Work / Graphic Design

Sundae School

Visual rebrand and website for the smokewear brand.

Sundae School is a smokewear brand based in New York that sells apparel and accessories for “honor rollers.” The company seeks to address stereotypes and misconceptions about recreational cannabis consumption and culture. Celebrating the launch of their newest collection and their one-year anniversary, I worked with Sundae School on a comprehensive rebrand and a new website.

This project was a collaborative effort between Sundae School’s creative director Dae Lim, 2×4 designer Minryung Son, and myself. My efforts focused on the design and development of Sundae School’s new website. This project is under continued development and changes may be reflected in this case study.

Sundae School’s first lookbook solidified the direction of its new identity.

Developing a refined brand.

When we began work on rebranding Sundae School, we knew we wanted to reflect the company’s mission of raising proper awareness and fighting misinformation about cannabis culture. The use of marijuana has been stigmatized, its users labeled stoners – and the culture surrounding it is often associated with confusion, daze, or lack of control. The name Sundae School enabled the company to make multiple puns and references to higher education, and the design process was influenced by that decision.

In choosing a direction we determined that Sundae School needed to express the intersection of two supposed extremes: the irreverence and playfulness of cannabis culture and the rigidity of those who repel it. The harmonious result that arose out of our experimentation of uniting these two ends was indicative that there could be a new direction for cannabis culture.

Identity

Wordmark
Sundae School’s new mark is set in Dia.
Pictoral Mark
A new pictoral mark features Korean motifs, including the character for “weed,” sending a message to the cannabis-hostile country.
Icons designed by the wonderful Minryung Son reflect a clean, simple taste, with a hint of irreverence.

Typography

Dia is used as the new primary typeface, a sans-serif that is clean and legible, but nonconforming to any uniform pattern. Each letter carries a quality that reflects a number of historical typography models, but the family maintains a distinct personality.
Dia Bold
Dia Regular
  • Client
    Sundae Studio Co.
  • Creative Direction
    Dae Lim
  • Art Direction, Design
    Minryung Son, Edward Kim
  • Web Development
    Edward Kim
  • Sundae School Team
    Dae Lim, Mia Park
  • Website
    https://sundae.school/

    • Next Project

    A conceptual bridge derived from the anatomy of a sea dragon.