raro: A Brand Build

challenge

When we were presented with the opportunity to build a brand from scratch, we were thrilled to get our hands dirty. Raro, a boutique travel company specializing in personalized experiences that focus on the local’s journey, approached us to develop the framework for all its branding. The challenge? How can we create brand guidelines for a brand-new company while staying true to their story, values and image and incorporating their goals, ideas and overall vision?

action

After hours of research, ideation and drafts, our creative director, Chelsea Meagher, jumped into the basic frame for raro’s branding. She drew inspiration from the client’s vision, capitalizing on the fancy, yet down-to-earth image they had in mind. She focused on raro’s goal of creating unique trips that highlight an authentic journey—a personalized, yet uncommon experience, which is something that not all travel companies can construct.

Raro’s logo is a simple wordmark, with all lowercase letters and a clean, yet powerful font. Taking inspiration from Apple, Chelsea designed the logo and brandmark in a way that portrayed raro’s key branding features as extremely simple and minimalistic, yet meaningful at the same time. By incorporating rich earthy colors, like deep browns, olive greens and watery blues as well as lively photography, we were able to represent raro as a whole—a medium to explore, indulge and take in a new country just like a local would. 

In the photography, we included the natural beauty of locations that will be toured, focusing on photos that seemed like they were taken ‘off the beaten path’ to better immerse consumers in what it looks like to be a local. Most travel companies use over filtered, generic-looking photos of beaches and other touristy landmarks, so our creative team worked hard to create imagery that felt personal—like something a traveler could take themselves on their phone. This coincides with the personalized feel of raro trips, speaking to their story and vision.

results

Raro will soon launch its first-ever trip, and we’re proud to say it will be doing it in style. Not only did we align each of its goals with the overall look and feel of the business itself, but we created a sense of self for the company that unites each facet of what it is. With cohesive branding that perfectly matches the company at its core, raro is ready to take on any country that comes its way.