Helping a small business establish its identity

US Concrete Services

I'm Jodi Henderson, owner of my own small business, geeky girl interactive media. (Note: I am only starting out and this is my first project.) One of my clients is my brother-in-law, owner of US Concrete Services. I am trying to help him establish an identity that he can use to build what is currently a side business into something he can do full-time. We are starting with a logo and hope to add other interactive elements to the mix at a later time.

My goal with geeky girl in general is to help small businesses in my community establish a complete interactive presence, from social media networks to their website. I would really like to help them succeed in whatever industry they've chosen to enter.

As its name suggests, US Concrete Services is a blue-collar business. The primary kind of work is core drilling (imagine handrails that have to be installed for steps outside a school, for example; core drilling involves drilling the holes that the support posts for the handrails fit in). The target audience is made up of general contractors, construction companies, and the like.

1 - The company's slogan is "Leading the industry in safety, service and reliability". My brother-in-law feels like an eagle sort of symbolizes this spirit and, therefore, wants his logo to incorporate one. (We found a sample that he liked and it is attached.)
The slogan should not be part of the design; I included it here as an FYI only.

2 - He likes the look of diamond plate so that needs to be integrated somehow, too. (An image sample is attached for reference.) It is preferred for the US part of the name to be in diamond plate.

3 - Color scheme is red, white, blue and silver.

4 - The logo will eventually be used on a simple website, business cards and potentially T-shirts.

5 - Here are some typeface ideas:
Sans Black: http://www.dafont.com/sansblack.font
Big Mummy: http://www.dafont.com/bigmummy.font

Both are intended to show desired thickness of letters; prefer sans serif to serif. "US" part of the name should be "short and fat" as indicated in the typeface samples; the US part should also be slanted.

I think I could sell him on a design that doesn't include an eagle, as long as it complements the slogan. As for Paul himself, he's a hard worker, always wants to do the job right, loyal, and great at customer relations, among other things. I offer this information only to help you understand a little about the guy the logo is for, in case it helps frame your ideas.