An introspective of my identity as a human and as a graphic designer. Although I am a graphic designer by profession, I am an artist as well. Regardless of the debate of "graphic design as a form of fine art," much of my work is rooted in the foundations of artistic concept. I believe it is important to expand my creativity beyond the realm of graphic design. When I first started out, that wasn't the case but I realize how important it is to delve into other areas beyond the world of commercial.
Photo Courtesy: Jenna Marie Clark PhotographyEmbrace the awkwardness. Awkward Corgi is about being unapologetic about who you are and celebrating individuality to its fullest. There are no rules to being who it is you were meant to be.
Awkward Corgi Toys was built on the idea of building a community. While there is no physical storefront, what better way to connect all the awkward individuals into art toy collectibles than creating an online community. The focus as a startup art collectible store would be to build a consumer base and branch out to physical flagship store and licensing partnerships.
How awkward are you willing to be? Rather, how awkward will you allow yourself to be? The basis of Awkward Corgi Toys is for the brand to start off with its own do-it-yourself vinyl collectible. You don't have to be an artist to be able to jump into these vinyl figures. It's not about creating the best toy, it's about having your personality shine.
To further build the Awkward Corgi Toys brand, there would be different kind of products available for consumers to get their hands on.
The goal wasn't just to market a product. The goal was to market an outdoor lifestyle. The HANDL'R wasn't just a simple handle for your ordinary tumbler cup, it was an extension of the many personalities of outdoor living. Different colored handles and rings to showcase one's personality through a personalized tumbler cup.
Again, this goal was to communicate that this wasn't just a product. This could be an important part of everyday life. Whether you led an outdoor or urban lifestyle, The HANDL'R could complement either lifestyle. This idea would be built and communicated through their e-commerce online store, social, and email marketing.
Another aspect for The HANDL'R's rebrand was to develop tradeshow signage for marketing and outreach purposes.
Image Courtesy: The HANDL'R
This rebrand was also about social outreach and consumer engagement. It was about building a consistent identity and brand throughout the digital space. With a combination of copywriting and graphic design, the goal was to communicate just how eccentric a seemingly ordinary product can be.
Email marketing was also a strong focus for The HANDL'R marketing vision. It was about making consumers feel apart of a community. The idea is of the product is simple, but the overarching concept created a diverse product for a diverse community. Just as with any consumer product, building a consumer base and customer retention were major factors in concepting and executing The HANDL'R's email marketing campaign.
A wine brand that pushes the limits and takes chances. Nine percent alcohol content and nine bold types of wine. Bold imagery with a hint of high class.
The visual style, including the brochure inspiration from the tagline "Be Bold. Stay Refined." The brochure utilizes the use of bold, close-up photography and heavy of negative space.
Another take on bold and refined is the use of minimal design in advertising. Being bold doesn't necessarily mean putting a bunch of clutter on the canvas. First and foremost with ads, it's important to communicate a clear message. You can't get much more clear than macro product photography and a marketing tagline.
CKMC developed the branding for for QuotitONE and QuotitGO which included designing logos, wireframing the website interface, and developing a baseline template for email marketing purposes.
These are the main iterations of the QuotitONE and QuotitGO logos.
As a team we developed a logo system for different products within the Quotit family. The system utilizes a simple color coding and icon system to separate each product from Quotit while still maintaining aspects of the original branding.
The email marketing was designed to be simple and straightforward. The user interface was designed with clear information hierarchy in mind to create an simple navigational user experience.
Through logo development to email marketing to the website, cohesiveness is always important when developing an identity. Utilizing a system for images and colors, we were able to create landing pages that reflected the look and feel of QuotitONE and QuotitGO's visual system. In addition to visual hierarchy, I also helped develop icons to help navigate and choose images to bring these web pages to life.
What characteristics define a bitch? This project was about developing, as millennials like to say, a mood.
Mood board and presentation deck development. Color schemes and different variety of logo iterations before client approval of final assets. Research included taking inspiration from different kinds of sitcoms and television shows.
This project also included creating a landing page for the in-development web series. This was an opportunity to build upon the brand and identity for the web series.
I was also tasked with creating and developing digital assets for their social media pages. Use of consistent imagery was very important to maintaining the identity of W.B.B.A's brand.
Designing emotional experiences everyday and in every medium. As part of the marketing team at Impress Communications, I created work from print collateral to the digital including web and social.
While at Impress Communications, much of my work was based off the concept of "Think. Create. Connect. Feel." That was always the underlying message in creating cohesive imagery and visuals. A large part of the development was creating signage around the building–each with different messaging–but ultimately tying into a larger context.
Impress' main goal was to create emotional experiences with the consumer. This was done through a variety of touch points which included print marketing, packaging, and digital/interactive. While a designer at Impress, it was important to consider how these touch points could be used–whether individually or altogether.
What makes blog post banners fun is that they aren't limited to company branding. What's the best way to design for blog copy? Designing from context and what the copy is communicating.
Digital has taken the forefront to major marketing campaigns. But print isn't going anywhere and it is projects like the 2015 Impress calendar that show how versatile print marketing can be.
What makes this piece special is that it not only looks the part, but it feels real. For a realistic feel, various printing techniques and treatments were used.
This ad spread is completely made up of original photography of actual products sold at Serenity Calling. Negative space is used to create a sense of enlightenment and tranquility. This ad spread was featured in a handout given at the 2015 AMA's (American Music Awards).
This ad spread is a gift guide for Serenity Calling. Continuing on with the same concept as the spread for the 2015 American Music Awards. These product shots are meant to showcase the flow of energy and spirit. This spread was featured in the December 2015 issue of 805 Living Magazine.
As this has not gone into production, this project was about pitching product logos and packaging. This included having to develop digital mock-ups and creating a presentation booklet.
These are all logo concepts at various stages of the design process. Each stage focused on different elements but each stage tried to focus on a more more clean and modern aesthetic.
These concepts were meant to show how different logos pair with different packaging solutions. Not only that, but these were also meant to show how different textures would affect the packaging. These were also included in the presentation booklet for the pitch presentation.
Millenials. Creativity. Individuality. The CKMC brand was inspired by 90's hit "1979" by the Smashing Pumpkins. The work I helped to create—from photography, video, and design—was meant to embody the feeling of millenial wanderlust.
What do you envision of when you think of late 80's-early 90's counter culture? It's all about the kids—the millenials. It's about living life freely and to it's fullest. It's about the feeling of rebelling against the status quo and being an individual. Be the curator of your own story and keep dreaming.
Building out the social was important to developing CKMC's brand. The main direction for the visuals for different social such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, was to utilize minimal design and and bold photography.
What does a startup entertainment agency need first and foremost? Cool kids and content. To build out content for the CKMC website and social, I shot BTS photography to showcase the angency's capabilities, brand, and identity.
The goal was to create various forms of entertainment and content. Part of CKMC's development was promotion and short form content. To begin the brand's rollout, I edited these video's to introduce Cool Kids, Morphine City to the world. Experience the blending together of design and cinematography and take a peek through CKMC's lens.
Part of the pitch of this show was to create logo that embodied baseball and the DIY feel of an at-home cooking show.
Multiple logos and icons were created for different thumbnail video covers.
Lasting Smiles is about making a difference in the world. The lip balm is produced with organic ingredients. Lasting Smiles wanted to ensure a high-end product with high-end packaging to stand apart from other organic lip balms already on the market.
Part of the roll-out included four different flavors—peppermint creme, passionfrut mango, vanilla bean, and peach blossom. Part of the process included making sure these stood out on store end-caps as these were meant to be sold in Target stores across the country.
Designing emotional experiences everyday and in every medium. As part of the marketing team at Impress Communications, I created work from print collateral to the digital including web and social.
While at Impress Communications, much of my work was based off the concept of "Think. Create. Connect. Feel." That was always the underlying message in creating cohesive imagery and visuals. A large part of the development was creating signage around the building–each with different messaging–but ultimately tying into a larger context.
Impress' main goal was to create emotional experiences with the consumer. This was done through a variety of touch points which included print marketing, packaging, and digital/interactive. While a designer at Impress, it was important to consider how these touch points could be used–whether individually or altogether.
What makes blog post banners fun is that they aren't limited to company branding. What's the best way to design for blog copy? Designing from context and what the copy is communicating.
Digital has taken the forefront to major marketing campaigns. But print isn't going anywhere and it is projects like the 2015 Impress calendar that show how versatile print marketing can be.
What makes this piece special is that it not only looks the part, but it feels real. For a realistic feel, various printing techniques and treatments were used.
