Can you believe it is already May? It feels like a good moment to look back at what has shaped the year so far. Thankfully, my small creative studio has been consistently busy with a mix of branding, editorial design, and illustration projects across different industries and locations.
From a Florida-based news startup to a creative business in Dubai, along with several personal projects focused on experimentation and improving my design skills, each project came with its own challenges and positive outcomes, both for the clients and for my own creative development.
In this post, I am sharing a selection of my favourite projects from this spring, along with a short overview of the thinking and process behind each of them.
Mediterranean wall art with LED neon integration
Amédée, who is launching a creative business in Dubai, reached out to me to design a series of wall art pieces combining illustration with LED neon integration. The idea was to move away from traditional neon signage and create something that feels more like collectable interior artwork.
We focused on two concepts, Mediterranean Roadtrip and Aperol Spritz, both built around a relaxed, French-Italian Riviera lifestyle inspired by the Mediterranean, travel, and my love for the 70s aesthetic.
I started by exploring a range of initial directions for each concept. From there, we narrowed things down together and refined the selected ideas based on feedback until everything felt right.
The final artworks were created using CMYK colours with production in mind and prepared in a way that works across both print and neon integration.
What I especially appreciated in this project was how quickly we aligned on certain directions after the first ideas were shared, which made the whole process very fast and smooth.
Amédée was very happy with the result, and we are already planning to continue working together on future pieces.
The Longwood Post, Mid-Century Modern-inspired brand identity
Marissa, based in Florida, reached out via Behance looking to build a brand for her local news startup covering smaller communities around the Orlando area. She wanted something fresh and distinctive, but still grounded and trustworthy.
Her vision was “small town meets mid-century modern”, with a retro influence, a strong brandmark, and a colour palette and typography that feels unique rather than typical “American news”.
From there, we worked closely to translate that direction into a clear visual system. Through a detailed questionnaire and ongoing conversations, I shaped her ideas into a focused brand direction, then explored logo concepts based on simple geometric forms, symmetry, and clarity.
Once we landed on a direction, I refined it into a full visual identity, developing the logo, typography system, colour palette, and supporting assets like banners and business cards, all brought together in a complete brand guideline.
What made this project especially enjoyable was sharing a similar appreciation for retro aesthetics, which naturally came through in the final result.
Personal projects
Spring is one of my favourite seasons. It is all about renewal. After a long winter, nature starts to wake up, there are blossoms everywhere, the days get longer and warmer, and there is a very optimistic feeling in the air. It is also a special time for me personally, since I was born in April.
To channel that energy, I created a few spring-inspired personal designs this year as well, focusing on floral compositions and seasonal themes.
These projects are a way for me to experiment outside of client briefs and keep exploring new visual directions alongside commercial work.
Looking at these projects together, what stands out most is the variety of work and the collaborative process behind each one.
Most of my clients come from different parts of the world with very specific and interesting ideas. What I enjoy most is taking those ideas and developing them together through collaboration and co-creation until they become clear, structured, and visually strong outcomes.
That process of building something together is what keeps the work meaningful for me.
If you are working on a project and need help shaping a visual direction or building a brand identity, I am always open to new collaborations. You can reach me at opencreativeworld@gmail.com
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