I’ve been photographing nature for years, and so when I saw this assignment called for creating a fictitious organization or product and its marketing campaign, I knew I wanted to do something focused on nature and its ability to transport people to a different world. I decided to create a park, called Serenity Park, where people could get lost in a place that felt like an oasis of calm, beautiful energy and scenery. I took a couple of days to photograph areas in Olympic National Park and Tolmie State Park with my cell phone to capture some wide-angle, stunning views as well as some up-close photographs of the trails’ diverse flora. I also got a shot of me on a paddleboard at Millersvania State Park. It was a fun week! I edited the photographs in Adobe Photoshop to color-correct them using the numerical correction technique we learned and played around with the contrasts and saturations. Once the photos were edited, I was ready to create the logo. I wanted the logo to combine peacefulness and nature, so I searched online for examples and decided to make a logo with a tree and moon. I’ve never deisnged a logo before, so I was excited to test out the features in Adobe Illustrator. First, I used the ellipse tool to make a circle moon and the base and trunk of the tree. Then, I used the line tool to create the tree branches and used the curvature tool to curve them to depict a pine tree shape. I grouped the tree and moon together and added the title Serenity Park, aligned to the bottom of the base of the tree and moon graphic. I created a black-and-white version in case I needed to switch between the two for the various pieces needed for the assignment. 

I created the tagline “Where peace takes root” and added it underneath the Serenity Park logo, leaving enough space between to ensure the logo kept its visual integrity and prominence. I grouped the logo and tagline together, then copied and “pasted in place” that object combo throughout the pieces of collateral to keep the tagline and logo spaced consistently. I also thought it would be a nice touch to come up with a hashtag to use across the pieces and in the social media caption. Adding this at the top of the pieces created some vertical visual balance, and it serves as a nice takeaway should an audience member only quickly scan the piece. 

For the typography, I wanted to convey simple but bold lines of text to match the theme of “serenity.” So, I chose Future font and created a visual hierarchy by formatting the different types of copy with differing styles. I formatted the logo in the condensed medium style, the tagline in medium italic, the body in medium, the body headings in condensed extra bold, and the body subheadings in bold. I kept the text colors in black and white throughout the pieces, going between them and adjusting them to contrast well with the background. I ensured the #findyourserenity didn’t overtake the logo or tagline through spacing and scale.

For the poster, I included a main background photograph that is featured prominently throughout the collateral as well as three smaller photographs that conveyed more particular parts of the park for visual interest. Scaling these photographs down enabled me to include them without detracting from the logo and tagline’s focal prominence. I also added black rectangles to house text boxes above and below for visual balance and to ensure the text was vivid and easy to read. For the brochure, I kept the outside pages clean and succinctly informational so that the inside text didn’t feel overwhelming and the main photograph could create a wide-view impact once opened. I also added the three smaller photographs from the poster, plus another, to give more insight into the park along with the informative copy.

For the print ad, I ensured the text was large enough to read, even for older folks, and, outside of the logo and tagline, I kept the copy to the descriptive blurb, call to action, and hashtag. I kept the Facebook and Instagram ads focused on the main photograph for a visual wow factor and because audiences can click through for more information online. I added the hashtag to encourage viewers to take action and hopefully be intrigued by the park’s online community. I created the billboard artwork similarly, except I also made sure the call to action was particularly bolded on the billboard, using the bold style of the Future font so drivers could quickly visually absorb that line to take action.

This project was so much fun – from shooting the photographs to mocking up a logo – I had a really great time crafting this marketing campaign for my dreamy oasis at Serenity Park! I feel much more comfortable in Adobe Illustrator, Indesign, and Photoshop now, and I can’t wait to continue improving my skills!