IG
Miscelanea is a design studio with a focus in branding and creative direction. We partner with an assortment of people to craft impactful work and evolve visions, across the worlds of lifestyle, wellness, and hospitality.
We developed a forward–leaning visual system rooted in research, taking cues from the philosophies of Buckminster Fuller, fringe–science theories, and lab environments. The headline type’s disjointed combination of soft geometry and hard angles conveys a sense of biotechnology chains and chemistry markup, while the support script type as drawn from scratch style handwriting to exude the feeling of developmental notation. Product art direction that’s cleanly diffused and combines structured elements interplaying amongst organic notes, along with avant–garde focused styling and a serene confidence from the talent, project a near–future world of firmness and intrigue. The resulting outputs were broadcast across photography, motion, out-of-home, experiential activations, and beyond—shaping the product’s impact within markets globally.
Art Direction: Kimmie Torgerson, Up Close Studio
Casting: XYNE Agency
Production: Nadia Fancelli
Through our initial discussions we quickly aligned on the need to express the brand as rooted in heritage, blending Lee’s South Korean origins and Hargreave’s experience establishing Momofuku globally, but with a distinctly contemporary focus when it came to presentation, service, and atmosphere.
The approach for solving this came first through the evolution of the Underdog wordmark, set in all caps to generate a sound, institutional impression and reworked with Dinamo’s Helveesti in heavy weight, accentuating it’s read and conveying an understated elegance. Next, was the creation of a publicly–sourced illustration system showcasing a series of culinary staples and table essentials, developed and treated through hours down the rabbit hole amongst vintage Korean cookbooks. We also incorporated supporting type families directly steeped in history to support this framework within menus and printed matter, and a color system influenced by both the striking palette of the ingredients in the dishes offered as well as the soft tones of vintage Korean cinema. We knew we wanted elegance and elevation, yet coupled with vibrancy and curiousity, so while the graphic system contains nods to the past, layouts and implementations are set up to distinctly make a mark in the now.
Design: Miscelanea Studio
Photography: Chad Wadsworth
With locations now in both Los Angeles and San Francisco, the brand’s popularity has quickly accelerated amongst a dynamic car community and beyond, with coffee lovers at large.
Design & Copy: Miscelanea Studio
Illustration: Kevin Butler, Alina Shcherbakova
This assessment ultimately led to the recreation of their global brand guide, working with Amika’s existing library as the base, focused on building sound rationale and elevating each touch point of brand. The work encompassed the evolution and definition of elements in every aspect, informing and establishing consistencies, and refocusing art direction. In addition, this logic was pushed through core verticals to create targeted implementation guides specific to social and digital, visual merchandising and printed matter, paid media, video, and packaging.
Strategy & Design:Miscelanea Studio
CEO (Amika):Chelsea Riggs
VP Marketing & Creative (Amika):Kelley Martin
Creative Direction (Amika):Matthew Stetson