An identity to launch a local, family-run company

A fresh take on pest control

Trained as a field biologist and having pivoted to pest control, working for a national pest control company, Gareth Watkins wanted to launch Peacocks Pest Control to provide effective, humane and eco-friendly solutions for pest control in Bagshot and across the home counties.

Visit Peacocks Pest Control

Before launching, Gareth and his wife Lucy approached me to design and create a visual identity and website for their new company Peacocks Pest Control. In a saturated market, it was key that Peacocks stood out from the competition, but also remained true to their values and represented who they are. We were keen to avoid the visual cliches that are synonymous with pest control, so we initially created 4 stylescapes, all based on brand research and discussions. The chosen green stylescape gave the established, trustworthy feel that Gareth wanted, giving a traditional, vintage feel without feeling dated or cliche.

We then progressed onto designing a logo that visually tied in with the chosen stylescape, taking steer from Gareth's original logo, research in the pest control space and the brand questionnaire. Several options we're proposed, and the chosen direction incorporated a stylised bird into the 'P' of 'Peacocks'. After a couple of rounds of revisions, we settled on a wordmark that was highly legible, yet still featuring the hidden Peacock as a "moment of delight" for those who find it.

With a solid base for the brand identity, we progressed onto the website design and build. This was built on the Squarespace platform, where Gareth had made a start but needed help distilling, crafting and structuring the content, and then aligning the design to his new identity. Taking Gareth's original content, we rewrote and honed the content to ensure it was both easy to read and optimised for SEO. Moving into the design, we used the design elements from our stylescape to create a website that followed the visual identity. There was keen attention paid to the user experience, guiding users through the site but crucially converting them to content. This paid off. In Gareth's own words, "I am so busy!!! We are getting a lot of enquiries through the website, it has really surprised me".