#WinningHitsDifferentMovement Festival BillboardAstrum Wayfinds: 826 HoustonNeighifeConspiracies Through TimeStalker Title SequenceArchive of Space in DesignGreeting Cards in Context
ASTRUM WAYFINDS 826 HOUSTON
A brand identity for the trailblazers reaching for the stars.
Role: Researcher, Brand Strategist
Research Partner: Elise Sansbury
Tools: Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Figma Slides
Deliverables: Brand Guidelines, Environmental Graphics, Logo Lockups
Specs: 2 logos, 5 colors, and a 27 Page Brand Style Deck
WHAT IS 826?
826 National is a non-profit organization driven to make reading and writing a sanctuary for K-12 students, producing authors who feel confident in their own skin. Their branding approach is interesting in that they draw inspiration from the history and culture of the location of the store, branding their stores to be a retail front for eclectic customers. This brand identity is a speculative exercise of what a branch in Houston, Texas could look like.
CONCEPT
Drawing inspiration from the city’s aerospace landscape, the scope broadened to the more primitive counterpart of nautical star navigation.
The visual language of constellations and star maps plays into the concept of ancient stories written into the fabric of the night sky as a guiding force for every young aspiring writer to believe in the star within themselves.
RESEARCH & PROCESS
In a collaborative effort with Elise, preliminary research of the Quantitative and Qualitative aspects of Houston revealed a city of rich industry and diversity.
This led to moodboards that drew from key points of the broader research to narrow down into visual concepts that can be expanded into a visual identity. This is when the high rates of dark sky locations in the state of Texas emerged, making that connection to the Space City in a grounded and meaningful way that would pull every child in Houston or Texas as a whole into the art of writing.
BRAND STYLEFurther conceptual elements unveiled a Brand identity utilizing star motifs in its visual language and typography, with vibrant colors drawing from a palette of enduring star maps. The logo design revolves around constellations, and the irregularity and connectivity of individual stars that form a broader story remain resonant that even stories written today have the potential to become epics.
KEY TAKEAWAYSThe biggest lesson to take away has been navigating the art of research and finding that inspirational kernel that inflates into a visual concept. Diving deep and retaining knowledge, then going on to visually implement it while creating a brand style, has been pivotal in understanding the core of brand design.