Dura Cast-Iron Foundry – Courtney Shaw: Portfolio

Building a Better Branding System

While foundry casting is as much of a craft as any other, this industry generally lacks visual interest in its public appearance. The resulting identity for Dura became a mission to defy the rigid visual language commonly exploited in the industrial branding sphere.

Commemorating Craftsmanship

Dura's contemporary branding decisions are a visual ode to the art of the foundry and its artists: the hardworking, experienced, and innovative metalworkers who work towards one goal-creation.

Designing for Expansion

The Dura logo is placed against a molten gradient background inspired by the beginning stages of the cast-iron process- in which metal is melted down into liquid and poured into a mold. Additionally, the ambiguous shapes of Dura's logo and subsidiary branding system help to reduce the complete positioning of DURA to one clear descriptor.

Dura's Subsidiary Brands

Each mark contains four simple forms- a triangle, circle, rectangle, and semicircle- those of which not only serve as the building blocks in the casting process but also crystalize themselves into each of DURA's subsidiary logo designs.The logo system serves as a carefully crafted symbol of the foundry's strength, straightforward approach, and reliability.

Building a Better Branding System

Commemorating Craftsmanship

Designing for Expansion

Dura's Subsidiary Brands

Subsidiary Organic Social