Background
Toward the beginning of 2020, VVSL approached me to help illustrate their values in a unique way, as part of an updated brand showcase. These illustrations were then going to be printed as internal branding alongside their newly revamped office space, as well as on social media.
When they approached me I knew immediately that would accept the brief. Their vision lined up perfectly with my what I wanted to work on at the time, and I just had a feeling I was going to have a great time with this.
This case study showcases the illustrations we developed, from start to finish. And includes what worked and didn't work along the way.
The brief
The brief was simple.
To take their current five brand values and illustrate them in a unique, hand-crafted nautical style that lined up with their new brand language.
The up & comers
The first phase of the project involved primary designs which would be refined during the second phase.
These designs, while complete by no means, served as a platform to grow from and helped me to make sure that myself and the design team were on the same page with what they wanted at the end of the day.
This first draft was crude and unpolished, which was the entire intention of this phase.
Give it another go
Once I had a clearer idea of where VSSL wanted to head, and I had great feedback to rework from, I developed the following versions.
While much clearer and more in line with where the project was meant to end up, they needed further refinement on a few of them, and complete overhauls on others.
This is the most exciting part of projects like these, because they force me to step outside of my comfort zone and try different things, whether that's in texture work, type styles or even conceptual translations. So I took all the feedback from this first revision on the initial designs, and I took another deep dive into the unknown to see what I could create for the next one.
Third time's the charm
Now we were really getting stuck into this project, in the best way possible. This is also the stage where everyone starts to feel those "point of no return" feelings, where (while anyone can still choose to end the project) we decide to double down and create some real magic.
From this point, there was only minor 'updating' feedback, with only one overhaul required, as the rest were great and helped to make sure I knew that we were very close to the the end.
Where it all came together
At the final part of the designing phase of this project, we were all really stoked with what we had in front of us. All the designs were in line with VSSL's vision, and I had a stack of illustrations that I was really proud of.
All of the final illustrations worked well within their colour palette that was set out for me, in any variation, as well as in a single colour (because who doesn't love a classy monochrome stack).
End notes
VSSL was an awesome company to work with on a project like this. Their feedback was fantastic and helped me to understand their headspace and vision for the project.
In its entirety, while stressful during those moments before diving into the unknown, this project was immensely satisfying in its conclusion.
