Recently, I completed a branding and logo project for a new business called The Coyote Group. After briefly meeting the company’s president, Mark Wiley, and learning that he helps large businesses save on their communication services, I pondered why the company’s name was called The Coyote Group. I literally laughed out loud when Mark told me that it was simply because of his last name’s tie to the cartoon character Wile E Coyote. He explained that when he started his business, he explored many different name options and he discovered that most “generic” names were already taken or just too boring. As someone with a good sense of humor, he decided to go with The Coyote Group.

While I enjoyed learning the truth behind his company name, I also felt challenged to give his brand a more meaningful and thoughtful message, so I set out to do some research. In my search for different cultural interpretations of coyotes, I discovered that many Native Americans believed that the coyote had the power to transform itself. There were also many beliefs that sighting a coyote indicated a shift in the natural balance of things, which would lead you in a new direction. This information made perfect sense for the branding message of The Coyote Group, since the company helps other companies change their communication services to be more affordable and efficient. I created a tagline and descriptor - “transforming your business communications”. Not only did this describe what The Coyote Group does, but it also gave meaning and purpose to the name, exactly what I had set out to do!

Now that I had accomplished my first goal, I could set out to design a logo to compliment the messaging of the brand. I wanted the logo to communicate a certain level of intrigue and mystery (think transformer!) and I also did not want to use a stereotypical image of a coyote. I found myself constantly drawn to the eyes of coyotes in photographs that I was using for inspiration. And so this is the logo that I developed:

It accomplished everything that I had set out to achieve, and luckily for me, the client agreed! So while he and I (and now you!) know the real truth behind The Coyote Group’s name, you can see that giving a logo meaning should be an important part to building a unique brand.

To see some of my other design work, click here!