Branding is about how people feel about you and your business and you cannot control that. But you and your business can inspire, through what you do, what you say and how you show yourself in the world. When all this is aligned, the visual identity is merely an anchor for you and your audience, like a friend who, when you feel caught in all the drama, reminds you of who you really are.
Downstairs, you’ll find a few explorations of branding projects that I did for my clients. But here’s the gist. I’m only going to show you the visual identity and give you a glimpse of the behind the scenes branding process.
Curious to see more? Check them out:
1. How to really sleep like a baby
What happens when you put three moms together in 2022: a marketer with a taste for design, a kid bed apparel brand and a baby sleep consultant? We didn’t sit in a tree, but instead, we created a special sleeping bag made especially for newborns and their fussy sleep (we were all moms, we knew the truth behind what sleeping like a baby actually means).
It was clear from the very start that the logo would be something the parents would see every time they would be close to the child. It would also be responsible with creating a positive association with the brand parent – Kids Decor, who, for more than 10 years already, were a reliable source of sleeping bags and bed apparel for babies and children, all designed and made by them.
The logo had to be visible, but subtle on the fabrics that were used for the sleeping bags, and easy to embroider or print.
My inspiration came from a nightlight my kid received when he was a baby, that projected stars on the ceiling, while it was playing lullaby songs. My thought quickly jumped to my favorite shape of a baby’s hanging mobile carousel, with stars and a moon. The outer shape was imagined like a cute full moon, or the organic way all nights seem to blend together when you have a newborn (from the lack of sleep of all moms out there)
This logo was supposed to say, in a whispering way: We know, and we’re here for you too! (mother and baby alike)
2. Our favourite Lady with Dolls
Imagine the most wonderful smile, on a gentle, cuddly and funny grandma, with a zest for jokes that would put a teen to shame, and who spends most of her days, and sometimes nights, crocheting dolls for children of 3 to 99 years old.
We’ve known each other since 2017, when Heartwarming Marketing was at the very beginning, but when Gabriela asked me in 2022 to design a logo for her, I immediately knew what to draw! I had to draw her!
Doamna cu Păpuși is Romanian for the Lady with Dolls. And that’s what people call her whenever she participates at a local handmade fair. You can hear kids screaming when they see her: Hey! The Lady with Dolls is back! That’s something amazing to see with your own eyes, and I loved that feeling.
She’s not comfortable with technology but she cares so much for her impact on her clients, big and small, that she wanted a logo, a greeting card, a sticker (that says: Crocheted with love), a price tag and a thank you card, where she signs: From the Lady with Dolls.
This is about her, her love for kids, smiles and crocheting dolls, all woven together in a very small handmade business which gives happiness that you can hug.
3. The Stars of Celestia Handmade
With Irina, when we were searching for what made her creations stand out, we discovered that her business brand, Celestia Handmade made us think about stars, the starry night sky, gifts from the heart that connect people and closeness.
We thought of that feeling when you look at the same sky with someone, and you feel close, even though they are miles away from you.
It was very real to me. When I was a kid, whenever I would think of my dad, an officer at sea, I would imagine that he’s off on an adventure, dreaming that he looked at the same sky and see the same stars like me.
Celestia Handmade became a Romanian handmade resin jewelry brand, but at the beginning Irina was making handmade decoupage decorations.
I created her first logo in 2019, for the feeling that her creations inspired in her clients. The logo was drawn by hand, then vectorized. Irina was so excited that she even put her husband design a 3d wall hanging with it for her studio.
In 2021, she pivoted and started creating jewelry, while she was on a journey of rediscovery as a woman and a creator. The logo meant a lot to her so she kept it and still used it with every occasion.
In 2023, she wanted a revamp, but I couldn’t help her as I was finishing my book, so I recommended her to my friend and awesome designer Roxana Armanu, with whom I have partnered for other projects. So with my permission and with Roxana on board, the logo received a great makeover, better suited for the glamorous jewelry that Irina designs now!
Now, in 2025, Irina is again redesigning her impact in the world, pivoting her brand from a jewelry business into a coaching business for female entrepreneurs, helping them take back their precious time.
4. The one that only some people get excited about
We all have that personal project that has a life of its own, as stealth as an SAS Rogue Hero, wreaking havoc from time to time, taking over your bandwidth, because it was the perfect time for a distraction.
This is the peculiar case of Mischiefs and Misfits, a design project I’m working on, for t-shirts with a hidden meaning, that only you and your kind of people will get. I have hundreds of lines that wait to see the light of day, or night, printed on t-shirts and maybe prints, with 5 of them ready to launch.
The name is a twist from Harry Potter’s Marauder’s Map: „I solemnly swear that I’m up to no good!”, and „Mischief managed”.
While Misfit was a word I always loved and meaning feared, but that sparked a light bulb moment when I heard in The Rasmus’s Rise song:
„There’s a place I know
Where us misfits go
In the candlelight at night
Black roses grow through the darkness
On our journey to the light”
This project is the place where I’ve been battling my procras-demons, my sabotage expert goblins and Gandalf ambitions to keep them secret, keep them safe. It’s such a ride, I can’t contain myself. And when I spill, I leave a mark. Like this one:
Branding is not about the logo, but about the visual form that your message sparks excitement in your audience.
It’s the way people remember you.
It touches everything and everywhere your business shows up.
*Please be aware that all new branding or rebranding strategy projects start from 7000$.
But first, if you believe we can start a conversation about your business, jump on a Foundations Session to uncover your real Artistic Edge:
Andrada Săftescu - Artist and Strategist 