Civilization — Eric Trine

Summary

Eric Trine is a California-based, object designer and artist that describes his work best by posing the question, “What if Charles Eames, Buckminster Fuller, and Sam Maloof were surfing buddies?” To match his growing brand we created a playful new identity.

Background

Eric Trine’s work is a blend of casual and playful with product designs ranging anywhere from geometric side tables, leather woven chairs to sculpturally–driven plant holders.

Organization Type

Furniture Designer, Small Business, Made in USA

Assignment

Create a visual language that is in line with Eric Trine’s growing brand and ever–expanding product lines and future ventures.

Client

Eric Trine

Years

2016

Location

Long Beach, CA USA

Approach

In early conversations with Eric it became clear that the concept of a “house” was crucial to his work. At the core of what Eric Trine does is create objects that are put in people’s homes. Inspiration for the identity came after our team asked Trine what his dream project would be. Trine answered that, more than anything, he’d like to design a playground. To arrive at the final identity we studied old playground equipment and echoed the systems of interlocking shapes and curves. The result is a logo that reads as if it were a structure someone could literally play on. The lines within the logo reveal a hidden monogram — spelling out the letters of Eric Trine’s name. The color palette — a vibrant blue set against light pink and green pastels — was lifted from colors Trine uses in his own work while also giving the identity Trine’s signature west–coast and season neutral feel — reflecting southern California’s subtle seasonal differences.