Dec 22, 2020

5 min read

12 Days of Dogs

Spreading some logo design love for the holidays

The Chinese calendar may say it’s the year of the rat, but it looks like 2020 has become the year of the dog instead. Dog adoptions have soared across North America, and in some cases, adoption rates have increased by as much as 85%.

I’ve witnessed this increase first-hand as I began looking for a dog back in June. I found that many of the humane societies and rescues I reached out to were consistently out of dogs or had a backlog of so many applications that they simply could not accept more.

Supply just couldn’t keep up with the demand.

It makes sense — many of us are now working from home and have the extra time to hang out with and train a new companion. I filled out 22 applications before a rescue called me back, and eventually, I got a foster dog. Humbled and inspired by this experience, I wanted to create something special for the holidays this year: I designed a series of logos for rescue dogs that were recently adopted or in foster care.

My criteria for submissions:

Your dog must have a cool nickname
Their photo must somehow match the nickname

Here are the lucky dogs (and parents) who won the rescue dog lottery this year and got their very own custom-designed logo as a holiday gift.

12 Days of Dogs — A Logo Series

Here’s Laguna channelling the beach vibes we’re all missing right now.

Like many of these rescue dogs, Queen Elsa was adopted by her fosters. I guess they couldn’t just “let her go.” 😂

It all started with Priscilla

I began fostering her last month and my husband and I quickly dubbed her Priscilla the Killa’ — not for the irony of her being small, but because of some fear-based aggression she was exhibiting (she’s doing much better now).

Being a designer, I created a logo for Priscilla and got a bunch of stickers made for her as well. I wanted to extend the love so I offered to design logos for more dogs that were either adopted or in foster care from rescues in Canada and abroad.

This project showcases the simple power of typography and colour. There are no icons or added embellishments in these designs. Just the basics using creativity, contrast, and balance between the text and images tying it all together.

Phoebe and Earleen really nailed the brief with their submissions.

As of this exact moment, Aviana is the only dog in this series that’s still available for adoption.

Last but not least, here’s Chewy Lewy to finish off the series. He was adopted by the time this was published.

A lot of good has come from this campaign. One applicant plans to turn her dog’s logo into wallpaper, while others have framed theirs. Overall it has been a fun way to welcome these dogs to their forever homes.

I learned a few things along the way:

A surprising number of people call their dog “potato” as a nickname. I received so many submissions like this that in the end, I decided no dog would be called potato. 😂
People often have way more photos of their dog than they do of themselves (and professional, too!). This made my job easier.📷
When something is free and you simply ask the recipient to send you a few things (i.e. submission criteria above), some people will ghost you. 🤷🏻
Some people will really go above and beyond. One of the submissions included the results of a DNA test confirming her dog is indeed a “Supermutt.” 🏆
There are really amazing people out there. I was overwhelmed with the gracious messages I received and the friendships I’ve made this month. It turns out that one of these dog mamas has lived on my street for two years and somehow we’d never crossed paths! 💪 Text exchange below: