Creating a Unique Brand Identity for Puffin E Juice

How often do you get the opportunity to work on a project that lets you reinvent a character, add humor, and infuse creative freedom while drawing inspiration from iconic shows like Family Guy? Not often, I can assure you!

Puffin E Juice (www.puffinejuice.com) approached me with an exciting challenge: to breathe life into their Puffin Penguin character. They wanted to create humorous, visually engaging scenes for each of their electronic cigarette (e-cig) flavors, making their brand more memorable. The goal was to use imagery that appealed to audiences by referencing pop culture icons, famous places, movie genres, and more—all while keeping the style consistent with the playful aesthetic of popular animated TV shows.

Creative Process

The creation process was a collaborative effort that balanced client input with creative freedom. Here’s how it unfolded:

• Drafting: Each scene started with a creative brief provided by the client. I collaborated with their team, brainstorming ways to enhance humor or solve gaps in the concept. From there, I created initial sketches to visualize the ideas.
• Inking: Once the draft was approved, I inked the outlines to refine the composition and add detail.
• Vector and Color: The final step involved converting the artwork to vector format and applying vibrant, TV-show-inspired colors to make the scenes pop. The color palette was intentionally vivid and dynamic, ensuring the illustrations stood out.

As a playful touch, I incorporated e-cigs into each scene—sometimes as traditional e-cigarettes, and other times as cleverly disguised objects that tied into the illustration’s theme.

Expanding the Brand

The project extended beyond the character illustrations. I also worked on the redesign of their logo, drawing inspiration from the updated artwork to align the branding elements seamlessly. This cohesive visual identity helped strengthen the brand’s appeal and memorability.

Results and Client Feedback

The team at Puffin E Juice was thrilled with the results, praising the creative direction and execution. The success of this project has led to an ongoing collaboration, with plans to redesign all their product labels as part of their evolving marketing strategy.

This was truly a rewarding and enjoyable project—one that allowed me to combine creativity, humor, and design expertise to bring a brand’s vision to life.