Creating beautiful barn quilts with CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

Transforming traditional folk art into metal masterpieces

Barn quilts have been around for hundreds of years, mounted on the side of barns across rural America. These wooden, hand painted traditional folk art designs inspired A Classic Metal Company, a small family-owned business based in Illinois, to design a more durable type of barn quilt—made entirely from metal. Transforming traditional folk art into metal masterpieces.

However, A Classic Metal Company couldn't start a new product line without a new logo. So they enlisted the help of Joe Diaz, and his design software of choice, CorelDRAW, to turn a concept into castings.

Choosing the right tools for the job

A Classic Metal Company creates laser cut artwork from metal. The owner approached Joe to create a brand for his new metal barn quilts product line, “A quilter lives here.” One of the requirements for the brand logo was that it would need to be able to be cut out of metal. The large metal barn quilts that Joe was to design would be hung on barns, garages and homes of those who don't have barns.

Using the power of CorelDRAW from concept to logo

After Joe's initial discussions with A Classic Metal Company, he discovered there was a need for not one, but three logos: One for the company: A Classic Metal Company, one for the product line: A quilter lives here, and one that represents both the company and the product line by bringing the two names together. Joe set out to design the brand logos with CorelDRAW Graphics Suite the same way he has many other logos.

CorelDRAW's flexibility has proven to be extremely valuable for a business like ours. Because of the vast number of professional tools available we are able to create and complete a wide range of different projects for our clients. CorelDRAW Graphics Suite has helped us earn the reputation of being visual problem solvers and the one-stop shop for all marketing needs.

He knew he could figure out how to make it work as a metal cut sign after he had a concept he was proud of, so he tried not to let that one requirement hinder his creative process. Joe wanted a nostalgic, old fashioned look and feel for these designs, as to not stray too far from the traditional barn quilt look. He felt the simple, corporate look that he sometimes goes for when creating logos for many of his clients wasn't a good fit for this particular company who was trying to make a business based on local heritage. So he borrowed influence from design styles of the past, such as the Victorian era.

Achieving stunning results in any medium with CorelDRAW

The metal barn quilts took off almost overnight and a big part of that success is attributed to the work Joe did in building the brand identity. After this original project, A Classic Metal Company has come back to Joe many timesto help expand their marketing campaign and product line. They even got new equipment so that they could offer even more product types. Currently, Joe and his client are working together to design a brand for engraved wood products.