CASE STUDY: RESPONSIBLE HEDONIST
BRAND STRATEGY, NAMING, VISUAL IDENTITY, LABEL DESIGN
12-week engagement
Meet Frank and Diana.
Responsible Hedonist was an idea for a wine brand in the expansive brains of Frank and Diana, two former sommeliers who had gotten married and moved from Chicago to New Zealand to learn more about wine.
Frank and Diana had a lot of ideas. They had creative ideas of how to bootstrap and crowdfund a wine business, what kind of attitude they wanted to bring to the industry, and what impact they wanted to have on the wine industry and the larger world.
But they didn’t have anything tangible yet. No visuals, no customers, not even a name.
There were so many parts of their business that needed attention that they didn't know where to start.
We did a 2-day workshop with Diana and Frank to uncover more about their ideal client, their goals, and why they wanted to take on this behemoth of a project.
It was a good time.
We learned who they would be selling their wines to.
We learned what kind of role they wanted to take on in the industry.
I used insights from our workshops to create a brand strategy roadmap.
It started with their "why."
which informed their positioning:
Their brand's personality:
Their messaging:
And their brand voice:
Then we moved on to the other 50% of their brand, their audience:
And we mapped out her customer journey.
We had a firmer grip on the brand by now.
But we still didn't have a name.
So we did a dedicated naming workshop. And we came up with one. Spoiler alert: It’s Responsible Hedonist.
Once all of this brain-stuff was done, we needed to figure out what Responsible Hedonist would actually look like. I started by gathering inspiration images and talking through them with Frank and Diana. This stage helps us know where to start instead of just taking a stab in the dark.
Next, I created a brandscape.
The brandscape helped us all get on the same page regarding the overall feel of what the visual brand would be.
Then, I took a crack at designing the logo.
Design is an iterative process…
And we landed on this guy.
The octopus, like wine, can seem scary and strange to people. But once you get to know them, they’re actually quite interesting and harmless.
Then, I built out some secondary logos:
Secondary logos gave them flexibility, which is necessary with logos since they are used in so many contexts.
And created a color and typography guide.
Colors were bright, fun, and approachable. Typography was friendly and just a little quirky.
I also created four hi-res, original textures that they could use in their visuals.
These could be used in print or in digital. At first, they were used most in their social media pieces, which they created with Canva.
We created a system for photography.
They could use this system moving forward, whether the photography would be stock or original.
With their brand roadmap and visual identity kit, they had everything they needed to make their website and start their social channels.
But starting it all felt daunting.
So we put together a 3-month action plan.
Then, they just needed a label. So I made one of those, too. That part is still under wraps. But you can see it as soon as it comes out if you follow their insta channel!
Frank and Diana went to town creating a website and tons of social media content.
They implemented ideas we had brainstormed in our workshops and used the brand roadmap and visual identity kit as a guide to make sure all of their pieces fit together under a unified story.
Responsible Hedonist went from 0-700 followers on Instagram in their first month with no paid advertising.
They made 10K impressions and saw 14% engagement. They are steadily building their audience as they build their product, and we’re looking forward to watching them blow their sales goals out of the water. Since this is an ongoing project, check back for more updates as they continue to crush it.