Design Responsibilities

Logo Design & Business Card Design

Company Background

Maskosis Iskwew Photography is owned and operated by a young emerging photographer, named Torrance YoungChief, a Kehewin Cree Nation band member from St. Paul Alberta. She is specializes in Portrait, Indigenous, and Family photography and needed a logo to reflect her heritage through her business.

Objective

Being a young Indigenous woman herself, Torrance’s photography business needed to incorporate elements of her Kehewin Cree Nation heritage into the design. With a sophisticated feel that represents her business name and concept – “Maskosis Iskwew” means both a young woman and a bear in Cree -, the design needed to be both feminine and iconic to embody both concepts adequately, while also including the name of her business written in Cree. The smooth curved lines beautifully communicate the feminine essence, while the iconic bear properly represents Torrance’s rich culture and heritage. Colours to be incorporated were blue, black and/or silver, so that it could also carry the effect of a silver foil look in print. Business cards were all that were required for this project, in addition to the logo.

Target audience

• Indigenous Women
• Those needing Portraits
• Families
• 16-55 years old
• Local Albertans
• Strong family and cultural values and pride
• Lower to middle class income levels (income to spend on valuable memories)

Brand voice

• Sophisticated but are not stuffy
• Feminine
• Welcoming
• Inclusive
• Empowerement

Insight

Indigenous peoples and culture deserve to be celebrated and valued and what better way than to capture the essence of this rich culture in beautiful photography. Capturing Indigenous women in their traditional clothing and dance postures helps honour the Cree heritage and history that Torrance (and so many others like her) so proudly embodies.