Branding, Illustration

Lemonade

Challenge

Create a fictional company in need of a brand package that inspires its customers to engage and consume.

Solution

Lemonade is a fictional dog cafe that combines my love of animals with colorful cafe settings.

Dogs, Juice, Love

Lemonade is a fictional dog cafe where the adoptable animals of the local humane society can interact with customers, perhaps sparking an opportunity to take a lucky puppy (or two!) home. To further the theme of lemonade, the shop would serve as a juicery with local ingredients. I wanted to make it feel bright and fresh, like the sweet tang of citrus fruits with a hint of youth - what better represents children's summers besides lemonade stands?

Designs to Love

Brainstorming is hard, but narrowing it down is even harder. The logo had to represent the brand in its entirety. For Lemonade, the brand can be broken down into three focus areas: dogs, juice, and love. With those in mind, I narrowed it down to my three favorite logo ideas before finalizing on the winner: a puppy swinging on a citrus slice (with a heart in it as a final touch)!

Building Brand

Making brands that are recognizable is the ultimate goal of any business. I put together a branding guideline booklet that outlines how various design elements can be incorporated in every aspect of the service, from advertisement to apparel. Everything was designed with the intent to crack smiles and stir a feeling of wholesomeness in the heart.

Bonus: Backstory

On the night of the day before my 22nd birthday, I was nonchalantly scrolling through Facebook and that's when I saw a simple post: "I found a stray cat at my work but I can't get off. Can anyone help? :/"

It was posted by a friend that I don't really speak regularly with - I meet with him maybe once a year. I paused on it, deliberating, but decided to scroll past it, since it was already 10pm. As I lay in bed, reading through various clickbait titles and memes, my mind kept returning back to the cry for help. With a sigh, I said aloud, "You know you'd regret it if you didn't do something." I ran out of my apartment (still in my PJs) while rushing to call an Uber to pick up the kitten in need.

After a fretful night of taking care of the tiny cat, who my best friend dubbed Coco, we took her to a pet store to get some food. While in line to pay, the lady behind me noticed Coco and fell in love. I half-jokingly asked if she'd like to adopt her since I wasn't able to. She refused, saying that her husband will be so mad for bringing home a SIXTH cat, but after a long deliberation, she suddenly nodded her head with a smile and said, "I'll take her."

Coco, now named Serendipity (Dippy for short), is the youngest sibling in a loving family of 5 furry kids and 2 human kids.

Life is a series of opportunities presented to us in unlikely ways and we have the choice of passing them up or grabbing at the chance. Both Dippy’s new mom and I were able to take the lemons that life tossed and create some sweet lemonade.