Project Statement
Tender & Mellow is a character-based collection that embraces and encourages reflection, curiosity, and self awareness within kids and adults alike. The products in the collection include t-shirts, tote bags, stickers, art prints, and an embroidered patch that all feature the characters that inhabit this world. The entirety of the collection is compiled into a 40 page lookbook that introduces the characters, elaborates on the designs, and documents the products.
The deliverables for this project include: original character designs, a collection of hand- made and outsourced products based around these characters, cohesive branding elements such as logo and color palette, a lookbook that tells the story of Tender & Mellow with additional illustrative elements, documentation of all of the products, an instagram page, and a working online shop for the collection.
The characters that inhabit the world of Tender & Mellow represent various emotions and are designed to foster conversations about the relationship between one’s self and the inner workings of their mind. They are meant to normalize the experience of multidimen- sional emotions, each character with a unique personality outside of what they represent. These characters emerged as a way of unpacking all of the complicated places in which my mind tends to linger.
I imagine these guys have always been a part of me, and I have a feeling some of you have met them as well. Their names are Oom, Stolla, Eno, Obby, Rig, Ona, Indi, Noy, and Gil; they represent feelings of dread, nostalgia, hope, curiosity, guardedness, loneliness, indecision, paranoia, and guilt, respectively. Although many of the feelings these characters embody lean more on the side of sorrows, we also have hope and curiosity brought into the mix with Eno and Obby. I like the idea of all of these guys co-existing and interacting together, learning from and affecting one another.
The designs in this collection feature character interaction as well as hand lettered mes- sages meant to intrigue and engage the viewer. Some of these sentiments include “Be curious about your own behavior”, “Unpack your baggage”, and “Validate your own feel- ings”. These messages are geared towards children and adults alike, as the overall purpose behind Tender & Mellow is to encourage its audience in any and every phase of life to take the time to get to know the way their mind works.
