Gardening the Mind
Brand Identity
Gardening the Mind is a one-on-one and group mentorship led by my client, Nazar Lisovyi. It is an alliance between mentor and mentee to expand life’s perception, foster purposeful habits, and turn challenges into fertile ground for growth.
During the 3-month collaboration, Nazar and his clients:
1. Dive into theory, examining how specific perceptions and concepts influence our lives.
2. Address personal challenges and explore how to overcome them by gardening the mind.
3. Practice with hands-on tools and materials.
1. Dive into theory, examining how specific perceptions and concepts influence our lives.
2. Address personal challenges and explore how to overcome them by gardening the mind.
3. Practice with hands-on tools and materials.
The mentor has built his foundation on a firm academic and practical understanding of sociology, exploring how culture, social norms, and values shape our everyday lives.
Other products
In addition to the Gardening the Mind mentorship, Nazar offers Growth Planner and Grounded Living Newsletter.
The logos for these 2 products branch off from the primary Gardening the Mind logo.
Growth Planner
A tool for structured and conscious planning. Focus on steady growth and create space for what is truly essential.
Grounded Living
A fortnightly newsletter that delves into the intricacies of mental gardening.
Design solutions
Colors
Nazar envisioned his Instagram profile in the warm colors of nature. I chose the soft brown color of the tree's stem and the deep black color to create a calming feeling. I also took some photos of the greens and blues in the forest.
Typography
The client shared with me some references of encyclopedic exquisite style. So I decided to combine modern and medieval calligraphy styles to emphasize the connection between the past and present, a never-ending cycle of life.
Style of the logomark
The rough strokes of the logos imitate cave paintings.
Illustrations
It was important to make them simple and easy to recreate in the Figma software. This way, Nazar can experiment with illustrations after our collaboration is finished.
Instagram posts
The client wanted his profile to feel like a magical world.
Logo Sketches
Some of the main themes in the mentorship are connecting to nature and finding your values.
For Nazar, it was important that the logo has a raw natural feeling and symbolize the core intent behind the program.
The first idea was to depict calmness, balance, and harmony.
More sketches
After discussing the first sketches with the client, we decided to elaborate on minimalistic symbols since the client enjoyed them the most. During my following research, Slavic* and Trypillia** cultural symbols caught my attention. Each of them has a simple yet noble meaning.
* Slavic people are a grouping of related ethnic groups that speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia.
** Trypillia culture — archaeological culture of Neolithic and early Eneolithic times. It was located between the Carpathians mountains and the Dnieper river in the territories of modern Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.
It's important to mention that the author of the mentorship program is Ukrainian.
The client loved the tripoli symbol “перевесло порядку” (in Ukrainian, it means braid of order).
We decided to elongate the middle part to form a tree, which is a perfect depiction of a garden and growing. At the top of the tree, we added dots, which are tripoli as well. In this culture, they represent grain and harvest.
We decided to elongate the middle part to form a tree, which is a perfect depiction of a garden and growing. At the top of the tree, we added dots, which are tripoli as well. In this culture, they represent grain and harvest.
Thank you for looking into my work. I appreciate it.
Client: Nazar Lisolyi, mentorship program "Gardening the Mind."
Design & Photography: Milena Pechura.
Fonts Used: DT Nightingale, Almendra.
Project Timeline: 4 weeks, September 2023.
Case Published: January 2024.
P.S. Since the brand identity design was completed, the client has made some changes to his business concept and design as well. Right now, he offers mentorship in English and the following products in Ukrainian:
1. Mindful planning systems (day-to-day and for a whole year).
2. Planning consultations.
3. A free newsletter.
You are also welcome to check out his Instagram.
As an outline, here is a picture of me in the forest, making content for this project.
