Gotta keep my design skills sharp and fresh!
A series of projects with tight-turnarounds and freer creative control.
The Salt & Knot brief required a logo and takeaway bag design to be completed within a 7-day timeline.
The logo is designed to reflect the many shapes a pretzel can be twisted into. The playful pretzel icon doubles as an ampersand and subtly resembles an anchor, reinforcing the brand’s beachy themes. The logo is adaptable across various colorways to suit different backgrounds and is accompanied by illustrative icons that visual interest and personality to the brand’s identity.
The proposed social media presence for the brand is beachy and playful, evoking carefree days in the sun with family and friends. Imagery of smiling faces and clear blue waters reinforces the lighthearted spirit the brand aims to represent.
I extended this association in the storyboard for the promotional video (see below), positioning Salt & Knot pretzels as the perfect companion for a relaxing beach day. The goal was to make bringing Salt & Knot to the beach feel like a no-brainer.
Designed using Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Brief provided by @briefclub on Instagram. Mockup templates provided by mockups-design.com. Stock photography and video clips.
To complete a 7-day brief, I needed to develop both a logo and a business card design for the brand Made by Isla.
The brief offered broad creative freedom for the brand direction. Rather than taking the predictable route of an ancient, stone-inspired aesthetic, I chose a more colourful and playful approach. The final design introduced Layla, a turtle with a ceramic mug for a shell, as the brand’s lovable mascot.
Since Layla serves as the brand’s mascot, I aimed to keep the supporting imagery simple. A subtle starry background complements the stars on Layla’s mug, while also adding texture and visual interest to the business cards and box packaging.
Designed using Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects. Mockup templates provided by mockups-design.com. Brief provided by @briefclub on Instagram.
This was my entry for the 2025 Penguin Random House Canada Design Award. Following a set of provided guidelines, the challenge was to create a book cover redesign for Son of Elsewhere by Elamin Abdelmahmoud. Although my submission was not selected as a finalist, the process of reaching my final design was rewarding.
The following are some key aspects of the finalized design:
The gentle oranges and blues are inspired by natural tones found in Sudanese-Canadian art. These colours also reflect the binary and contrasting themes present in the book.
The letter ‘w’ visually splits the word ‘elsewhere’, emphasizing the word ‘here.’ This symbolizes the author’s dual identity—being both ‘here’ in Canada and from ‘elsewhere’ in Sudan. The ‘w’ also resembles a road, suggesting connection rather than separation between these two worlds and identities.
The design incorporates textures reminiscent of Sudanese-Canadian artistry, such as clay, pottery, and brickwork.
A soft white runs through the middle of the design, referencing the white found in both the Sudanese and Canadian flags. It stands for peace and celebrates holding multiple identities at once.
Stock photography used for textures. Mockup templates provided by mockups-design.com.
