Scope

Branding
Art Direction
Logo Design
Illustration

Introduction

Branding Identity for Smith Memorial Playground – a historical playground that provides and promotes free and unstructured free play for children.

Smith Memorial Playground is a historic children's playground dedicated to providing a safe place where children from the country could play.

It’s full of juxtapositions: Smith has a rich, century-long history yet their approach is modern and fresh; The colorful, innovative playground is surrounded by layers of trees and greenery of the area; The toys and drawings inside is surrounded by the wooden interior and floor.

Smith is special because it is free and inclusive; It’s located in its original historic, natural landscape, free from the city noise; It values “playing” as a tool to aid children development.

Smith-Memorial-Playground-Playhouse-Google-Maps-1-2-1

The Process

I experimented with children's crayon drawings, my favorite drawing medium when I was a kid. The drawings are inspired by the abstract shapes of the playground equipment and what children draw in real life. I arranged them in a grid to juxtapose the drawing's playful nature with the historic site's sense of structure.

Early visual studies – The drawings have a variety of themes, from the typical house and trees drawings to treasure maps and traced hand drawings

The System

The logo is made up of simple geometric shapes that are kid-friendly. It is evocative – conveying fun through the shape of a swirly playground slide and growth through the evolving stages of circles.

Full logo

Logo, color and typography system

Visual Language

I continued to convey Smith's juxtapositions (historic site vs. innovative approach, nature vs. structure) by pairing the crayon drawings with clean typography and a tight grid structure.

The headline typography combines two typefaces, also showing the structural vs. organic dynamic of Smith. This clean, minimal typographic treatment and the drawings create a unique identity that embraces Smith’s values.

Business card design featuring crayon drawings

Stationery set

18x24 Promotion Posters

Website – Adapts to a more minimal version of the branding system for easier navigation

Website – Landing page snapshots

Social media campaign with a custom photo filter for the photography

Poster series mocked up

Promotional mural mocked up

To be honest, it was quite the challenge to produce drawings that look as effortless and carefree as children's drawings – proof that we have so much to learn from kids. I had so much fun working on this project, especially with organizing the drawings in a grid and breaking them up. I'm proud that I created a brand identity that both celebrates children's joy and appeals to the adult's need for structure and order.

Senior Showcase 21′

Late Bloomer

Selected Works