Paws

The pet wellbeing company

Before the rebrand

Today we see it everywhere – the millenial humanisation of pets. We like to call it ‘Generation Pet Parent’.

Being a pet parent is a big responsiblilty, and with a lot of choice out there, our ambition is to make life all love and less stress for all pets and their parent.

Paws personalises the way you shop, learn, and give back – so you can be the amazing pet parent you want to be.

My role

I joined Paws a few months before the launch. In the ideation phase, I designed the visual brand identity (except the logo), the design system, and the vision for the customer experience that could translate across all touch points. I worked to create solutions within budget constraints for all packaging and print materials, and collaborated with the product design team on the digital experience. After launch, I hired a full-time illustrator, Fiona Dunphy, and a freelance photographer, Julian Victoria, so as to layer in our own imagery.

All brand executions came through me, and due to juggling multiple timelines, the brand developed in an iterative manner.

I worked on

Brand Identity
Art Direction (+video)
Packaging
Illustration Direction
Hiring
UX/UI
Email
Events
Merchandise
Display
Affiliates
Paid Social

The design system

The logo

The logo mark was inherited from the original brand guidelines, as well as the red primary colour.

Colours & typography

As a compliment to the primary red, a range of yellows are used as a base for the illustrations and still-life photography. Complimentary pink tones are used as background tints and our dog illustrations are realistic and warm.

Illustration & photography

The approach to the illustration style is hand-drawn, which captures the innate charm of dogs. Illustrations are always bright, humorous, and delightful. We show a variety of dog breeds to keep them feeling inclusive and fresh.

Our brand images feel real, unposed and capture the charm of dogs and the bonds we create with them – no dogs in studios! Even our product shots are approached in a much more natural way, with soft shadows on an off-white background. Illustration became the main tool for injecting personality into the brand, and was a great help as a storytelling device for all the content we created for pet parents.