MEGAN
STANTON
Children's Camp
branding / communications / props
the client
Each year, the Children's team at St. Michael's uses 6 months to prepare for a fun and exciting week of Children's camp, where kids from the community come for 4 hours a day for a week to do fun activities and crafts.
​
Stuck with generic overly cartoon-ish graphics from the purchased camper collateral package, St. Michael's wanted to create a new brand identity for each year's camp that would carry through all the communication and design/prop elements. This approach was to bring the event's identity inline with St. Michael's brand, do something different than what other groups were offering, and draw more campers in. The design challenge was to take a - at times - a very cheesy theme and find a way to make it fit into a traditional Anglo-Catholic brand.
the project
To begin the process I started by developing the logo, which was the foundation design that would be carried through all the communications. For the 2017 the theme "Shipwrecked" was chosen. My approach to the design theme was using playful imagery with bright colors that would pop, while also bringing in the Anglo-Catholic elements of the church. The final design landed on a distressed life-preserver with a ship's mast in the center - in the shape of a Chi Rho cross (a symbol used in the ancient Christian faith). The fonts chosen were playful with a sophisticated pirate feel, while the colors are complimentary orange and blue to create lots of energy and excitement.
The logo and brand concept was carried out through registration forms, advertising, social media, signage, email campaigns, posters, flyers, banners, t-shirts, props, etc. One major print item was a volunteer guide. This small booklet was based on an old camper package booklet, and reworked to weave the "Shipwreck" theme elements in, to tell a visual story through thematic imagery and making it visually fun and attractive for volunteers to read. View the full booklet
​
Additionally, I worked on four 3-dimensional props for the event. These props I designed and set up files for laser cutter printing and engraving. I went to a lab and used the laser cutter machine complete the work. These props included octopus tentacles, large anchors, a giant whale tail, and shipwreck.
Begining Photo
Final Product
For the ship wreck I was given a photo and asked if I could make it! I broke the structure down and engineered/designed it into individual pieces that would fold and layer into a 3-D design. Starting with a test model, I made sure the design would work. Once the proven concept worked, I created the full scale ship.
2017 was one of the best VBS years they had! The children were immersed in the shipwrecked theme and it brought in 80-90 children.