Giraffe Manor Rebranding Project
When I was in middle school, my teacher showed me a video about Giraffe Manor, a fairy tale animal sanctuary in the middle of a Nairobi forest that cares for orphaned giraffes until they can be rewilded.
Giraffe Manor was built in 1932 to resemble a Scottish hunting lodge for the European visitors who first flocked to Africa to savor safaris. It’s lovingly run by a couple, Tanya and Mikey Carr-Hartley, who’ve created a unique experience where guests can stay in a lovely European hunting lodge and enjoy tea and crumpets while friendly giraffes poke their heads through the windows for snacks.
What surprised me is that Giraffe Manor’s branding does not match their ethos, and so, because I love and dream of visiting this real-life fairy tale, I decided to reimagine their business cards, stationary, and logo.
For the typeface, I crafted a simple font with a few flourishes to convey stateliness with a touch of whimsy. Giraffe Manor is a fairy tale, yet sophisticated experience, so I feel this font conveys those two key qualities. Thus, “MANOR” seems slightly larger than “GIRAFFE” due to larger kerning to emphasize the stateliness of the word “manor.” In addition, the “G” in “Giraffe” has a fanciful curl, the “R” flows into the “A,” and the lower horizontal lines of the “F’s” and “E’s” are slightly shorter to give the letters a slimmer profile.
For the first stationery set, I chose muted blue (one of the royal colors), brown, cream, and gold with a giraffe coat-of-arms logo in a shield shape to convey Giraffe Manor’s classiness and mission. Just as a shield protects its bearer, Giraffe Manor protects these gentle creatures we so love. When you open the muted blue envelopes, you are greeted with a sepia forest to mirror the experience of entering Giraffe Manor’s twelve-acre forest wonderland.
For the second stationery set, I chose black, gold and cream to convey sophistication.
The shield-and-giraffe-shaped coat-of-arms logo also contains the curling ivy that climbs the walls of this darling boutique hotel that conjures vines that climb beautiful old European castles. I chose a shield as few know that because giraffes are so tall, they are the first animals to spot danger from afar, and when they run, so do the other shorter animals. Thus, giraffes, just as shields, are protectors.
The reason I wanted to incorporate a giraffe into the logo is the name “Giraffe Manor” doesn’t convey visitors actually savor the magical experience of living with giraffes. I feel by using the iconography of giraffes in all its branding instead of just the word, the magic of a real-life fairy tale giraffe experience is better conveyed.
When I was first playing with how I wished to convey the logo, my initial sketches emerged too child-like, and I felt they conveyed a zoo, which is the opposite of the Giraffe Manor experience and purpose of helping giraffes instead of caging them. I’m glad I finally found a way to convey the Manor’s true heart.
Giraffe Manor was built in 1932 to resemble a Scottish hunting lodge for the European visitors who first flocked to Africa to savor safaris. It’s lovingly run by a couple, Tanya and Mikey Carr-Hartley, who’ve created a unique experience where guests can stay in a lovely European hunting lodge and enjoy tea and crumpets while friendly giraffes poke their heads through the windows for snacks.
What surprised me is that Giraffe Manor’s branding does not match their ethos, and so, because I love and dream of visiting this real-life fairy tale, I decided to reimagine their business cards, stationary, and logo.
For the typeface, I crafted a simple font with a few flourishes to convey stateliness with a touch of whimsy. Giraffe Manor is a fairy tale, yet sophisticated experience, so I feel this font conveys those two key qualities. Thus, “MANOR” seems slightly larger than “GIRAFFE” due to larger kerning to emphasize the stateliness of the word “manor.” In addition, the “G” in “Giraffe” has a fanciful curl, the “R” flows into the “A,” and the lower horizontal lines of the “F’s” and “E’s” are slightly shorter to give the letters a slimmer profile.
For the first stationery set, I chose muted blue (one of the royal colors), brown, cream, and gold with a giraffe coat-of-arms logo in a shield shape to convey Giraffe Manor’s classiness and mission. Just as a shield protects its bearer, Giraffe Manor protects these gentle creatures we so love. When you open the muted blue envelopes, you are greeted with a sepia forest to mirror the experience of entering Giraffe Manor’s twelve-acre forest wonderland.
For the second stationery set, I chose black, gold and cream to convey sophistication.
The shield-and-giraffe-shaped coat-of-arms logo also contains the curling ivy that climbs the walls of this darling boutique hotel that conjures vines that climb beautiful old European castles. I chose a shield as few know that because giraffes are so tall, they are the first animals to spot danger from afar, and when they run, so do the other shorter animals. Thus, giraffes, just as shields, are protectors.
The reason I wanted to incorporate a giraffe into the logo is the name “Giraffe Manor” doesn’t convey visitors actually savor the magical experience of living with giraffes. I feel by using the iconography of giraffes in all its branding instead of just the word, the magic of a real-life fairy tale giraffe experience is better conveyed.
When I was first playing with how I wished to convey the logo, my initial sketches emerged too child-like, and I felt they conveyed a zoo, which is the opposite of the Giraffe Manor experience and purpose of helping giraffes instead of caging them. I’m glad I finally found a way to convey the Manor’s true heart.
Kikuya Coffee Project
I love coffee and the whole experience of becoming absorbed in a single cup of deliciousness. If I could, I would be a barista someday--creating art in a cup, inhaling the perfume of coffee, and providing a sorely-needed service--all in the warm camaraderie of a coffee shop.
That’s why I created Kikuya Coffee--a brand that’s an homage to Africa--to the animals I love, the warmth of the people, and the life inside each detail of their textiles, which I feature on reusable, gift-quality coffee cans in warm gold suns, rivers, rocks, and patterns against classy black.
I chose a canister shape that’s a contrast of curves and straight lines with a two-tiered domed top like the Pantheon in Rome. The can is a variant of this pleasing classical shape, meant to be embraced by two hands with affection.
I also imagined Kikuya in a brand partnership with Giraffe Manor, so while the Manor is classic European, Kikuya embraces the heart of Africa. I plan to wrap each black and gold can in recycled paper inspired by the Kenyan flag and tied with a beaded leather bracelet that can be removed and worn--a gift from the Kenyan women who made it, the profits of which sustain them and their children, providing an income.
That’s why I created Kikuya Coffee--a brand that’s an homage to Africa--to the animals I love, the warmth of the people, and the life inside each detail of their textiles, which I feature on reusable, gift-quality coffee cans in warm gold suns, rivers, rocks, and patterns against classy black.
I chose a canister shape that’s a contrast of curves and straight lines with a two-tiered domed top like the Pantheon in Rome. The can is a variant of this pleasing classical shape, meant to be embraced by two hands with affection.
I also imagined Kikuya in a brand partnership with Giraffe Manor, so while the Manor is classic European, Kikuya embraces the heart of Africa. I plan to wrap each black and gold can in recycled paper inspired by the Kenyan flag and tied with a beaded leather bracelet that can be removed and worn--a gift from the Kenyan women who made it, the profits of which sustain them and their children, providing an income.
Rad Museum Concert Poster
Rad Museum, a South Korean R&B singer-songwriter, graphic artist, and producer, shows his “tough” face to the world in this multimedia concert poster. I love Rad because beneath his dreadlocks that always hide his face, his street style, and his graffitied name lies a young man of tremendous vulnerability and heart.
To me, this poster symbolizes the crisis boys endure in a world where “masculine” is mistaken for “invulnerable.” The truth is, vulnerability requires courage because it means putting your heart out there for people to trample upon, and that is what Rad does. Even though we rarely see his face, we hear his heart in his voice, words, and message.
That is why Rad is busting through the plastic that wraps the poster. Emerging from images of war and desolation is a young man who sings of love and rain and intimacy. His logo is a lopsided smiley face, for just as his song “Dancing In the Rain” says, our ability to find joy even in our darkest moments is what is so admirable in the best of us.
To me, this poster symbolizes the crisis boys endure in a world where “masculine” is mistaken for “invulnerable.” The truth is, vulnerability requires courage because it means putting your heart out there for people to trample upon, and that is what Rad does. Even though we rarely see his face, we hear his heart in his voice, words, and message.
That is why Rad is busting through the plastic that wraps the poster. Emerging from images of war and desolation is a young man who sings of love and rain and intimacy. His logo is a lopsided smiley face, for just as his song “Dancing In the Rain” says, our ability to find joy even in our darkest moments is what is so admirable in the best of us.
Kiehl's Rebranding Project
Because Kiehl’s broke the rules of the cosmetics industry by creating a brand that values science, nature, and customer transparency instead of fancy packaging and marketing, I wanted to re-imagine Kiehl’s brand to convey their values.
For this reason, I crafted their business cards and stationery on recycled paper, chose a solid vs. flourishy font, and painted a green leaf to underscore their name instead of a line. I also chose a natural color palette of soft greens and browns to symbolize their gentle products are based on plants vs. chemicals and stamped “established 1851” to convey their longevity in a world where businesses are often short-lived.
For this reason, I crafted their business cards and stationery on recycled paper, chose a solid vs. flourishy font, and painted a green leaf to underscore their name instead of a line. I also chose a natural color palette of soft greens and browns to symbolize their gentle products are based on plants vs. chemicals and stamped “established 1851” to convey their longevity in a world where businesses are often short-lived.
Helvetica Typography
After living through the nightmare of two world wars, people wanted a fresh font to signal a new beginning. For Swiss typographers Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffmann, this was Helvetica, “the Swiss” in Latin--for Switzerland is the country of neutrality as opposed to Akzidenz-Grotesk--the German font that was widely used at the time.
Helvetica became the font of the modern age--used on everything from subway signs to corporate logos, it’s a clean bread and butter font devoid of personality so it can be applied to anything without emotional baggage.
In my poster, I show eight of the twenty faces of Helvetica--from Helvetica Ultralight to Helvetica Condensed Black. I shaped my words into a spotlight to highlight Helvetica’s simple beauty and placed text at angles to each other so the text becomes a gentle scream.
Manhattan loves Helvetica. In a city so jam-packed with sights and sounds, Helvetica’s simplicity is a welcome relief from the neon and noise.
The reason I painted Helvetica’s “G” in First-Aid red is to highlight the difference between Helvetica and Arial, which are sometimes mistaken for each other but are not at all the same. Arial is a bit of a thoughtless font--the default font you use when you don’t take the time to choose something that conveys what you want, just as Chrome users tend to be more successful than Safari users because if you research the best browser, it’s likely you research everything else in your life.
Helvetica’s “G” is beautifully round with a sharp-edged finish--a contrast of soft and hard that pleases the eye’s palette. In contrast, Arial’s “G” lacks the satisfaction of Helvetica’s hard edges. It’s like a fat man at a dinner table who dribbles on his shirt and forgets to wipe his mouth.
Helvetica became the font of the modern age--used on everything from subway signs to corporate logos, it’s a clean bread and butter font devoid of personality so it can be applied to anything without emotional baggage.
In my poster, I show eight of the twenty faces of Helvetica--from Helvetica Ultralight to Helvetica Condensed Black. I shaped my words into a spotlight to highlight Helvetica’s simple beauty and placed text at angles to each other so the text becomes a gentle scream.
Manhattan loves Helvetica. In a city so jam-packed with sights and sounds, Helvetica’s simplicity is a welcome relief from the neon and noise.
The reason I painted Helvetica’s “G” in First-Aid red is to highlight the difference between Helvetica and Arial, which are sometimes mistaken for each other but are not at all the same. Arial is a bit of a thoughtless font--the default font you use when you don’t take the time to choose something that conveys what you want, just as Chrome users tend to be more successful than Safari users because if you research the best browser, it’s likely you research everything else in your life.
Helvetica’s “G” is beautifully round with a sharp-edged finish--a contrast of soft and hard that pleases the eye’s palette. In contrast, Arial’s “G” lacks the satisfaction of Helvetica’s hard edges. It’s like a fat man at a dinner table who dribbles on his shirt and forgets to wipe his mouth.