Project
Endling is a zoo in our near future, whose occupants are all one creature away from extinction. This guidebook walks viewers through the animals who inhabit Endling, and also discusses the impact of human activities. Click here to download the full booklet.
More information on the design and general process can be found here.
Photo Credits
in alphabetical order by username
Project
The current LA Fitness app is very clunky, barely designed, and bogged down with a lot of features that seem extremely unnecessary. I can’t speak for everyone else, but the membership QR is literally the only thing I want to see when I open the app. I might flesh this out more later, but in the meantime here’s the beginning of my suggested redesign.
Credits
Stock photo downloaded from freepik.
Project
A couple of friends and I recently launched a blog, for which I designed the logo, produced the illustrations, and set up the website. We all like witches, so the hat seemed like a natural choice; so did the bright colors and animal onesies. Sorry not sorry.
Credits
Free mock-ups downloaded from Anthony Boyd Graphics.
Project
They’ve made a huge mistake. The Bluth Company branches out into food. Click here to download the full booklet.
Photo Credits
All stock was downloaded from freepik.com. Huge thanks to freepik, valeria_aksakova, jcstudio, rawpixel.com, topntp26, lifeforstock, jcomp, and dashu83 for taking such beautiful photos and letting me use them for free.
Fine Print
The Bluth Company cannot accept responsibility for any injuries, illnesses, or deaths resulting from Bluth products. Sorry.
Project
Redesign Lorien Health Service‘s website.
Concept
The client asked me to completely revamp their website, which had a very clinical layout and color palette. I worked closely with Lorien’s social media manager to create the new design, and also helped select the photos used throughout the site. Once the designs were more or less in place, the mock-ups were sent to a development agency, which built the site.
The site was designed using the color palette found in Lorien’s new logo, and also uses a lot of white space to give it a clean, simple look. As Lorien’s audience ranges from younger job-seekers to older users in search of assisted living and other health services, we wanted the site to be intuitive enough for both groups to easily find what they need.
More information on the design and general process can be found here.
Project
It’s been a long time coming, but it finally dawned on me that I now have a logo, business cards, AND a letterhead that need showing off! This is a historic day, because I’m actually happy with all of them (for now). My original portfolio was named Achikochi Design, but about a year ago I decided I wanted a URL that actually reflected my name, so I changed it to akaKaro, then slogged through a dreadful delightful rebranding campaign. Achikochi wasn’t even branded particularly well, but IT STILL TOOK SO MUCH TIME (though most of that was setting up the new website, resizing project photos, rewriting descriptions, etc, etc, etc). Never. Again.
Concept
I went through several rounds with the logo: I still wanted it to look like a chop, but I also wanted it to use actual kanji, rather than the hiragana used in the Achikochi logo. The earliest version used the kanji for water, slightly modified to look more like my initials: I liked the idea of a water-themed logo, but later decided that I wanted to use my Chinese and/or Japanese names for a more personal feel. The next several iterations spelled out my entire name, but none of them really worked for me, and I eventually decided to cut it back to just my surname.
Meanwhile, my business cards also got a major update: they started out as MiniCards because I didn’t have much information on them, but while redesigning them I realized I’d need a lot more space to showcase both my new illustrations and my numerous social media accounts. The cards were designed around four self-portraits drawn within the past year, and were modeled after playing cards. This was mostly because, well, I like going up to people and telling them to pick a card, but it also works really well with the general theme of my life so far: I’ve worn a lot of hats since starting undergrad, and I like having business cards that more or less reflect my many-faced career.
Project
Redesign the logo and carryout menu for Flick’s Pub, the restaurant attached to Lorien Health’s Taneytown facility.
Concept
The client asked me to redesign the logo for their pub using brighter colors, and to revamp their carryout menu (if you’re wondering what the logo and menu looked like originally, here’s a pdf). Though the original sketches focused more on food images, the client requested something more in line with the general Irish pub look; thus, we ended up going with dark green and gold, and also used a more old-fashioned typeface. For the menu, we wanted to replace the Lorien facility pictures with actual food pictures; we were originally going to use the old design with new pictures, but eventually decided to redo everything all at once for efficiency’s sake.
Full disclosure: there isn’t actually a t-shirt. It just happened to be convenient for showing off the logo.
Project
Design an orientation folder and an employee recruitment ad for Lorien Health Systems (LHS).
Concept
I recently applied to LHS as a freelance designer, and, as part of the application process, I was asked to submit a couple of sample design projects:
Lorien was looking to revitalize its branding, so I completely redesigned the folder to use bright, engaging colors. The design is supposed to represent the dawn of a new career, so to speak, and includes a vector representation of one of Lorien’s buildings.
Project
Design a logo for Valiant Fit, an online exercise equipment and apparel company.
Concept
The client asked for both a full-sized logo and a smaller logo that could still represent the company, such as the Nike checkmark; thus, it was important to keep a detachable element within the full-sized design. The final logo features an abstract representation of barbells, while the detachable element shows the company initials in the same font that is used in the full logo. I also created a style guide, which detailed (1) the logo specs, including typefaces, colors, and alignment; (2) the correct and incorrect ways to display the logo; and (3) possible uses for the logo (e.g., on stationery and apparel).
