Post Meridiem is a local brand of ready-drink-cocktails (RTDs) based here in Atlanta, GA. Popular for their cute, tiny can designs that stand out on the shelf, they offer full-sized delicious cocktails at a reasonable price in easy, on-the-go container, perfect for poolside sips. Often sold individually, Post Meridiem wanted to offer a way for their customers to try multiple products in one easy on-the-go package. Hence, the variety pack.

I worked with Post Meridiem to develop the secondary packaging for their two variety pack offerings.. The ask was two-fold: develop a look and feel that mirrored the bold, easily recognizable can design while making sure that all the important information was easily legible regardless of how the pack was displayed on the shelf. Each pack is minimal in its design, allowing the colors of the cans within to shine, and connote the time of day in which each pack is optimally enjoyed. The product name, ABV, and can count is legible whether the pack is displayed horizontally or vertically, and the recognizable can be seen from each side. Lastly, all secondary packaging together was designed to feel like part of a larger family, reinforcing the Post Meridiem brand.

Learn more about Post Meridiem here.

Hatch House is a virtual kitchen brand, owned and licensed by Nextbite. Focusing on elevated, crafted breakfast sandwiches, Hatch House’s visual identity is timeless and sophisticated, evoking a sense of comfort and easing into your morning.

With the brand look and feel already established, my role was to round out the visual identity and apply it across its associated digital touchpoints. I created supporting illustrations, copy graphics, and patterns inspired by classic Southern eateries. I then designed a straightforward menu that worked both as a simple digital download, or a physical menu that fulfillment restaurants could carry and pass out, prioritizing building brand recognition without sacrificing legibility. I also designed a simple website, introducing the brand to customers and building on the brand story, displaying the menu, customer reviews, and directing customers to order Hatch House for themselves.

Learn more about Hatch House here.

Post Meridiem is a local brand of ready-drink-cocktails (RTDs) based here in Atlanta, GA. Popular for their cute, tiny can designs that stand out on the shelf, they offer full-sized delicious cocktails at a reasonable price in easy, on-the-go container, perfect for poolside sips. But, when stocking up for a party, buying individual cans can be cumbersome. The solution: a handy, easy-to-carry and ready-for-a-crowd, multi-pack.

I worked with Post Meridiem to develop the secondary packaging for all seven of their RTD offerings. The ask was two-fold: develop a look and feel that mirrored the bold, easily recognizable can design while making sure that all the important information was easily legible regardless of how the pack was displayed on the shelf. Each pack follows the same color cues as the original cute can inside, with the added interest of a pattern subtly applied. The product name, ABV, and can count is legible whether the pack is displayed horizontally or vertically, and the recognizable can be seen from each side. Lastly, all secondary packaging together was designed to feel like part of a larger family, reinforcing the Post Meridiem brand.

Learn more about Post Meridiem here.

Sankranti Kitchen is an Atlanta-based quick-service Indian experience built for growth. Its challenge was to find its own foothold among a sea of other upcoming national quick-service Indian concepts, maintaining its Indian culture and tradition while being approachable enough for customers in areas who may not be familiar with Indian food. Vigor developed a brand strategy to achieve these goals, building a brand around these three attributes: Inclusive, Festive, and Mindful. These attributes not only reflected the innate beliefs of Sankranti Kitchen’s ownership but then guided every expression point of the brand; visual, verbal, and experiential.

We explored using a jovial slab-serif typeface with more modern typogra[hy to create a connection between tradition and the contemporary. A vibrant color palette inspired by Indian architecture and culture, and custom-designed patterns modeled after ancient Indian iconography and traditional ingredients add depth, meaning, and vivacity to the visual system. The customer immerses themselves in the visual identity through the concepts interior experience, with key areas in the space designated for the brand story to play out. A cubby wall where customers line up to order from the register allows them to explore spices and trinkets while they wait, and a mural of spice-fireworks in the main dining area mirror what is happening in the customers’ mouth while enjoying the food.

For this project, I developed several pieces of packaging (in addition to copywriting for the packaging), the handheld menu design, and the design of some of the interior spaces.

Sankranti Kitchen Brand System & Interior Design was done for Vigor. To see the agency’s case study, please click here.

Sankranti has been featured in the 59th GDUSA Design Showcase as a 2022 winner.

WeBurg is a new fast-casual chain concept from Elior North America. Elior specializes in creating concepts meant to fit into the existing infrastructure at K-12 schools, colleges & universities, healthcare, senior living, corporate dining, and more. WeBurg, in particular, was designed as an on-campus dining option at student unions. Elior approached Vigor to name and brand this concept, hoping to create something that felt inclusive, youthful, and rooted in America’s love affair with the classic burger.

When designing the brand identity for WeBurg, I was inspired by the nostalgic idea of a road trip across America. The bright colors of old roadside signage and old school license plates inspired the overall visual system. Many of these classic roadside-motifs are re-interpreted through the WeBurg lens for its college student patrons, packaging the freedom and fun of a midcentury roadtrip for a modern audience.

For this project, I developed the logo and visual identity, menu boards, illustrations / icons, and wrote light branded copy.

WeBurg Grill Stop Brand Identity was done for Vigor.

Brooke Beard Studio is a small women-owned business local to Atlanta, specializing in handmade, artistic resin homegoods and paintings. Brooke came to us looking to create a brand that felt elevated compared to other resin artists, and reflected her professional interior design background and artistic eye.

After interviewing Brooke and learning more about her hopes for her business, we arrived at a brand personality that was Effortless, Polished, and Gracious. Brooke’s work is inspired by forms found in nature, so we carried these motifs into her brand identity system. Soft undulating waves harken to the shape of freshly poured resins. Geode motifs reference her best selling products; coasters inspired by crystalized stone. And you can’t forget veins of gold, for a touch of luxe.

For this project, I developed the Brand Strategy, Brand Identity, Stationary Set and Packaging Suite.

Brooke Beard Studio is currently on a break, but you can check out Brooke’s beautiful work on her Instagram at @brookebeardstudio.

Apotheos Roastery is a small coffee roastery, cold brew producer, and chain of coffee shops local to the Atlanta area. Their main facility, where they roast, produce and can their cold brew, is located in Kennesaw, GA. It’s in this location that they wanted to revive a sense of community reminiscent of Enlightenment-era coffee shops, becoming a place where their neighbors could gather and share moments of goodness over some damn good cold brew coffee.

The team at Apotheos didn’t want to stop at just their roastery, however. They wanted their customers to be able to share this experience wherever they went, and extend their reach outside of their multiple locations. A line of packaging was developed inline with the personality, brand strategy and overarching visual identity outlined by Vigor. Each flavor’s can, again looking to the Era of Enlightenment for visual inspiration, personify the product’s personality by giving it a name. The Purist; black unsweetened coffee for the straightforward. The Maverick; extra strong black coffee for those extra driven individuals. The Adventurer, sweet, nutty and chocolatey for those that seek something a little different. And The Daydreamer, lightly sweetened coffee with lemon, for those who look on the lighter side. Each persona was given a unique color combination, narrative, and icon to represent them. These qualities paired with the standardized layout across the packaging suite, made for easy ribbonization and without sacrificing recognition across the line.

The coffee bags, too, featured a similar ribbonization structure. Each bag had its own designated color and custom icon to illustrate the name and flavor profile of the roasted beans inside. Again looking to a love of history and knowledge as inspiration, the side panels of each bag read like book spines, the names of each roast running up the side with a subtle pattern applied. Unfortunately, due to production issues brought on by COVID-19, the final bag designs have yet to be produced, and so temporary bags featuring a snippet of the original design are being used instead.

While the packaging is the main draw here, there are an additional bit of odds and ends for Apotheos that I’d like to draw attention to. A suite of character pieces, sold as souvenirs at the roastery, allow guests to take part of the experience home with them. These include a branded coffee mug, slim koozies proudly proclaiming which persona the customer identifies with most, and a t-shirt. The t-shirt, using a stained glass window motif (because the roastery is located in an old church) shows the cold brew process from seed to can, and states in latin that ‘art is sacred’.

For this project, I fleshed out the overarching visual identity system, developed the icon system used across the packaging, designed the packaging for the line of cold brew cans and roasted coffees, wrote copy, and developed the illustration on the t-shirt.

Apotheos Roastery Cold Brew Can Packaging Design was done for Vigor.

This project was lucky enough to be featured in MindSparkle Mag.

eegee’s is a 25+ unit quick-service restaurant chain, all currently located in Tucson, AZ. With plans on aggressively expanding into Phoenix and beyond, eegee’s worked closely with Vigor to re-invigorate their brand as they prepped for this new chapter in their 50 year history. In evaluating the brand to evolve their look and feel forward, Vigor discovered that while they were a beloved Tucsonan staple, they weren’t living up to their true nature, that of a fun-loving, chilled out, quirky brand.

Being a QSR with the bulk of their sales happening via drive thru, nailing the revisited brand through its packaging was essential. eegee’s has two main products that make up most of their product mix; an italian ice-inspired slushie that they call an eegee, and their fries. In fact, 50% of their sales mix alone is the simple combination of these two products, with a side of eegee’s ranch of course. Both packaging touchpoints were used as vehicles for messaging, and it was especially important that the designed cups were attractive enough for our social-savvy consumer to what to be spotted with. Combined with additional fun, quirky messaging and energetic designs on the other packaging pieces, the entire suite finally lives up to the vision of eegee’s that Tucsonans know and love.

For this project, I developed the overall look and feel of the packaging suite, developing designs and copywriting for the eegee cups, fries, sandwich wrapper, condiment cups, and paper bags. I also developed the e-stripe pattern seen on the packaging.

eegee’s Packaging Design was done for Vigor.

Virginia Distillery Co sought to set the standard for American whisky, rivaling the greatest single malts in the world. This was the dream of VDCo’s founder, George Moore, a native Irishman that came to call the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia home. His personal credo, ‘Have the courage of your convictions’, became the rallying cry for his distillery’s first bespoke single malt release.

To drum up excitement for the full release of Courage & Conviction, a special limited early release, aptly named ‘Prelude’, was distributed to select markets. VDCo worked closely with Vigor to create the suite of promotional material for this release.

The art and style of this launch campaign were heavily influenced by the process and environment in which Courage and Conviction came to be. All of the malted barley found in this whisky originates from the United States, and the water used to distill the spirits comes from a fresh spring not far from the distillery in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The climate found in these Virginia foothills, with their hot summers and cool winters, allows the whisky to develop more flavor in less time compared to its counterparts in Scotland. The same way that the Blue Ridge Mountains act as a backdrop for the distillery, they do so across the campaign collateral, intermingling and defining the imagery the way they define the product. This look, combined with the elements native to VDCo’s brand identity, suggests a ruggedly refined, elevated all-American single malt whisky for the discerning connoisseur.

For this project, I developed the overall look and feel of the campaign and designed the additional touchpoints showcased here. These touchpoints include on-premise material (posters, shelf talkers), direct-to-consumer postcards, an extensive suite of digital marketing display ads, and sell sheets for the brand ambassadors / product retailers.

Virginia Distillery Co - Courage and Conviction Launch Campaign was done for Vigor.

Spartanburg, South Carolina is at an interesting point in its life. Growing exponentially due to the influx of millennial workers from Greenville looking for a slower pace of life to start their families, Spartanburg was experiencing a growth spurt after years of decline. The team at Leader Lanes, Inc sought to be part of that rejuvenation effort, and invested in elevating Spartanburg’s downtown strip with an inventive spin on South Carolinian BBQ. Thus, Initial Q (I.Q.) was born.

After our extensive market research on our patron, we landed at a personality for Initial Q that was rooted, refined, and inventive. These three words guided the visual identity and accompanying touchpoints, resulting in a look that of upscale Southern heritage with unexpected surprises sprinkled throughout. Designer Maria Tamayo and myself worked collaboratively to develop the visual identity, inspired by Spartanburg’s historical city planning maps found in our research. The rough drawn texture of the architectural lines on such maps was reflected in the gridwork in our designs, guided my typographic choice in the wordmark and monogram, and the line quality of Maria’s custom illustrations. The use of the grid is a focal point here, especially as used on the menu suite. In designing each menu, cover and interior pages, I developed a grid and thus broke it, adding dynamic energy to each layout in reference to the inventive personality trait.

Materiality was also an important consideration for Initial Q. In order to give a sense of history and deep story to the visual identity, materials for each of the touchpoints, and how the brand was applied to each touchpoint, was carefully considered. The visual identity is burned by fire, literally branded, into the leather coasters, masonite menu covers, and wooden picks, not unlike the branding that farm animals experience.

For this project, I assisted in developing the brand strategy (competitive research, brand definition), collaborated with Maria Tamayo on the visual identity, designed the suite of menus (drink menu cover, lunch menu, dinner menu cover and interior pages, menu cover material selection), designed additional printed touchpoints (coaster, wooden pick, sauce insert) and wrote some light branded copy for the menus.

Initial Q was done for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

Part of the suite of food+beverage outlets at the new Holbrook active adult living communities, Socialite is their full-service restaurant concept. Socialite celebrates the community it calls home; Decatur, GA. Inspired by it’s lively arts community and the communal dedication to fresh, local food, Socialite is a sophisticated artistic ode to its neighbors.

The visual identity for Socialite was inspired by the classic art of writing and the personal, expressive nature of one’s own signature. The art of signing one's own name is a proclamation of pride in their work, and in the case of Socialite, it reflects the pride of the folks at Holbrook and the beautiful communal experience they created for their neighbors. It represents the pride of the chef’s in using fresh, local, and good-for-you ingredients. It speaks to the pride of a Decatur resident, experiencing Socialite and its offerings, knowing this gem can only be found in their neck of the woods.

The signature/writing concept is exemplified in the brands’ suite of custom illustrations (executed by Chia-Yu Hsu), melding together common herbs with a quill. This whimsical imagery is offset by sharp, classically informed typography and an open, airy approach to the menu system and other printed material. Much like it’s sister brand Maverick, Socialite features quotes from well-known writers to punctuate the experience at certain moments, reminding the guest to savor the moment.

For this project, I assisted in developing the brand strategy (moodboard development, competitive research), developed the logotype and visual identity, directed the development of Socialite’s illustrations, wrote the restaurant’s descriptor (Curated Dining), designed the menu system, ideated and designed the miscellaneous collateral pieces (coaster, matchbox, pen, check clip), and uniform curation.

Socialite Restaurant Branding was done for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

Part of the suite of food+beverage outlets at the new Holbrook active adult living communities, the Maverick Bar and Social Room was designed to be a moody experience that evoked a sense of old-world class with modern sensibilities. Inspired by the American cocktail revolution that preceded Prohibition, the era of optimism of 1920s Europe captured in Art Deco, and Holbrook’s focus on incorporating wellness into each aspect of their offering, Maverick is an amalgamation of the best parts of humankind during the 20th century, garnished with twist of 21st-century holistic care.

Holbrook’s residents are interested in brands that echo their understanding of the world and mirror their approach to life. In Maverick, they see a lively, guiding, and virtuosic personality; the consummate host for a night out. These elements are expressed, of course, in the visual identity developed for Maverick. The primary element of the sun, a bright guiding light and symbol of vivacity. Paired with a classically-inspired, energetic logotype and a suite of historically-informed tones, Mavericks’ visual identity is one that invites you to sit a spell with friends and cheers to one’s good fortune.

The menu and auxiliary components for Maverick all act in chorus to transport their guests to a different time and place. Gold foil on the richly textile-wrapped menu cover elevates the experience with a touch of luxury while the patron reads through a list of health benefits associated with each cocktail ingredient. Guests find surprising delights in the most unexpected of places, from hidden patterns that reveal themselves when branded matchboxes are opened to inspiring quotes lurking on the back and inside pages of the menu. Even the wardrobe of the staff has been considered to carry the personality of Maverick; rich, glimmering materials evoke the wealth of the Art Deco period, while loose-fitting and flowing fabrics allows each movement a sense of drama and flow.

For this project, I assisted in developing the brand strategy (moodboard development, competitive research), fleshed out the brand identity system, menu cover design, ideation and design of miscellaneous collateral pieces (matchbox, travel cup, socks), uniform curation, and enhanced all the touchpoints listed here with my own copywriting.

Maverick Social Room Bar Branding and Menu Design was done for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

Lazuli Superfood Cafe approached Vigor with a unique need; originally part of a national franchise that was dissolving, owners wanted to evolve their two units into a standalone brand that would thrive. Playing on the wellness culture prevalent in Northern California, Lazuli harmonizes good-for-you food in an upbeat atmosphere.

For this project, I developed the overarching menu system, which included a bifold printed handheld menu and a suite of digital menu screens, establishing an easy-to-navigate typographic hierarchy for their variety of products while incorporating small moments of quirky surprise through the positioning of illustrative elements.

Lazuli Superfood Cafe’s Print and Digital Menu Design was developed for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

Erik’s DeliCafe is a Santa Cruz, CA neighborhood staple, having served its community the hippest sandwiches, soups, and salads for over 45 years. Vigor had already been working with Erik’s for the last few years to help them get their brand groove back, and was approached at the end of 2018 to carry that upward momentum over to their marketing efforts.

Being a small, locally-focused fast-casual chain, Erik’s did not have the resources nor the budget to engage in a traditional ad-driven marketing plan. Instead, Vigor worked with the client to focus on the goals of increasing sales and foot traffic. Our plan was to leverage their owned media channels of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and email list in addition to augmenting their in-store opportunities. Additionally, we implemented Erik’s first foray into paid digital media, which included YouTube preroll, Spotify ads, paid social, and display ads.

The solution was to construct a year-long series of product-driven ad campaigns, designed to play up the character of each product and boost sales for that particular item. Each product was seen as a character in its own right, given an illustrated personality and voice for each campaign. When looked over as a whole, the cast of characters still very much felt like an extension of the Erik’s DeliCafe brand, without losing their individuality.

For this project, what I did varied from one campaign to the next. I wrote copy and illustrated when needed, and designed all the touchpoints you’ll see in this case study. I also aided in art direction and storyboarding for the animations showcased here.

Because of this unique year-long approach to their marketing efforts, Erik’s DeliCafe experienced numerous upticks in key performance indicators, including a 5.7% increase in same-store net sales, a 50% increase in online ordering sales, a 47% increase in Instagram followers, and an 8.9% increase in Facebook engagement.

Erik’s DeliCafe Character Campaigns were developed for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

Animations produced by Michael J Straub.

UrbanTree Cidery is Atlanta’s first cidery and a long-time client of Vigor’s. In 2019, UrbanTree became the official cider partner of Atlanta United 2, the reserve team for Atlanta United FC. To commemorate this partnership, Urban Tree decided to brew a hard cider for the die hard fans. They approached Vigor to develop the look and feel for this special release, and since it was UrbanTree’s first foray into can packaging, we knew we had to kick it out of the stadium.

For this project, I not only designed several rounds of potential designs for the can, but also wrote the majority of the copy used in promotional materials, such as the sell sheet that is used to let sellers and distributers know what exactly is UrbanTree FC.

The first two images of this case study are unused visual directions for the can packaging, showing a bit more of the process. Through feedback from both UrbanTree Cidery and Atlanta United, we arrived at the final can design shown on the sell sheet and at the end of the case study.

UrbanTree FC packaging design was done for Vigor. Case study coming soon!

The newest Crowne Plaza was scheduled for build in North Augusta’s up and coming riverfront neighborhood, and in order to find success beyond golf tourism, tapped Vigor to brand and execute a suite of designs across three food and beverage concepts. Two of its concepts were situated together on the ground level; a full-service restaurant dedicated to pushing the limits of South Carolinian food and its accompanying lobby bar.

Through an extensive strategy development process we were able to unearth the passionate purpose for these two outlets; to set the table for our neighbors. Setting the table means creating food and an environment where people will feel comfortable sitting down, opening up, and making great memories. Our neighbors include everyone from multi-generational locals to the fresh faces flocking to North Augusta.

From here, we set out to develop names, narratives and a robust identity for both outlets that communicated their shared purpose in a way that was related but still separate. For both, we used classic serifed typography and simple, airy layouts to evoke the elegance of the Old South, offset with raw leather menu covers to depict the rawer, grittier nature of the food being served; all cooked in plain view over an enormous hearth. Collectively the suite of designs creates an approachable, neighborly vibe that’s refined, yet truly Southern in its expression.

For this project, I assisted in developing the brand strategy (competitive research, brand definition, naming), suite of menus (Salt + Marrow menu systems, Parlor Bar menu and illustrations, menu cover selection, design and format, product naming) and additional printed touchpoints (matchbox design and coasters for both outlets).

Salt + Marrow Restaurant and Parlor Bar Menu Designs was done for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

HipBurger is a new fast-casual restaurant concept and food truck opening soon in Greenville, SC. Founder Daniel Knowlton was inspired by the simplicity and attitude of old school burger shacks, and tapped Vigor to channel that energy into HipBurger’s visual identity and tone of voice.

HipBurger is heavily influenced by retro fast casual design of the 50s in its color palette and use of pattern. HipBurger also touts ‘simplicity’ as one of its brand pillars, and so the design team at Vigor also looked to the Swiss Modernist movement of that same era for typographic and design inspiration. With this in mind, all the pieces you see here are designed with attention to white space, keeping the overall look lighthearted and airy. The menus especially are designed on a structured grid; with a menu this large it was important to keep the information organized and legible so the customer could find their order quickly and efficiently.

For this project, I assisted in developing the communication guide, copywriting for various touchpoints, designing the corporate stationery set, designing social media assets, designing part of the packaging suite, and designing the handheld menu system.

To see the communication guide in full, please download this PDF. If you would like to see the menu designs in greater detail, please view the miniature bag-stuffer menu here, and the full-sized handheld menu here.

HipBurger packaging and menu designs were done for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

Johnny’s Pizza House is 30+ unit fast-casual pizza chain out of Louisiana with a cult following spanning the better part of 50 years. A long-time partner of Vigor’s, they approached us to re-approach their Q4 marketing strategy, giving it a new look and new energy in the process.

Johnny’s Pizza House has always prided itself on building a strong relationship with its neighbors, and part of how it does so is sponsoring youth and collegiate sports in their communities, especially football. From this perspective, Vigor’s strategy centered around celebrating all things football, and came up with the campaign slogan ‘For the Win’ as the central idea that binded everything together.

From here, we needed to develop a look and feel for the campaign, one that would be cost-effective to execute across print, digital, video and audio mediums, true to the Johnny’s Pizza House brand, yet distinctive in its own way. We looked to grittier source material, referencing the roughness of the sport, and took a cut-paper-collage approach that felt energetic and a little nostalgic. The result was a marketing campaign that was as rowdy and fun as a game day tailgate.

For this project, I developed the visual creative for the television spot, storyboarding the ad after a script had been developed, and developing the imagery for the Johnny’s Pizza House in-house marketing team to animate. The rest of the campaign creative was derived from these visuals.

Johnny’s Pizza House — For the Win was done for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

La Segunda has been a Ybor City staple since 1910, churning out authentic, fresh-baked Cuban bread each and every day since its inception. In 2017, the bakery was handed down to the next generation of More family, and with the changing of the guard, came an opportunity to refresh the brand. Vigor was tapped in revisiting the look and feel of the 107 year old establishment, using elements that made the visual identity strong and familiar to it’s community and evolving them forward into a more cohesive visual language that was truly representative of its history, tradition and beauty of Ybor City and the Cuban culture that permeates it.

For this project, I assisted in developing the suite of three printed handheld menus. Taking inspiration from the Art Deco era that La Segunda draws much visual inspiration from, I designed the content-heavy menus in a way that was highly legible but still personable.

If you would like to see the full menu PDFs, please see the bakery menu, catering menu, and cafe menu.

Menu Designs for La Segunda Cuban Bakery was done for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

Erik’s DeliCafe is a Santa Cruz, CA neighborhood staple, having served its community the hippest sandwiches, soups, and salads for over 45 years. In the last few years, they had lost their groove and approached Vigor to help get it back.

Through extensive research into the brands’ past and interviews with stakeholders we came to uncover the brand had lost what made it’s special; that quintessential Northern California quirk that set it apart from other big-chain sandwich shops in the area. We set about evolving the brand identity forward, and with it, a suite of branded touchpoints and eventually, a new approach to marketing that better suited them.

For this project, I developed the overarching menu system that is currently in place at each Eriks DeliCafe location. I cleaned up their current system, choosing a typeface that better suited the brand as it moved forward, streamlined the product language and copywriting, and established a typographic hierarchy that was used across in-store menu boards, and printed handheld menus.

Erik’s DeliCafe’s Menu System was developed for Vigor. If you would like to see the rest of the case study, click here.

Sandy Springs is an up-and-coming Atlanta suburb offering a strong community of local restaurants, family-friendly attractions and unique boutiques that keep residents and visitors alike happy. Having recently gone through a rebrand with Imbibe, the city was in desperate need of a new suite of marketing materials to help promote it as a destination and shed its old image. A new visitor’s guide was first on the list, acting as a way to re-introduce the city to those that new it and catch the eye of those that didn’t.

The new look provided by Imbibe was clean and modern, a breath of fresh air from the dated, early 2000’s logo, made for older residents at the time. Today, Sandy Springs is home to well off young families, and the new look needed to reflect that things had changed. The new tagline reflected this attitude perfectly: City Vibe, Neighborhood Charm. I designed the guide with this in mind, using the bright and airy photography provided by the city to showcase all it had to offer, while focusing particularly on shots with the cities residents, showing the communities energy as displayed through its inhabitants. Spreads featuring plenty of white space makes the gorgeous photos shine, and makes the displayed information easy to read.

For this project, I developed the visual language of the visitor’s guide overall, assisted in copywriting and editing of content/headlines, and overall editorial layout.

See the full guide here.

This project was made during my time at Rhyme & Reason Design.  Check out the rest of the case study on their site.

The Laredo Convention & Visitors Bureau has the unique role of promoting and preserving the tourism experience of the City of Laredo, located literally on the edge of the southern U.S. border. Their visitors guide is over 50 pages long, and filled edge to edge (pun intended) with content, so much so that it was overwhelming to the average visitor. The goal with the 2017 visitor’s guide was to capture the vivacity of a city on the edge and share it’s story in a way that was more reader friendly.

This was accomplished by creating a new visual system that incorporated specific typefaces made to best utilize space and a flexible grid system that made finding and reading information a breeze. A color-coding system was implemented to make navigating the guide as a whole easier. To view the guide in its entirety, check it out online.

For this project, I took a visual language developed by my then art director and implemented it across the remaining 45+ pages of the visitors guide, establishing typographic systems, visual hierarchy, and generally organizing the information into a much more succinct format.

This project was made during my time at Rhyme & Reason Design. Check out the rest of the case study on their site.