To better understand the direction of the brand and the purpose behind it, below is the narrative I created to connect with the target consumer and make sure the brand resonated with the appropriate audience.

Lizzie is a young woman that just landed her first professional job and just bought her first home. Lizzie is trendy and creative, and she values the earth and tries to be as environmentally/socially conscious as she can. She decided to invite her closest friends and family over for a dinner party to celebrate beginning a new chapter in her life. As she is planning her dinner, she opens her cabinets and sees her hodge-podge collection of Dollar Store and hand-me-down plates and bowls. She frowns, thinking that this won't work. She imagines cooking a gourmet dinner for her friends and family and serving them on stylish dinnerware, but she doesn’t have a lot of money to spend. Lizzie goes online and finds the Earth and Fire line and falls in love with the rustic spin on vintage, nature-inspired, pretty designs. She also loves the price and the fact that she can order individual pieces to create her own unique set.  As Lizzie sets the table for her dinner party, she smiles as she arranges her new dinnerware. She takes several pictures to share on social media and feels as if this is another piece of her journey into adulthood. All night she receives compliments on the pieces and lights up as she shares the story of how the brand remains eco-friendly and why she picked each piece.

Below are three different mood board styles created during the very first stages of turning the brand vision into visual representations.

The Earthy/Eclectic mood board aligned best with my final narrative because while it possesses an earth-inspired feel with a retro twist, it also pulls in some geometric shapes which should speak to the younger crowd. The diagonal lines are meant to create movement and excitement, which sets a different tone than traditional china sets. There are aspects of each mood board that I feel are expressive of the feeling the brand needs to evoke, so I plan to take elements from each board. For example, since the target demographic consists of a female majority, the masculine direction wasn't the best way to go because it may have alienated the female population. However, I did pull some of the elements from the woodsy/masculine mood board, like the strong wooden accents, to keep with the rustic, earthy theme. 

The Earth and Fire logo was inspired by the imperfect and organic shape of a tree ring, also implying continuous growth. The colors used compliment one another and signify the balance between elements of nature. While the joined initials of the brand name making up the center portion of the logo provides a contemporary feel, the letters also have a retro style.