branding
logo design
package design
Kela Sowell of Papercut Swim (client)
Papercut is a swimwear-first brand that champions an edgy, captivating look. Some of it’s thematic undertones include western, gothic, rock, and supernatural aesthetics.
the task
Create a logo and style guide for Papercut.
mood-boarding
Papercut is bold, it’s edgy, yet alluring. I created a mood-board of brands that I felt embodied Papercut’s themes. This gave me direction to lead the look and feel of the of the prospective logo.
competitive research
The moodboard gave me an idea of themes I should be on the lookout for, such as a vintage, editorial, and calligraphy-style typefaces. After scouring the internet, I settled upon two different typefaces to play around with:
Glamora is an elegant and luxurious logo that I felt could embody the classy, feminine, mystical energy that Papercut is seeking.
The Directors Italicized represents a timeless and cinematic aesthetic, which I believed to capture the timeless and storytelling aspect of Papercut’s swimwear line.
adding imagery
Adding imagery that was symbolic to the brand was one of the values the founder expressed to me. I played around with illustrations that implied a sort of “sharpness” or cut as the brand name might suggest.
fine tuning
After showing this round of iterations to the founder, we decided to go with the Director's font.
Incorporating imagery into the logo was more seamless due to the simplicity of the font.
We valued Papercut to be a brand that stands for itself; Glamora’s unique and louder style made it difficult to work in motifs for the brand.
I shifted my direction to focus on Director’s which prioritized clarity and an italicized sharpness.
the logo
Connecting to the subtle, yet alluring tones of Papercut swim, this custom logo incorporates sharp cuts that begins and concludes each letter.
It infuses imagery and whimsicalness by using a pointy sparkle and spike ball to contrast a classy font with edginess.
packaging design
I created packaging mockups to be sent to a manufacturer. Pictured here are the final and physical fabric garment bags [Fig 01, Fig 02] and hangtags [Fig 03] for Papercut Swim.
It’s been lovely working with Kela, and seeing our vision come to life.
[Fig 01] Garment Bag
[Fig 02] Garment Bags (Large and small)
[Fig 03] Clothing Hangtags
color palette
Papercut’s primary colors are subtle black, white, and grey tones, to highlight the bold red tones that alludes to a mysterious, alluring, sharp aesthetic.
