Drawing Inspiration

I try to emphasize finding inspiration outside of your target industry. It could be movies, books, cultural affinities, travel, shapes in nature, etc. Finding inspiration with a deadline can be hard. This year so far I had the fortune of traveling for a week at a time to two very different locales: Seoul, Korea for tourism and Willow-Witt Farm in Ashland Oregon on a high school chaperoning community service trip. Combined, they inspired my design demo for a final project. In Seoul, I found the theme of manufactured flowers in artisanal yellow-leafed chocolates and colossal inflated flower sculptures outside of Gentle Monster, a high-concept Korean luxury eyewear brand, symbols of industrialized sophistication. Delighted by a birthday dessert masterpiece, I immediately picked up on its palette of moss beneath the granite-colored miniature tiki statue made of black sesame. As matcha drinks seem to be trending in many urban centers, I thought of using this sponge moss and actual moss from Oregon as accents to the subdued dark palettes of the urban jungle.

Cultural Identity Inspiration: I’m also thinking about encouraging graphic design that incorporates different languages in the logo, since many brands employ other languages as inspiration. Combining Roman letterforms with Hiragana, a Japanese alphabet invented by women, I created the brand, Mochiron, which means “of course, certainly, naturally,” an affirming message during a time riddled with doubt. For the brand DNA, I have, self-affirming, whimsical/playful, easy/casual, and romantic/rugged: