ACTUAL BRANDS
Brand guidebooks for global companies
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Landor (now Landor & Fitch) is the world’s largest specialist branding and design group. It’s designed a bunch of brands you’ve heard of and may use and even love.
Partnering with Landor’s in-house teams, I’ve assisted with the branding documentation of ten global companies to date, helping to present comprehensive visual identity systems (logo suites, typography, color palettes, photography styles, etc.). My primary role is designing and writing guidebooks that articulate brand strategy and how to implement the visual system effectively. I also produce mockups (both design and copy) to model branding applications. Much of my produced work is under NDA, but feel free to ask for more details on my role. (Just be prepared for vague replies.) |
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Tiered subbrands for museum donor groups
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OPPORTUNITY
The California Academy of Sciences is a natural history museum and research institution with a four-story rainforest, aquarium, and planetarium—all under one living roof. As a nonprofit, it relies on donations to support many of its programs, and it was seeking to attract more donors and build loyalty. SOLUTION With audience insights from the museum’s Development team, I created a system of three tiers, with wordmarks, graphic motifs, colorways, and typography that works within the museum’s larger brand. I also helped with the naming of these tiers. Each tier’s visual system is designed to resonate with its audience, from family-friendly to highly sophisticated. |
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For the most family-oriented donor tier, a bold, chunky wordmark works with a thick circle motif and photos of charismatic animals to create a fun and friendly tone. Bright green, a primary brand color for the museum, is dominant in these communications for the museum’s largest donor audience.
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For higher-value gifts, a thinner type weight and circle motif integrate with photos of plants to present a more sophisticated look. The circle motif is positioned in ways that signal upward momentum and leadership. Oranges and yellows dominate, suggesting optimism and vibrant energy.
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This is the most elevated tier, requiring gifts of $100,000+ to join. A wordmark in small caps pairs with a small circle to signal elegance and exclusivity. Photos of gems and minerals represent a deep, precious connection with nature. Purples and royal blues evoke a sense of luxury.
Click to view brochure
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For collateral not specific to a tier of giving, I extended the circle concept
with graphic shapes and photos, and applied a more general typography style:
with graphic shapes and photos, and applied a more general typography style:
Logo, identity, and stylebook for study center
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OPPORTUNITY
The Child Study Center of New York is a nonprofit that provides educational support for preschool students with special needs. Its executive director wanted a fresh, modern logo and visual identity that would show the organization's inclusivity, playfulness, and friendliness. SOLUTION I designed a trio of cheerful, childlike faces in vibrant colors, which could be applied playfully in multiple contexts, and produced a style guidebook. Unfortunately, the project was dropped after a change in organizational leadership. |
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Logo and usage guidebook for science lab
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OPPORTUNITY
The Borevitz Lab is a team of plant scientists who use cutting-edge technologies to develop gene-based solutions for landscape issues. With its expanding production of digital media, the group needed a logo to convey its work themes while being distinctive at any scale—from smartphones to auditorium presentation screens. SOLUTION I designed a logo inspired by computer motherboards and forest trees, representing the lab's commitment to researching natural systems with technological tools. The logo shows trees in different growth stages supporting each other, representing the lab’s highly inclusive, collaborative spirit. The shape of the B mimics the shape of an SD memory card, a staple for the lab. I also produced a logo usage guidebook. |
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FICTIONAL BRANDS
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OPPORTUNITY
Tutorials about design techniques or tools are more helpful and inspiring when they show potential applications of the lesson in realistic contexts. However, one cannot ethically create examples with the branding of actual companies. SOLUTION I design fictional brands to help demonstrate the subject matter. This often involves creating a logo and a sample branded product. Below are some fictional brands and products I’ve created for my published tutorials. |
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Horrid Veruca | Chocolate company
Bold, slightly psychedelic typography helps this brand stand apart. Underlying swirl fills suggest the blending of chocolate with other flavors. |
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Confucius Teas | Tea company
A structured face suggests firm values, while the mountain range with a torn-paper look features Confucian sayings. |
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5-6-7-8! | Dance studio
Type and photo mirror the bouncy beat of a warm-up countdown. Dots hint at the classic diagrams used in teaching dance step sequences. |
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Jeudi Interiors | Interior design company
A window graphic symbolizes exploration and openness while emphasizing interior spaces. |
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Penelope | Weaving cooperative
A shape reminiscent of a loom and sunsets (motifs in Homer's The Odyssey), a yarn ball, knitting needles, the planet, and an equality sign (=) represents the story of this cooperative supporting women weavers. |
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Kookie’s | Cookie mix company
A kooky, midcentury look for DIY baking.
A kooky, midcentury look for DIY baking.
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Coffee Corner | Coffeehouse
Pops of color and funky type lend a jittery look to this brand. A circle and a square combine in an icon to represent a coffee cup or table and chair. |
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Mure Store | Stone carving company
A gray oval portrays reliability and stability. The graphic system of table-like forms resembles a mountain (quarry). |
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Little Photons | Children’s education company
Bright, bold colors and energetic angles convey fun and growth.
Bright, bold colors and energetic angles convey fun and growth.
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Gabby Kids | Children’s education company
A playful, chatty vibe for a foreign language learning product.
A playful, chatty vibe for a foreign language learning product.
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HaruMaru Ramen House | Restaurant
A chunky, modern look creates a hip, clean look.
A chunky, modern look creates a hip, clean look.
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Atelo | Snack cracker company
The A is drawn to resemble a cracker with a bite taken out of it, which can be used to create tessellated patterns for packaging. |
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Vogel Pottery | Ceramics studio
The cross-section of a bowl suggests a bird (in German, Vogel).
The cross-section of a bowl suggests a bird (in German, Vogel).
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Lenore Skin Care | Skin care products
A simple and elegant logo easily matches seasonal themes.
A simple and elegant logo easily matches seasonal themes.
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Precious Vandals | Theatre group
An edgy look for a theatre group reenvisioning drama.
An edgy look for a theatre group reenvisioning drama.
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Other examples
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Menu (example in design tutorial)
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OPPORTUNITY
Graphic design can help companies to build their brand and convey their ambiance. But elegantly designing info-dense materials such as menus can be challenging. SOLUTION Using the example of a restaurant being rebranded as a more upscale establishment, I produced a video tutorial describing some common errors in menu design, and showed how to create a more upscale look with basic typographic and layout principles. The tutorial was published on Adobe Create. |
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Templates for "branding toolkit" app
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OPPORTUNITY
Adobe Spark Post is an app that enables users to design branded graphics in seconds. For the launch of a grid-based design feature, we wanted to offer templates for users to remix. SOLUTION Since the target user was small business owners needing marketing design solutions, I felt that each template needed to appear branded and should reflect typical marketing needs for that user group. I produced a set of 20+ templates that were diverse in branding styles and could be easily customized, working within the constraints of the app's design and typographic tools. |
Click to visit the Adobe Spark Post website
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