future prospects, and invited everyone with an interesting story to submit their manuscript via their website. They also encouraged sponsors to support this important project, which addresses the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 5: “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.”

Created in 1973 at the express wish of H.S.H. Princess Grace, the MonacoUSA Association has been the Principality’s main “rendezvous” for resident Americans and native Monegasque citizens for the past 50 years, as well as friends of both nations from around the globe. Today, MonacoUSA serves as a social and business network for Americans, Monegasques, and other English-speaking members of the international community. We would like to thank the association for the warm welcome at the beautifully renovated restaurant Conscientiae.

We wish great success to this brilliant female duo in their new publishing adventure! We hope the visual identity of Carob Tree Publishing will serve them well and highlight the uniqueness of their brand. Nancy and Lacey, thank you for your trust.

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