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Eleos Pilates is a “come-and-move-kinda space” in Richmond, Virginia. What started as an in-home pilates studio is now an eight person team with a brick and mortar space in the Church Hill neighborhood. Eleos is founded on the idea that Pilates should be about healing and rejuvenation, and founder Miriam Bonano came to us for a brand to convey that. We developed a brand identity for Eleos rooted in playfulness and calm to match the studio’s welcoming energy. From the instructors to the space, and now the website and branding, Eleos is a space for movement that nourishes you.
↳ Logo
↳ Brand Identity
↳ Illustrations
↳ Website
For the Eleos logo, we wanted to convey a balance of movement, serenity, and excitement. The logotype is based on the flowing movement of the font Gooper Italic (with some minor alterations to the terminals on the letter s). The gentle lean of the italic letters brings energy and movement to the logotype, while the low contrast forms keep it calm and grounded. The secondary logotype “jumble”, evocative of Pilates movements, adds a playful looseness to the visual identity. The jumble references the different forms the body takes when doing Pilates, and works great as a pattern or supporting graphical element.
A state of balance can’t be achieved without first introducing some degree of contrast, a concept we illustrated with the Eleos minimalist brand palette. By utilizing two primary brand colors, the contrasting hues of a cool stone blue and a rich chocolate brown, the Eleos brand evokes steadiness, sure footing, and stability. It is light and airy without lacking substance. The stone blue reminds us of the strong, weathered rock of an oceanside cliff, while the chocolate brown speaks of rich, loamy earth and ancient trees. The brand palette is rounded out and made functional with 50% and 80% tints of each color.
For the brand typography, Gooper’s upright styles are used for headlines, both the regular and condensed widths. The supporting text typeface, Work Sans, is a large type family with great versatility. Based on early Grotesques, Work Sans has more warmth and character that some more geometric sans serifs but still feels contemporary and highly legible.
The floral and crane illustrations for Eleos are extensions of the brand’s visual language. The illustrations are characterized by bold shapes, energetic movement, and rich contrast. To add a sense of intentionality to the floral illustrations, each design was started with a framing square in mind. Instead of freely sketching wild and loose shapes with no structure, these designs were made to fill a space; stretching and contorting to achieve a desired form, much like the body does when exercising.
After finalizing the Eleos visual brand identity, we designed and built a new Squarespace site putting it all to use.
Copywriting: Lauren Bogan
Photography: Rachel Gierlach
