Hash Milhan

Providence Auto

Client
Providence Auto
Discipline
Brand identity
Year
2016
  • Providence AutoCar export, part of Providence Trading
  • 40+ marketsCars sourced and shipped worldwide
  • 10 yearsIn use since 2016

Providence Auto sources cars from more than 40 markets and ships them to the buyer’s port. It needed a mark that works on a number plate, a website and a profile picture, so I built one shape that carries both initials: a ring, cut into a p and an a.

Providence Auto grew out of Providence Trading, whose cyan and grey P I drew in 2011. The new mark keeps those two colours, so the family resemblance shows at a glance, and it dropped straight into Providence Trading’s existing adverts.

Ten years on, it still carries the business: on its website, its social channels and the number plates of the cars it delivers.

The mark

Two letters, one ring.

1 2 3 4
  1. 1One ring makes both bowls, so the two letters read as a single shape.
  2. 2A single diagonal cut turns the ring into a p and an a.
  3. 3The p’s stem and the a’s side match in width, so the pair sits as one solid block, bold enough for a number plate.
  4. 4The ring rises a touch above the uprights and dips below them, so the round bowls look as tall as the straight stems.

How it’s built

Scroll to put it together.

  1. 01Parts. One ring and two uprights of the same width, W.
  2. 02Fit. The counter is exactly the gap between the uprights, so stem, bowl and side share one rhythm.
  3. 03The cut. One 42° diagonal splits the shape into a p and an a.
  4. 04Finish. Cyan for the p, silver for the a. Two letters, one shape.

Colour

The family colours, carried over from Providence Trading.

Cyan

Hex
#009FE3
RGB
0, 159, 227
CMYK
100, 0, 0, 0

Grey

Hex
#706F6F
RGB
112, 111, 111

Black

Hex
#1D1D1B
RGB
29, 29, 27

Pure process cyan is one of the four standard printing inks, so it matches wherever it is printed. It is also the colour of the Providence name.

Type

A round, even sans to sit under a round mark.

Gotham

Gotham capitals, stacked under the mark. The round O and wide letters echo the ring.

Set wider than the mark, the name gives the pa a steady base to sit on.

Using it

On white, black or cyan, the cut still reads. Tap one to see it.

Cyan and grey on white

  • StackedThe main logo.
  • HorizontalWhere height is short.
  • MarkOn its own, where the name is already there.
  • In a circleProfile pictures.

In use

From a number plate to an embroidered chest, the pa holds its shape.

A blue Land Rover Defender in a dark studio, the Providence Auto plate on its front bumper
Front and centre, on the plate.
The rear of a yellow Lamborghini Temerario, the Providence Auto plate under the badge
Small on a supercar, and still sharp.
A car key with a black leather tag carrying the pa mark in cyan and grey
Debossed on the key tag.
An office entrance with the Providence Auto logo in built-up letters on a lit fascia
Built-up letters over the door.
A modern office on an industrial estate, the Providence Auto logo on the fascia above the glass entrance
The same sign, read from across the car park.
A black document wallet with the stacked Providence Auto logo, beside a car key
On the export paperwork.
A charcoal softshell jacket with the pa mark embroidered on the chest
Embroidered for the team.

The photographs are retouched mockups.

Identity
Hash Milhan
For
Providence Auto, London