Ely’s Auto

In 2015 the owner of a used car lot in South Florida asked me to rebrand it. It had been Ely’s Automotive since 2012, a name I’d suggested when the lot was still The Car Guys. It sat next door to the family tire shop, Ely’s Tires. New logo, signage, banners, flyers, a new site.

The real problem was not the name. It was the road, already saturated with dealerships. He gave me free rein. Free rein usually produces something tasteful, and tasteful would have vanished into the row. So I went bold, in a bright tropical palette, the colors already outside the window.

Creating the logo

The first rounds used Ely’s Automotive. Laid out the way it would have to sit, the name was too long. The owner and I cut it down to Ely’s Auto. These are the concepts from before the cut.

The shorter name let me redraw it. Rounded edges, heavier weight, and the vehicle mark set into the typography instead of parked next to it.

Exterior Signage and Window Treatments

I drew a graphic for every window, printed on perforated vinyl and adhered to the glass. From the street each window reads as solid artwork. From inside it is still a window, dimmer, the light coming through the perforations.

Banners & Marketing

The owner wanted banners for the other properties, so I made variations for each location.

Then flyers, mailed out and handed out at those same properties, in English and Spanish. The English one asked “Got $500 down?” The Spanish one asked “Tienes $500 Dollares de down?” I set the Spanish as its own layout rather than pouring translated copy into the English artwork.

The site

The home page opened full bleed and cycled the ten most recent vehicles straight out of the vehicles database. The front of the site restocked itself every time a car did.

Documentation

The last piece was the paperwork a customer holds. Seven pages, one system. The inspection form carries eighteen checks and two line drawings of a car to mark up. Behind it, a reference list, a credit application, a warranty, a Florida tag and title notice, a bailment agreement.

One page still names the company Ely’s Automotive Inc., with The Car Guys in parentheses. The old name never left. It moved into the fine print. I was still opening the logo files in 2018.