The concept of our logo was born long before the rest of the branding of our company and even before the company name. For the past 15 years, one face has been at the forefront of our founder’s mind, and that is the face of her beautiful border collie, Lightning.
Lightning was in Elle’s life for nearly 15 years. She was the last to be born out of four pups and had a clear lightning-shaped marking on her back, hence the nickname that stuck, Lightning. It was love at first sight for Elle and my goodness was the feeling mutual. As Lightning grew into the sassy, rather scatty little dog that she was, the bond grew stronger and stronger. Border collies are well known for being ‘one-person’ dogs and Elle was her person.
Lightning was a very nervous girl and throughout her life she struggled with trusting new people, new dogs, loud noises, bad weather, fireworks (the list goes on!); so, naturally, Elle took her under her wing even more ferociously and made it her mission to ensure that every day wasn’t a scary one for Lightning. Throughout their years together, they went on hundreds of walks, took lots of holidays, enjoyed beach days (Lightning’s particular favourite) and, most of all, enjoyed each other’s time and unwavering friendship.
Elle said goodbye to her beautiful girl in September 2024 after 14+ years with her by her side. Life has not been the same since and she is missed every day.
So when we started brainstorming logo ideas with our branding partner, Engage Convert, Elle had a clear vision of what the logo was going to be – the face of her best friend. Gareth and the team at Engage Convert listened to the brief and felt the importance of getting the logo and branding right for Clever Animal Marketing, as it is so close to our hearts. Now, every time we look at our logo, we think of our beautiful girl, Lightning.
