A branding and web design project for a healthy living blogger. Push-ups and Peanut Butter was looking to build a playful and modern brand, as well as a platform to more easily share thoughts, recommendations, and recipes.
Playful
Modern
Clean
Approachable
Vibrant
Branding
Web Design
Illustration
Print
Photography
Food Styling
The client was looking for branding that would complement the clean and colorful photography style she had been using in her Instagram posts. The look and feel we were aiming for was one that was fresh, vibrant, and playful. I began by creating multiple mood boards, landing on one that incorporated fun illustrations, clean photography, and a mix of soft and bright colors.
moodboard images gathered from: Jen b. peters, green and the grain, all good things Co., rowanmade, joanna kosinska
As always, the process to create a logo began with lots of sketching. After fleshing out some ideas, I moved to the computer and put together four directions to present to the client. The Push-ups and Peanut Butter brand revolves around creating a healthy and balanced life. A part of that mission focuses on embracing one's imperfections, which played into the direction of the logo. The client chose the hand-drawn option, since it was more organic and not too refined.
The brand color palette incorporates a mix of soft and bright colors. These colors help to bring a feel that is playful, feminine, and energetic.
To balance out the organic, hand-drawn feel of the logo, I selected Montserrat for headings and body text. This sans-serif font is clean and modern, but also approachable. For headings, we used Lora, a serif font that is friendly and confident.
For the illustration style, I wanted something that was slightly rough around the edges and not too polished. This keeps the visual styling feeling whimsical and fun. All illustrations were drawn on an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil.
An especially fun part of this project was styling the food and photographing it. I worked with the client to create a list of all the shots we would need for the website. I sketched layout ideas for some and then arranged and styled the food before photographing it.
The website serves as a place for the client to share recipes and create blog posts about healthy living. Prior to this project, the client was only sharing her recipes and thoughts through Instagram photos and captions which was limiting. One of the most important asks of this website was to create a blog post layout that was engaging, easy to read, and flexible when it came to different types of content. The design needed to accommodate for blog posts with and without recipes.
After multiple rounds of sketching and digital mockups, we found the layout and structure that worked best. I used Webflow to build the website, which also allows the client to easily add and manage content.
All recipes can be viewed directly on the website in the browser or are available in PDF form for downloading and/or printing. I created a recipe template in InDesign that includes an image and has a clear set of ingredients and instructions.
“Working with Mariel to develop my branding and build my website was such a wonderful experience. She was able to bring my vision to life through a well thought out process, asking the right questions, and always thinking a step ahead. Mariel took the time to truly understand my ideas and intentions, while also offering her invaluable professional opinion and expertise. Her ability to incorporate her hand drawn images into my project was an added surprise.”
