Ants Clothing:
fall ’23 senior thesis project
OBJECTIVE
To propose a project of my choosing requiring at least five substantial categories of deliverables, and to spend a semester designing each deliverable for effective real-world use.
YEAR
Senior
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For my senior capstone project, I chose to brand a small-batch, Los Angeles-based streetwear brand known as Ants. The brand is dedicated to celebrating small stories—those of the people who wear Ants clothing, and those of the people involved in making and designing the garments themselves, which are produced responsibly, often using upcycled materials. Ants is aimed toward everyone from casual vintage shoppers to fashion enthusiasts, the common thread being an interest in craft and waste reduction.
This semester, I defined the identity of Ants, including the logo, typography, color use, and brand voice, and applied this visual language to a booklet that contains a lookbook of styled garments from the debut Spring/Summer 2024 collection. I also created digital and printed collateral for Ants, including a webstore prototype, social media pages and ads, business cards, postcard ads, and packaging.
The main logotype contains modified Boks letterforms and is designed to be simple, punchy, and fit well on a garment tag. I used the bones of the "a" to create an ant mascot as a secondary logo that brings out a little more of the brand’s personality. The color palette, a pairing of orange and mint and a pair of blues, were chosen to cement a flexible identity that is both playful and sophisticated.
Halftone dots show up as a brand texture on a few items of merchandise and packaging, as seen below.
As a part of their commitment to partnering with independent creators, Ants established a sub-brand called Friends of Ants. The collection features three t-shirt designs made by independent creative partners, available on the webstore.
To celebrate the launch of the brand and release of the debut collection, Ants produced a short magazine issue chronicling the background and making of the collection. Known as the Anthill Journal, the issue dives into the process of inspiration, design, and clothing construction, featuring a lookbook of styled pieces from the main collection.
The Anthill Journal’s visual language comprises the four brand colors, halftone dots as a subtle texture, scrapbook-style cutout images, and a varied type palette consisting of the Bell Gothic, Base Mono, and Cholla type families. The lookbook photography is casual and personable, inviting the viewer into the Ants family. Below is found a gallery of each spread.
Printed collateral includes a business card and direct-mail postcards to promote upcoming clothing drops.
On the promotional postcards, I began to explore the form which future Ants sub-brands or lines could take, making a couple of secondary logos for denim and knit lines, respectively.
The webstore carries through much of the visual language of the Anthill Journal, incorporating lots of color and halftone texture, as well as cutout photos, both as design elements and product photography. There are men’s, women’s, and Friends product sections, plus an about page and a digital “lookbook,” utilizing the editorial photography from the magazine.
At this point in the brand’s journey, most of the advertising takes place on social media, allowing a direct link to Ants’s page and product offering. In keeping with the same visual identity, bright brand colors and friendly model shots invite viewers into a personable and fun online community.
