During the start of our studio in 2012, we had the privilege of meeting photographer Gillian Stevens and worked on a number of photoshoots together. Since then, Gillian has been a great friend of the studio and we were thrilled when she launched her self-titled clothing label.
Each of Gillian’s collections is carefully designed with quality and made to last. As a firm believer in slow fashion, Gillian’s products are made with sustainable practices, building close relationships with manufacturers and suppliers.
Since 2020, Gillian had already built a successful base for her brand. Prior to her Fall 2022 collection, she approached us to refine her brand identity to better reflect the quality and intentionality in her clothing line.

From our discovery process, we identified the concept of slowing down as a core theme to the Gillian Stevens brand—to reduce both our speed of consumption as well as our pace of life. This theme became our main source of inspiration as we designed the brand identity.
As we considered the common activities people turn to while seeking a moment of stillness, reading was a clear source of life for many who wanted to slow down.
Our design concept takes inspiration from the timelessness of printed text and the slight variations that appear as a result of ink being pressed into the paper and bleeding into the fibers. Focusing on this detail, we adjusted each letterform to portray this subtle effect to create a wordmark with its own unique personality.
For the brand system, we created a &#8220;tree grid&#8221;, giving the content an organic and unique structure. In this system, groups of content/text are laid out as branches or leaves on a tree. When applying this system to an image, this allows us to play with the placement of the content in relation to the subject in the image (ie. the title sits on top of the elbow of the model).

Services

Location

Credit

Branding

Identity

Print

Gillian Stevens

The impact of the pandemic gave way to a rise in podcasts that focused on mindfulness, meditation and inner healing. Writer Sarah James launched the Clerestory podcast and online magazine to “provide a space for writers, artists, and activists to explore personal, spiritual, and social dimensions of human flourishing” during a very uncertain time in the world. After gaining a faithful audience of readers and listeners, Sarah came to us to explore the possibilities of publishing the inaugural printed volume for Clerestory—a way to bring the online stories and poetry of contributing writers into a tangible, physical form.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<h2>Design</h2>
As with all of our design work, we began by trying to listen and understand the Clerestory voice and personality—much of it expressed through Sarah&#8217;s own personality as well as the voice of her contributors. These observations helped inform our approach to the layout and also the typography choice for the magazine. We settled upon Louize Text as the body text—a contemporary serif with warm and approachable characteristics and historical influences.
The main challenge of this project was finding a grid structure that would comfortably handle various lengths and type of content, from essays to interviews, poetry to photo stories. We settled on an eight column grid that allowed us to have both the flexibility to handle the various content types and also the structure to offer a visual consistency.

<h2>Printing Process</h2>
In late August, we visited Hemlock Printers for a press check on behalf of Clerestory Magazine. After working closely on this publication for eight months, it was truly rewarding to see it finally translate from screen to print. It has been awhile since we stepped on the printing floor but seeing all the work that goes into making a printed book always makes us appreciate the process even more. Many of the staff who managed the printing of our project have been at Hemlock or in the print industry for more than 20+ years. A special thanks to our account manager Paul Verrall who was instrumental to the project from start to finish.
The magazine was printed on Domtar Lynx smooth uncoated paper and bound using a layflat binding method to allow the magazine to open flat.

<h2>Magazine Design</h2>
Our final design for volume 1 of Clerestory Magazine included two cover options in white and in mint, with alternate cover photos shot by Daniel Casson. The magazine is typeset in three typefaces with Romie as the font for titles to continue Clerestory&#8217;s brand identity and Louize for the body text. Helvetica bold was used for subheadings.
As a reflection of Clerestory&#8217;s online content, the magazine is divided into four categories—essays, interviews, photo stories, and poems. Each section begins with a section title spread using the Clerestory blue as the background and acts as moment of pause for the reader.
Given the array of content lengths and varying number of photos per entry, we established two opening spread layouts which allowed us to adapt the layout of the content accordingly.
We used an eight column grid that afforded us the flexibility of laying out long form content, pull out quotes, and reference notes—all in a cohesive approach.
As a finishing touch, the cover photo area was debossed to give a sense of framing. We felt this effect would be a nice reference to the meaning of the word clerestory: &#8220;a window that allows light and air into the upper body of a cathedral&#8221;.

Clerestory Magazine

At the tail end of September 2022, we worked with travelware brand LOJEL to create a campaign featuring Niru, their in-city nylon collection and Iloj, their everyday leather accessories collection.
As LOJEL’s offerings expand further into everyday travel, our proposal for the campaign was to feature two influential individuals from Los Angeles, exploring their connection to the city. From thoughts on their daily commute; to what community means to them; our goal was to celebrate the contributions to the people and spaces they’ve built around their respective lives.
The core theme that drives this campaign is the idea of “moving to connect”. From point A to point B, whether locally or abroad, our movement is often a means to make a connection—with an old friend or a new one, with family, or in an effort to connect with ourselves. The movement of a city makes it vibrant and full of life.

On our first day of the shoot, we spent time with Jazzi McGilbert, owner of Reparations Club, a bookstore and gathering place for the community. Much of the interior of what locals refer to as &#8220;Rep Club&#8221; harkens back to Jazzi&#8217;s grandmother&#8217;s living room—an intimate and welcoming experience that Jazzi strives to recreate for her visitors. She graciously shared her story with us, highlighting her unwavering connection to LA—the place where she grew up and keeps coming back to.
The second day on set featured Shin Okuda, furniture maker and owner of Waka Waka. In contrast to Jazzi&#8217;s story, Shin had traveled from Japan to the United States and unexpectedly made Los Angeles home. Through our conversations, Shin shares with us his design process, the creative freedom he experiences in LA in contrast to Japan, and his unique relationship with the use of colour in his work.
Both individuals inspired us on many levels and shared with us a glimpse into their everyday movements and relationship to the city.

LOJEL Stories — Jazzi McGilbert, Shin Okuda

Stories Campaign

2022

LOJEL Stories — Jazzi McGilbert, Shin Okuda

Stories Campaign

2022

View More Projects