Avellana Supply Co.

Above: Exterior Design Component

Below: Avellana Supply Co. logo

Design Narrative

This branding project is for a gender neutral and sustainable surf, snow, and skate shop on the Oregon Coast. The client's goal with this brand is to create a minimalistic, natural, and authentic one-stop-shop for all things slope to swell. The brand name, Avellana, is another name for the Oregon State nut, the hazelnut. This brand is very eco-conscious and considerate of the planet, so this had to be reflected in the design. Oregon is also an immensely beautiful state and it was optimal to show that in the design as well.

Design Challenge

The challenge behind this design was to brand a board supply shop in a way that conveys the brand mission and values without looking like every other surf shop out there. Avellana Supply Co. is dedicated to creating sustainable and eco-friendly products with little to no waste and combatting mainstream surf and snow companies that produce loads of waste and lack sustainable products. This brand is also gender neutral, unlike most surf brands that are overly masculine or feminine and only offer products for those genders.

Design Solution

The solution to the design challenge was to use natural colors to convey an organic feeling, like blue to represent the ocean, yellow, green, and brown to represent the earth, and white to represent snow. The white space in the design also facilitates simplicity and minimalism. The logo for Avellana is a vector illustration depicting ocean waves, mountains, plants, and the sun in an arch with the brand name under it. It is a classic scene from the Oregon Coast. The plant was included travelling up the side of the arch to hint at the sustainability and eco-friendliness of this brand. The typefaces used in the logo, Blenny and Brevia, help to convey the same tone as the illustration - free-flowing, natural, and organic. Textures such as wood grain, leaves, and water ripples were considered as these would lend an effortless natural element to the brand.

Outdoor Signage Component

Interior Design Component

The environmental design components for Avellana Supply Co. feature wood grain, tribal prints, various blues and greens, and other natural elements like plants. It was important to keep the design minimal to facilitate the eco-conscious aspect as well as compliment the brand logo. The indoor signage points customers to either the board shaping room or the consignment rack. These signage boards are made out of stained driftwood that washed up on the Oregon Coast. There are some products on the sales floor, but they are either sample products or consignment items. Consignment and second-hand shopping are important to Avellana, as the brand is aware of the massive waste produced by most retail companies. The consignment rack changes almost daily as new things are constantly coming in and old things are constantly being purchased. While they are available for purchase, the boards on show are model boards that provide a base for custom boards. From the base, it is decided how wide, thick, and long the board will need to be to suit the individual requesting it.

Print Component - Summer 2023 Lookbook

The print component for this brand is a seasonal lookbook for the summer of 2023. The lookbook features surf, skate, and snow photography as well as vector illustrations to compliment the logo. These lookbooks would be found both physically in the store as well as digitally on the Avellana website. They showcase the upcoming boards, apparel, and gear that will be available in the designated season. The photography in the book also shows the boards, apparel, or gear being used by members of our staff and community. The books also feature pages about our custom boards and consignment rack.

Above: Avellana Supply Co. brand board and logo variations

Avellana is an all-natural, sustainable, and authentic supply company including all things snow, surf, and skate. This brand wants to instill the culture of boarding activities within the Oregon people through buying the boards, accessories, and lifestyle itself rather than renting a surfboard or snowboard a few times a year. Avellana wants them to be able to pass this culture onto their children and along with that, long lasting and durable products that are sustainable, ethically sourced, and in support of small, local businesses. Avellana Supply Co. aims to produce zero waste unlike mainstream surf brands, who over consume resources and package all of their products in excessive plastic packaging. This brand wants to provide the coast of Oregon with a friendly, minimalistic, and natural environment where they can custom order surfboards or snowboards tailored to their specific needs, order skateboards or surfskates, grab a wetsuit that fits just right, and pick up anything else they might need to hit the slopes, surf, or concrete. Oregon is such a beautiful state that boasts countless opportunities to get outdoors and Avellana wants the Oregon people to take advantage of that without having to deal with crowded, cluttered, touristy, and intimidating surf shops.

Digital Component - Website Interface Mock Up

Above and Below: Website Interface

The digital component for this project is two different website interfaces - a home page and a secondary page. For the secondary interface, the surf page was chosen, as it features a wheel of different board shapes that Avellana offers as well as a section explaining their customs feature. Contrary to other surf, snow, and skate shops, Avellana shapes their boards in house for each customer, so they have model boards on show to display what kinds of boards can be made, and alterations can be made to each board to fit each individual's specifications. The webpages are complete with a header, footer, and tabs for each category.