Kamu Sauna is a mobile sauna rental company located in British Columbia, within ILOMAA Forest Farm. Kamu’s mission is to offer authentic, affordable sauna experiences where folks experience community and belonging.

At the heart of Kamu Sauna are Juho and Becky Pelkonen, with Juho having grown up in Finland within and alongside sauna as part of his everyday life. Juho's father was a builder who built numerous family homes. The teaching goes that the sauna is the first thing to be built in the home in Finland! Along with rentals and community sauna sessions and events, Juho shares his sauna knowledge by offering consulting and custom builds.

The branding for Kamu was created to be simple and bold, using four stacked shapes that symbolize stacks of wood and people gathering, and relate back to their sister-company, ILOMAA Forest Farm. A hidden K and S can be seen in the negative space to offer some playfulness to the brand. A black and white palette, paired with a single typeface family, allows for an identity that stands out against the landscape, yet is understated enough to bring a sense of serenity.

LWLA (formerly Larry Weaner Landscape Associates) is a leader in landscape design, installation, and management, known for their innovative blend of ecological restoration and native garden expertise. Upon stepping into their fourth decade, they decided it was time to partner with a team to help elevate their brand and digital presence into something that was more reflective of the work they produce—we were excited to join them in this journey.

To begin this new design partnership, we underwent a rich discovery phase to uncover a set of core values and attributes that would honor their legacy and celebrate their collective team. These attributes provided us a strong foundation for brand work that inspired design choices and created a singular voice for LWLA to be used in years to come.

Within the brand evolution we created a cleaner, crisper, and more modern visual system that would allow their work to shine. A custom typographic logo provided an elegant way to honor their legacy, showcase their plant expertise, and celebrate their strength in partnerships. The system overall uses simple typography, spare layouts, and smart grid structures to clearly communicate and showcase the beauty of their work.

Using the brand discovery as our starting point, we then dove deeper into the specifics of where their brand was to live within digital space—uncovering audiences, aligning on desired outcomes, and curating thoughtfully organized content. This discovery work was then tested for accuracy and intent in a robust wireframing exercise to lay strong groundwork for the design to come.

We then translated this new identity into the digital space by building upon themes and systems established within the marketing materials. Strong typographic moments to proudly share their perspectives and large, sweeping photographic moments to celebrate the beauty of their results.

Throughout this process we partnered with writer, Sandy Moore, to curate and implement an authentic written voice for LWLA, and developer, Impart Creative, to bring the new website to life.

Branding and creative direction: Lucy Price
Website strategy and design: Ali Doucette
Website build: Impart Creative
Copywriting: Sandy Moore
Photography: client provided

Union Square is the vibrant heart of San Francisco and an international destination where visitors come to enjoy exceptional retail experiences, luxury hotels, world-class cultural institutions, and great public spaces found only in the City by the Bay.

A new brand was designed to match the lively energy of the environment. The unique people, businesses and experiences were the inspiration behind the identity. A vibrant color palette, paired with classic and quirky font families, and graphic elements, set the stage for an adaptive brand that can continue to evolve as the Square emerges into its next chapter.

The logo, meant to represent Union Square being a gathering place for a diverse set of people, pairs together Avenir Next and Magnat Head. To contrast the playfulness of Magnat, Avenir is used for the word UNION. This allows for a more serious, and trusted tone, while the bold, even characteristics of the font allow for the letters to have pops of color without losing legibility.

The main star of the identity is Magnat. The swooping tail of the Q and the funky leg of the R give the logo extra character. With an extensive family – including text, head and poster weights – the typeface can flex from sophisticated to spunky, and has just the right balance of classic and whimsy to represent a unique place such as San Francisco’s Union Square.

View the full case study on Behance.

Founded in Quaker Values, Friends’ Central School is driven by a simple idea: We Go Further. This mantra embodies the school’s commitment to academic excellence and their dedication to awakening courage within each one of their students.

Typography and photography play a pivotal role in pushing the boundaries throughout the brand to express their mantra. Heldane and Söhne, by Klim Foundry, were a perfect pairing to go with this historic institution. The fonts’ classic forms, paired with the extensive library of weights, will carry the brand well into the future, and allow for innovation along the way.

View the full case study.