Local History Inspires Logo Design
WEAL – Waterloo Engineering alumni letter
Sandrina Dumitrascu (BAS (Hons) ’06, MArch ’09) is adding her own twist to the growing industry as part-time creative director for KW Craft Cider, a new startup that uses local apples harvested in the Waterloo Region.
It’s a turn that has even Dumitrascu surprised.
As an OAA intern architect, urban and landscape designer with Toronto-based firm regionalArchitects planningAlliance, she’s more accustomed to envisioning public spaces and buildings than logos. But when the cider company’s founder (and her life partner) Michael Kramar, asked her to develop the design, she wanted to give it a shot.
She studied Waterloo Region’s manufacturing to high-tech history to create the industrial yet modern look, taking inspiration from old, local factories, such as the Lang Tanning building signage. It was a research process she learned as both a Waterloo School of Architecture undergraduate and master’s student.
“At Waterloo, we were always encouraged to understand the history and culture of a place. So creating this logo was very similar to working on an architecture project and understanding how a building fits into a physical and cultural context,” she says.
Even so, there was one major difference to contend with: tight timelines.
“I started designing the logo in the fall of 2014 and then in February 2015 it was printed on 3300 bottles.” she says. “Seeing my ideas turn into a product that quickly was definitely rewarding!”
