The AIGA Orlando Mentorship Program pairs design students with industry professionals to help them improve their design skills and present their work to the local creative community.
I was paired with Clark Orr during my mentorship and we discussed projects that merged my interests in branding, illustration, and packaging.
Clark’s initial suggestions included wooden toys, board games, and pastry packaging. From there I researched wooden and vinyl toys and chose to build a circus-themed brand with child-like animal toys.
The brand of The Marvelous Menagerie emphasizes the bright energy and joy depicted in circuses and children’s toys.
When researching circus advertisements and children’s toys, the main color palette consisted of primary colors. I used a muted version of these colors to combine the look of a modern brand with hints of the past. The brand’s beige color would replace large areas of white to mimic aged paper.
The “Menagerie” logotype consists of Bodoni Condensed with a curved baseline as seen in many late 1800's to early 1900’s advertisements. The serif-like notches around the center of each letter took inspiration from famous circus and western type of that time period.
The three posters for The Marvelous Menagerie showcased the Show Lion, Danger Mouse, and Strong Bear. The characters were given distinct personalities through limited color palettes, entertaining poses, and humorous animal puns.
Assembled versions of the paper toys for the Marvelous Menagerie.
The final task for the Mentorship Program was to display my work at the SPOT Showcase, alongside other mentees who worked on their projects for five months.
Above are inspiration photos for the display's structure. I planned to use PVC and fabric due to its portability and light weight. The three Marvelous Menagerie posters would then hang on the tent's top support beam with a fishing line.
Promotional button pins and business cards were available as gifts for those attending the event.
The Marvelous Menagerie display at the SPOT Showcase.
Another angle of the table with a shot of the hanging posters.
A front view of my display, which won the Judges’ Award for "Best in Show".
From left to right: Shannon Calderon (Mentorship Director), Michelle Marelli (Mentee), Clark Orr (Mentor), and Victor Davila (UCF Professor)
Some photos are courtesy of AIGA Orlando.
