The Happy Cactus is the name of the home-based craft business I ran from 2009-2016. In 2015, I did a redesign of the logo and branding as I moved the business away from sewn goods and towards freelance graphic design and illustration.

The original design was fun and playful which reflected the whimsical and lively fabrics I used in creating my products. I wanted the logo be easy to read, as it was used on everything from labels and stickers to small fabric tags on my products, and gender neutral, as I made products for both men and women.

When I began rebranding my company, the first question I needed to answer was what qualities I wanted to project about my business. I choose to keep the green color because it has been shown to convey tranquility, harmony, and renewal and also because I am very fond of it. The font “StrangeLove” was chosen because it has more mature illustrative quality than the original font “Raklame Script.” The cactus icon was redrawn to be more of a traditional “cactus shape” and in the style of the font, so that it would be easily recognizable when used as a stand alone branding mark.

As part of the redesign, I also created a brand quick reference guide to be used as I redesigned the website and packaging materials.