Hearth & Haze: Branding

Hearth & Haze is a new U.K. homeware store that takes inspiration from Scandinavian design for the design-conscious professionals living in Urban Environments. The new visual identity needed to be accompanied by a tag line and would be applied across the brand, including in-store.

The brief was generated using ChatGPT as a way of expanding my design skills. Ai was not used elsewhere in the project, and the outcomes are a carefully considered response to the brief.

Project Summary Board

Design Thinking & Purpose

After careful research of both the Nordic and UK homeware markets, I created visual mood boards and matrices to establish the correct space for the identity. Based on a young professional audience living in urban environments, I concluded I would be designing with a archetetural feel to reflect the idea of a built-up environment and the home as a physical place. With a younger audience of 25-35 and adjacent affluent millennials, I was confident I should create a refined, contemporary brand identity.

With this brief, I am aware that I could not seek feedback from a client, so my project goal was to create a visual identity that could confidently exist within this space and a brand that was able to adapt to the real world expctations and needs of a retail outlet in this sector.

Research

Branding comparisons - *Example shows my outcomes here*.

Flexible logo variations for promotions and instore departments

Outcomes

While measurable real world outcomes are not possible, this project has allowed me to research and explore a new design space through the lens of Nordic-British design and the homewear retail setting. I feel I achieved my aims of creating a tangible brand identity that could sit within this space and while a brand is more than a concept alone, I did enjoy exploring the connecting points between the audience and the ideas of home.

With a real client, interviews and a deeper understanding of their values and daily business needs, I could have curated the deliverables and refined the visual language.

Hearth & Haze Visual Identity

The logo stands up to, and stands out within the urban environment, while still communicating dynamically. Here it is clean, airy and offering a sense of calmness, while not losing its strengths as a design centric brand.

Coupled with the monogram for light, the design concept of formal and informal is pushed further through the use of materials and the idea of wear and "lived in" while also communicating quality and longevity.

A further series of 2D marks lean into the essence of a specific space, such as warmth, softness and touch.

Playfulness here counters any sense of seriousness or over-formality, offering agency in curating

your Home of home.

Here, permission is encouraged over ownership of your space. The formal structure of the mark, however, ensures that the essence of fromal and infromal is maintined and the brand identity is both strong and flexible.

Get in Touch

You may also like