Branding and design is my first love, of course, but a very close second is travel. The unadulterated joy of journeying to somewhere new, and discovering a destination that will now forever have a piece of your heart, is just one of my favourite feelings in the world.
You can imagine how excited I was, then, when an email from Holly at Wonderlust Events popped into my inbox, enquiring about a rebrand…
Luxury destination weddings
The business
Holly is a wedding planner who specialises in luxurious destination weddings (and thus frequently makes me jealous on the ‘gram!) The Wonderlust Events tagline is ‘Embracing timeless romance’, and their focus is on creating unforgettable days in unforgettable locations. However, she didn’t feel like her branding was aligned with her message and the level of service she provided, so she wanted something new.
Photography: @katiejulia_
A timeless look
The brief
Create a timeless look that appeals to couples getting married in luxurious destinations.
Aka - a dream brief, for me!
Holly’s initial moodboard was full of vintage coupés filled with pale, glinting rosé, coupled with shimmering azure seas. The rebrand needed to convey the fundamentals of her business: elegance, travel and romance, whilst still remaining aesthetic.
Dream destinations
The concept
The idea behind this rebrand centred around the idea of dream destinations, and specifically their longitude and latitude.
I used the ‘o’ of Wonderlust to resemble the degrees symbol, not only echoing the location element of destinations but also the floaty, ‘above’ness quality of lofty dreams.
I also used a code of longitude and latitude co-ordinates to further enforce the reference to dream destinations. Usually, of course, dreams don’t exist in the real world, but that’s the beauty of what Holly and her team do: they take your dreams, and make them a reality. So which co-ordinates did we choose? 43.5522° N, 91.1449° W - a place literally called Romance, to tie in with Holly’s tagline.
Photography: @katiejulia_
Cool neutrals & elegant serifs
The design features
To bring this new iteration of Wonderlust to life, I chose a cool, neutral palette. I drew inspiration from the colours of sun bleached wood, stonewash walls and dry clay, which sit really nicely tonally with the dazzling blue of the seas and the wild landscape of Holly’s destination.
Fontwise, I chose a serif font that was elegant without being boring; luxurious without being stuffy. The W formed the centre of the dynamic submarks, perfect for using across a range of design assets to create a consistent look across all platforms.
The finishing touches
The outcome
Alongside the completely new brand assets, I built a brand new website for Holly as part of her rebrand (which you can see in all its glory here.)
I also created some social templates for her to use – a godsend if you’re still wanting to show up on social media but you’re in the middle of the wedding season! – and branded stationery templates, including a welcome guide and proposal document.
Finally – because there’s nothing better than tangibly holding your new branding in your hands – I was thrilled to translate the new concept into some printed stationery, including gold edge foiled business cards, bespoke luggage tags and welcome notecards with embossed envelopes.
As you can tell, I had an absolute ball working on this for Holly and the brilliant business she’s built. But you don’t have to just take my word for it - here’s what she had to say:
“Cassie, you have brought back my work positivity and excitement which I felt I had lost for a while and most importantly you took your time to get to know me and understand the aesthetic and feeling I wanted to achieve. I will be forever grateful at how you care about my business as though it’s your own.”
Rebranding is about so much more than logos and fonts (although don’t get me wrong, I love those): it’s about the very heart and soul of your business, the reason you’re doing it. I was so glad to be able to capture that and give it back to Holly in this project.
If you’re looking for a rebrand – maybe you feel like it’s time for a shakeup, or you feel like Holly and like you’ve lost your way slightly - I’d love to chat. Check out my branding design portfolio, and get in touch!