POWELL’S PRIDE

When asked to design an employee tee shirt for the Portland Pride Parade, I immediately imagined a spectacular sea of purple and joyful rainbow stripes moving through the crowds.

Combining a playful stack of books with a vibrant take on the rainbow palette resulted in our own custom bookseller flag. Paired with the simple but meaningful Gilbert font, this symbolic mark of pride stands out from the rest.

The Powell’s Pride logo evolved into digital assets for our landing page, social skins, printed signage and shelf talkers in stores. The tee shirt was eventually produced and made available to the public after much demand.

LOGO DESIGN
BRANDED COLLATERAL
COHESIVE ASSET DESIGN

Parade photography by Lauren Nicole Johnson

BRANDED DRINKWARE + GIFTS

Some of my all-time favorite projects are souvenir items for fans of Powell’s Books. I tried channeling my deepest empathy to find unique traits and preferences of a very diverse but loyal customer base—from cat lovers to rainy day loungers to the military-inspired.

Often using my own hand-drawn illustrations, I tried to create one-of-kind love notes for the Powell’s community.

I worked directly with all kinds of manufacturers, adhering to the limitations of each production method, checking stocks, managing proofs, and keeping timelines.

The “My Weekend Is Booked” mug is the perfect piece because of its bold palette, retro vibe and hint of LeVar Burton’s soothing voice. This unapologetic mug and corresponding tote became popular items on social media, even starring in a Mandy Moore Instagram story.

CONCEPT + DESIGN
ILLUSTRATION
HAND LETTERING
BRAND MESSAGING

CONTENT FOR WEB, EMAIL + SOCIAL

An intentional choice was made to incorporate more photography and organic flow into our digital communications. I fully embraced the desire to bring humanity back into the user experience.

I led concept creation, coordinated shoots and photographed my colleagues to produce social promotions, emails, product photos and employee portraits for blog spotlights. I tried to give our online fans behind-the-scenes and tactile moments, allowing connection in an authentic way.

CREATIVE DIRECTION
PHOTOGRAPHY + EDITING
TYPOGRAPHY + LAYOUT

Ruth Ware Event Photo by KuDa Photography