WorkWonder
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WorkWonder 〰️
Wonderful Work.
A logo that turned into a plushie, and an identity that turned into a collaboration with some talented kids long after I left the design table.
June Bayha’s vision for what would become WorkWonder was clear from the beginning. She just needed some visuals that paid off the idea: a paid internship program developed collaboratively with high school students, providing them with liveable wages for their internship while teaching highly sought-after professional skills and training for real-world jobs.
I got to work, wondering what kind of visual could encapsulate this youthful, supportive, positive program. Something the kids could take ownership of and iterate on.
Horizontal and vertical versions of the WorkWonder logo I designed, along with some of the 2-color variations.
I ended up coming up with a logo solution that used 2 stackable “W”s stylized in a youthful and slightly “digital” (ever heard of computers!?) way. The color palette of this interlocking logo encompassed energy and positivity and can be applied to all manner of colorful patterns, merch and other branded materials.
The visual style overall for the site and any materials are bold and playful. The WorkWonder logo can stack, animate and even come alive.
Enter: Dubby
Another thing emerged as the logo came to life. Or rather, another being came to life.
As I was designing the stackable “W”s for the WorkWonder logo, I noticed they also looked like a little character with legs, a head and some very excited arms reaching for the sky. Dubby was born.
Dubby is supportive and can carry you on his shoulders. Then again, Dubby may also need another Dubby to help prop him up. In the right circumstances, Dubby even has a face. Dubby comes in all colors. Dubby is a fun little mascot and an ownable character that can have all kinds of jobs, from giving information to just being a cuddly plush friend (pictured below: a felt plush prototype I made for June).
Felt stuffed, and hand-stitched Dubby-plushie I created to show the possibilities of how cute this little mascot could be. The blue isn’t really on-brand, but it’s the only felt I had on me at the time.
Assets created for the basis of the WorkWonder brand: a logo, color palette, website, design system and guidelines, and of course Dubby.
Co-Creators!
When you create a brand, you release it into the world, and it becomes subject to change. In this case, the brand has not necessarily changed, but evolved into new ideas, such a new “Dubby”-related logo for an event called WonderCon, animations, a new website reskin and the thing I love most of all: MERCH!
Below are new evolutions of the WorkWonder brand that the WorkWonder “Co-creators” (aka the high school interns!) have evolved for the brand across animations, web design, social strategy and physical pieces. Very creative and added so many new dimensions I wouldn’t have thought of. Nice job everyone. Love that this is a brand that gives enough room for ownership and that it’s actually fun to keep iterating and wondering about what it can be. Go WorkWonder!
Above: Evolutions of the brand by WorkWonder Co-creators, including a new logo for WorkWonder’s WonderCon event, merch featuring Dubby, and more. Awesome work, everyone!
Credits
Client
Bayha Group
Agency
Terri Mitchell
Design
Terri Mitchell