BRAND DESIGN GUIDE
Branding
Mala is a handcrafted Canadian candle shop. Mala creates candles that evoke nostalgia and memories, through the use of clean ingredients and by keeping environment at the forefront of their buisness.
Rebranding Project
I was assigned to recreate and develop stronger Mala's Brand Guide. Design Style Guides help everyone in the business maintain brand consistency. This brand guideline consist of visual elements to help communicate colour usage, brand tone and voice, typography, patterns, and brand principles. It is important to create a cohesive design system for Mala's own business and brand.
SKILLS/TOOLS
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe InDesign
Adobe Illustrator
Logo
Redesigning the logo of Mala the Brand required a deep understanding of the brand to ensure it effectively captured its identity and core values, making a lasting impression on customers. I began the process by brainstorming, collecting a large amount of information about Mala the Brand. This initial step was crucial because understanding the brand's mission, vision, and values provided a foundation for creating a logo that genuinely represents Mala.
During brainstorming, I identified "candle" and "ecofriendliness" as key themes. This focus was due to Mala's identity as a handcrafted candle brand that emphasizes using eco-friendly materials for its candles and packaging, along with its commitment to environmental sustainability through a tree-planting campaign linked to candle sales. These elements are central to Mala's brand story and needed to be visually communicated in the logo.
I then started sketching symbols or icons that could effectively reflect the brand's personality. The fire of the candle was chosen to signify the core product, a candle, which is the heart of Mala’s business. The flame symbolizes warmth, light, and the handcrafted nature of the products. Additionally, the leaves of a tree were included to signify the brand’s commitment to eco-friendliness. This choice highlights Mala's dedication to sustainability, using natural, eco-friendly materials and contributing to environmental conservation by planting a tree with each sale. These icons were selected because they visually and symbolically communicate the essence of Mala, blending the product with the brand's environmental ethos, leading to create a logo that resonates with both the product and the company's values.
Challenges/Solution
When it comes to brand design, I only thought of logo design, editing design, dedicated font development, brand guidelines, and aesthetics as important. I realized it is a false explanation that does not reflect the trend. As the brand experience gradually advanced, the role of brand designers also advanced. Following the design that creates the first brand image, the design that helps the brand grow is also very important and needs profound insight. I learned that the role of a brand designer is not to end with the appearance of a brand that is only visible, but also to the essential work of helping the brand grow.
What I Learned / Takeaways
Brand Styleguide was the project that I started right after I started learning design, so at first, all I did was try to finish the guide as fast as possible so that I can use this guide for future projects. However, I did not understand the company clearly, and I started to create styles that does not express the brand, Mala. I stopped designing and creating style guides and began to search and study to understand Mala, products, goals, marketing, and targets. As I fully understood and analyzed the company, it began to be easy to know which design and affinity fit and what should be developed further. After finishing this project, I was able to better understand and decide what was appropriate and necessary for the brand style.