Senior Capstone: Mira
Recipient of the Fall 2024 Dean's Choice Award
The senior capstone is a semester-long project that requires students to pick a project to showcase their skills and what they've learned throughout their college career. I chose to create a branding guide for a mock makeup company, Mira.
Roles:
Brand designer & Creator
Software:
Figma, Illustrator, Photoshop, Procreate, Pacadora
Published:
December 2024
Let's start from the beginning...
Before I could even think about designing I needed to create a company to design for. I wanted to create something meaningful and personal, so I started to research the target demographic: Gen Z. Studies show that Gen Z values brands that are mission-driven. One issue that Gen Z cares about is global climate change.
From this research, I decided to create a branding guide for a sustainable makeup company whose mission is to contribute to ocean conservation and reduce ocean pollution. I then created mood boards and developed the brand's core values.
First, research!
Lots & lots of iterations
The name Mira came about because of it's translation from "ocean" in Sanskrit. In developing the logo, I knew I wanted to add a homage to the brand's mission through a wave icon. I also wanted to create a logo that reflected Mira's core values: inclusion, sustainability, authenticity, and kindness. The tagline, "Made for you and the ocean," was also added to emphasize the brand's mission. I went through many iterations of icons and fonts and finally came up with a logo that represented Mira.
Drumroll Please...!
The final logo includes a swirl at the bottom of the R, which symbolizes the waves of the ocean. A fun surprise appears when the R is rotated counterclockwise, and the logo suddenly becomes a whale. Incorporating the icon into the name makes the logo stand out against other makeup brands because the icon is included, which increases brand recognition and uniqueness.
It's all in the details.
Since Mira focuses on sustainability, I wanted to design product packaging that not only stands out from other makeup brands but also reiterates the company's mission. Using Illustrator and 3D mockup software, I created die lines to model the packaging. The continuous-wave pattern was a brand motif I developed while designing the packaging. The top of the box, color description, and side logo all correlate with the colors of the product to make it easier for customers to identify while shopping. Each box has the words "made from 100% recycled trash from the ocean" to emphasize the mission of the brand. The inside of the box also includes the color of the product. The words "Remember, recycle me" are also included inside to remind the customer to recycle the packaging once it has been opened.
Nobody will know if you don't spread the word!
Gen Z is chronically online, so Mira will be utilizing social media platforms such as Instagram to push brand recognition and drive traffic to the website. These mockups represent a possible Instagram profile and feed. These posters are of possible beauty campaigns that could be done to highlight the diversity and products of Mira. The website should remain clean, easy to read, and accessible. The website mockup features a home page, bestsellers page, specific product page, and a mission statement page.
The final product!
The branding guide for Mira consists of different slides with the logo, iconography, brand motif, mockups, packaging design, and so much more!
This was a bittersweet conclusion to the past 4 years of trying to figure out how to operate 3D modeling software at 3AM and wanting to rip my hair out using the pen tool in Illustrator.
I am so grateful for the friends, professors, students, and mentors that I was able to befriend along the way. I was exposed to different mediums that I would have never thought possible and created so many projects that would never have come to light without my peers.
Again, a very special thank you to my parents for always supporting me through all my endeavors. I cannot express my gratitude enough.
That’s all folks!
