For the first few round of design comps I showed the business, we all agreed the approach was too safe and stayed too true to the literal use of the carousel. Even the ideas that were more abstract, the owners felt that it didn't convey the modern look and feel they wanted to sell to a new, younger audience.

I decided that we should start over and find an image that alluded to the carousel but could also lend itself to other interpretations that would open the visual to multiple uses and possibilities. The flower seemed to be a great bridge that could keep the circular motifs, soften the concept and allow for some visual play. I pushed for very bright, primary colors to stress a kid's perspective and chose the nicely rounded Century font for the wordmark to reinforce the circular theme but also slopes, slides and playground shapes. Looking back, I wish I would have stacked the words since it has such a long horizontal span.

Some of the collateral. As I hoped, the more playful aspects of the branding system allowed the owners to loosen up which in turn allowed me some fun freedom to tease out some smaller elements, like with the random letter coloring for the business cards or the pattern for the wrapping paper.

The branding really lent itself to clean images with saturated colors. These are two of a handful of templates that I created early on that were used for in-store signage, postcards, banners and general advertising.

I think these were my favorite pieces that I created. Simple with lots of color and the key branding element as the focal point.

This was for their annual New Year's Eve sale. I designed it so that everything would work for in-store signage as well as the print and online advertising campaigns.