Kitchen Collaborative Launches “Portraits by Make-up Designory”

How do you promote a brand when the commodity is people? Kitchen Collaborative’s long time client Make-up Designory, a renowned global makeup school and pro cosmetics line, wanted to ensure that their community of students, grads, and B2B partners were receiving the latest information on the success of their alumni. To achieve this objective, we strategized, named, designed, and implemented a new editorial series called “Portraits” including documentary style video profiles, robust digital content and a printed magazine featuring key members of the MUD community designed to promote brand recognition and build loyalty.

The first step was to create a sub brand name that would connect to the brand conceptually but still stand alone. “Portraits” became the perfect metaphor for what we were trying to do as it tied into the artistry of make-up, while making it clear that we were focused on featuring people. The logo solution included a brush stroke in the “o” letterform in a clean, modern, classic wordmark that tied into the main logo while still maintaining a unique look.

 

Our first cover story featured Emmy® nominated make-up artist and influencer Nicole Faulkner (aka LipstickNick). The full length video was as documentary style interview at her latest venture Pout Beauty Bar, where we asked her about her career path, inspirations, and her time at MUD. It was critical that the content be completely authentic to her journey as an artist, and was intentionally not a direct endorsement of MUD. We then adapted the content into micro content for social media advertising, and for release on her page earlier today.

For the printed version of “Portraits,” we wanted the piece to feel like a fashion catalog, with a highly stylized and editorial approach to the typography and layout. The result was a bold, stylish, and artistic design with lots of color blocking, dynamic hierarchy, and strong information design. The brush stroke element in the word mark was carried through the piece along with design elements established in the school’s website that we redesigned and launched early this year.

The final part of the campaign was the digital version of the magazine, which was intended to give the viewer enough information to digest the content while still leaving more to be discovered by downloading the printed version. The design was reformatted to work vertically and optimized to be delivered within any email client.

Stay tuned for more “Portraits” to come on a quarterly basis!