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Case Studies

Curiocity

Designing a Fresh Guidebook Brand for Traveling Families

Client Goals

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With a Ph.D. in Intercultural Communication, extensive experience both visiting and living abroad, and 3 globe-trekking children of her own, Melissa Manassee knows a little something about traveling with kids. On one family trip to Paris, Melissa had the idea to help her children keep track of their unique thoughts and experiences through journaling. After years of hearing, “What a great idea!” and “Tell me how you did it!”, she decided to develop and share her methods with other adventurous families and school groups through her own brand: Curiocity.  

Part guidebook, part conversation starter, part cultural educator, part journal and part sketchbook, Curiocity’s travel guides provide interactive experiences in the world’s great cities and inspire children 10 and up to learn, connect, and vividly remember their travel adventures. 

Melissa came to YellowDog as she prepared for her upcoming launch party. She was looking for help building her brand identity, developing an e-commerce site, and preparing her kits for the big day. She needed an expert design, web, and print team to bring them to life. Plus, what party is complete without swag?

Our Process

logos and icons

Logo & Identity

First up was Curiocity’s look. Considering their audience of adventurous kids, we kept the colors bright and modern and incorporated a compass into a passport stamp-reminiscent shape. Since their logo is quite literally “going places”, a simple and versatile design allows for resizing and single-color options on a wide variety of merchandise, stationery, and graphics. 

Design & Layout

Our next challenge was presenting over 100 pages of information and activities in a journal format that’s functional, easy to navigate, visually fun, and engaging for children. Challenging doesn’t mean it wasn’t fun, though! Our designers especially enjoyed creating the icons, from jumping fish to pizzas, curious dogs to snails. 

These kits are more than just journals, so we carried that fun and versatile branding to the boxes, stickers, backpacks, pencil cases, and luggage tags, as well as Curiocity’s business cards, letterhead, note pads, and note cards. 

Website

Next up was the website.  Specifically, we designed and built an e-commerce website to showcase and sell their kits, and to keep customers up-to-date on upcoming projects with a simple mailing list sign-up. An online presence doesn’t end with a website, though, so we also offered guidance on building and managing branded Facebook and Instagram accounts that allow Curiocity to post updates and interact with their online community from anywhere! 

Print

At a convenient 7” x 9.5” size, thick UV-coated covers, and durable interior pages, we made sure these journals would be both portable and tough. The wire-o binding allows for them to lay flat, important for jotting down notes on the go. 

Matching stationery, stickers, and luggage tags were also printed to consistently match their vibrant colors across different materials.

Swag

Important for both the travel kits and the launch party, we researched, designed, and sourced tote bags, draw-string backpacks, pencil cases, and colored pencil boxes to work together and cohesively support Curiocity’s new brand and vision.

Outcomes

activity book and swag

The launch party was a success! While we can’t take credit for the delicious (and on-brand) cake, attendees were engaged and delighted by the books, stickers, notecards, and swag.  With a goal to build momentum and find placement in bookstores (they’re already available with a 5-star Rating on Amazon), this launch party was an exciting unveiling of an ambitious vision and creative new resource for anyone traveling with children. 

What are Curiocity’s next steps? Plans are in motion to grow the brand with new guides for Barcelona, Berlin, Florence, London, New York, Rome, Tokyo, and Washington DC, and YellowDog is anxious and grateful to be along for the ride, jumping fish icons and all!

 

Melissa Manassee
“Good ideas cost a Euro a dozen, but bringing them to market is another story. YellowDog been the BEST travel companion on this journey. They are like magic.”
– Melissa Manassee

The Team

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Jenny Mulligan
Dan Mulligan of YellowDog Denver
Dan Mulligan
Jen Gauerke of YellowDog Denver
Jennifer Gauerke

Our Best Tricks

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Packaging Design
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Graphic Design
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Logo Design & Brand Identity
Yellowdog web design and development
Website Design & Development

Ready to get started?

If we could do this for Curiocity, just imagine what we can do for you. Take YellowDog for a test walk, and see how we can become your brand’s best friend.

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