Mariana Ponte

Author: mariana-ponte

  • Yumi: A personal cooking branding

    Yumi: A personal cooking branding

    Yumi is a personal cooking brand by Megan Taylor. Through her popular YouTube channel, Megan has been teaching viewers how to make easy and healthy recipes right at home. She aims to show the world that eating healthy doesn’t have to be difficult and that it can be enjoyable and rewarding.

    My role was to develop a brand that would friendly and eye catching as well as reflect the energetic vibe that Megan transpires. This project deliverables included the primary logo, a short version / symbol, packaging design an a cookbook editorial design.

    Food Packaging Design by Mariana Ponte

    Summary:

    Yumi represents a blend of fun, function, and vibrancy, making healthy cooking feel accessible and exciting. As a personal project, it allowed me to experiment with a bold visual style and explore the creative freedom of crafting a brand from scratch. This project is a testament to how thoughtful branding and design can transform an idea into a relatable, memorable experience.

    1. Visual Identity

    The Yumi logo was designed as a speech bubble exclaiming “Yumi!”—like an enthusiastic cheer for delicious food. This speech bubble symbolises Megan’s friendly, conversational style as she shares easy, healthy recipes with her audience. The exclamation mark inside the bubble adds an extra layer of excitement, capturing the energy and passion that Megan brings to her cooking.

    To ensure versatility across different platforms, I also developed a simplified symbol: a bold exclamation mark inside the speech bubble. This version is instantly recognisable and perfect for social media icons, profile pictures, and other digital applications, keeping the brand consistent and memorable.

    The colour palette was inspired by the warmth and vibrancy Megan brings to her cooking. Bright yellows and oranges were chosen to convey energy, positivity, and a zest for healthy living—qualities that resonate with Megan’s mission and personality.

    2. Packaging Design

    For Yumi’s packaging design, I focused on simplicity, practicality, and an inviting aesthetic. The packaging was created with the brand’s core values in mind: easy, healthy, and enjoyable cooking. With bright, bold colours to ensure visibility on store shelves, the design is both functional and visually engaging.

    Each package includes clear instructions and nutritional information, making it user-friendly and aligned with Megan’s goal of promoting stress-free healthy eating. The packaging design also reflects Yumi’s fun and lively spirit, ensuring that it not only stands out but also appeals to health-conscious consumers seeking an approachable and vibrant brand.

  • Purity: Spa Branding

    Purity: Spa Branding

    Purity is a small local spa business that offers treatments such as massages, manicures/pedicures and facials. They’re expanding their business so they need a rebrand.

    They are looking for a luxurious expensive brand design that aligns with their goals and ethos. They need a logo design as well as collaterals such as business cards, bags and merchandise. Brief by: Brand Brief

    1. Visual Identity

    While designing Purity brand, I focused on their core values – wholeness, vitality, and completion – concepts symbolized by the circle – base shape of the logo.

    The concept for Purity was centered around the idea of relaxation, rejuvenation, and overall wellness. I represented this concept through a simplified shape of a person laying on a massage table, which is a symbol commonly associated with spa treatments and relaxation.

    The design of the logo is clean and minimalist, which adds to its elegance and luxury feel. The simple design allows the brand to easily incorporate the logo into various marketing materials, such as business cards, tote bags, and merchandise.

    The logo is easily recognizable and memorable, making it an effective representation of the Purity brand.

    The blue tones used in the palette add a sense of calm and stability, helping to create a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. Blue is often associated with calmness, serenity, and trust, making it an ideal color choice for a spa brand.

    The combination of neutral browns and calming blues creates a sophisticated and luxurious look that is well suited to the spa environment.

    2. Indoor signage

    The indoor signage created for Purity spa was designed with a luxurious and elegant aesthetic in mind. I aimed to create cohesive throughout all their materials.

    The signage was designed to be simple yet sophisticated, with clear, easy-to-read typography and an eye-catching design.

    The use of clean lines and a neutral color palette helps the signage blend seamlessly into the spa’s overall aesthetic, while the luxurious font choice adds to the spa’s high-end feel.

    The signage was created to be practical and functional, while also contributing to the spa’s overall luxury feel.

    By designing simple, yet luxurious indoor signage, I was able to create a seamless and cohesive visual experience for clients, while also effectively communicating the various areas and treatments available at Purity spa. The signage serves not only a functional purpose, but also reinforces the brand’s commitment to providing clients with a relaxing and rejuvenating spa experience

  • Robin dos Bosques: Branding and Webdesign

    Robin dos Bosques: Branding and Webdesign

    Robin dos Bosques is a unique organisation on a mission to make high-quality knowledge accessible to all. Through a range of services—including professional training, technical book publishing, health counselling, and tailored consulting for gyms and health clubs—Robin dos Bosques channels the spirit of Robin Hood. Just as the legendary Robin Hood took from the rich to give to the poor, Robin dos Bosques symbolically “steals knowledge from the rich” to empower those who need it most.

    This was a project developed while I was at Accional, where my role was to create the visual identity and website for Robin dos Bosques. The goal was to visually capture the brand’s spirit of purpose-driven education, empowerment, and subtle rebellion.

    Summary

    Robin dos Bosques embodies the values of knowledge-sharing, empowerment, and integrity, with a brand identity and website that reflect its commitment to making quality information accessible to all. This project was a true passion project, allowing me to bring Robin dos Bosques’ ethos to life with a bold visual identity and a user-friendly digital experience.

    1. Visual Identity

    The Robin dos Bosques logo is crafted to reflect the brand’s ethos—both conscientious and rebellious. Using clean, minimalist shapes, the logo captures the simplicity and authenticity of Robin dos Bosques’ mission. The central image of a man with a spear represents taking decisive action against injustice, while the spear itself symbolises knowledge as a tool for transformation and change.

    Some of the sketches i did during the brainstorming phase of Robin dos Bosques logo

    The colour palette is inspired by nature, grounding the brand’s identity in earthy tones that reflect its commitment to growth and well-being. The primary colour, green, symbolises growth, vitality, and knowledge, aligning with the brand’s educational mission. An accent of orange brings energy and enthusiasm, mirroring the brand’s proactive approach to health and fitness.

    To represent the diverse branches of Robin dos Bosques’ offerings, each service area was given a distinct colour within the palette:

    The Education branch, symbolized by the vibrant color green, represents Robin dos Bosques’ unwavering commitment to providing top-quality education and training for fitness specialists and healthcare professionals. The color green reflects the brand’s focus on growth and learning, as well as its dedication to making knowledge accessible and beneficial to all.

    The Physical Preparation branch, represented by the energetic color orange, embodies Robin dos Bosques’ dynamic and action-oriented approach to physical fitness. The color orange transmits a sense of energy, enthusiasm and a proactive attitude towards achieving physical health and performance.

    The Publishing branch, depicted by a deep blue color, reflects Robin dos Bosques’ authoritative publications, such as technical books. The dark blue color conveys trustworthiness, reliability, and expertise, reflecting Robin dos Bosques’ commitment to delivering high-quality content that enhances the knowledge and skills of its audience.

    In addition to the core branding, I designed a series of social media post templates for Robin dos Bosques. These templates are versatile and can be used to promote upcoming events, highlight their services, share new publications, or even provide valuable insights through quotes and educational content. These visuals align with the brand’s voice and ensure consistency across digital platforms.

    2. Web Design

    Robin dos Bosques needed a website that could effectively communicate its wide range of services and values to a broad audience. The website design was crafted to be intuitive, visually cohesive, and easy to navigate, providing users with a seamless experience that mirrors the brand’s dedication to accessibility and knowledge-sharing.

    The primary focus of the website is to showcase the full scope of services offered by Robin dos Bosques, guiding users effortlessly through each service branch.

    The design highlights key information about their educational resources, fitness programmes, and publications, allowing visitors to quickly find the services relevant to their needs.

    The end result is a website that not only aligns with the brand’s mission and vision but also strengthens its presence as an accessible, knowledgeable, and empowering resource for individuals and health professionals alike.

  • Almond Tree Therapies Branding and Webdesign

    Almond Tree Therapies Branding and Webdesign

    Recently, I had the privilege of working with Almond Tree Therapies.

    Nuno Amendoeira is a holistic, massage therapist from the Azores that provides customised treatments, massages, sound-based healing and aquatic bodywork.

    Accional were engaged and my role was to develop both the visual identity and Almond Tree’s website design.

    I created a simple yet meaningful logo that showcases Almond Tree’s serene and harmonious nature. I then paired it with a website that focuses on the same conceptual feeling.

    1. Visual Identity

    Designing a logo is about so much more than designing something that looks good – it’s about connecting with your client’s audience, understanding their business goals, and representing their brand’s values and vision.

    My goal was to develop a visual identity that conveys the energy and sensations associated with relaxation, massages and water.

    I was inspired by the circular shape, which represents harmony, protection, the cycle of life, energy, movement and wholeness – all concepts we can associate with Almond Tree.

    Almond Tree’s logo is simple and memorable and immediately conveys what they do. Simplicity can be powerful: In this logo we see a very simple and vague image of a tree whose branches also form the silhouette of a person relaxing in water. The person’s head is shaped like an almond shape.

    Almond Tree logo and symbol
    Almond Tree colour palette

    Almond Tree’s colour palette is designed to capture the essence of the brand and create a calming, natural atmosphere. The palette combines deep blues, cool greens, and earthy browns to create a harmonious and inviting look. The palette will be used for everything from logo design to website design, helping to create a unified and consistent brand identity.

    2. Web Design

    Nuno Amendoeira needed a website to help him gain exposure and showcase all his services in one place.

    Nuno was also handling booking management through a 3rd party booking platform as well as Whatsapp and phone calls.

    He was perpetually bombarded with notifications and calls, so needed a way to direct and manage all these customers to a single platform. The goal was to free him from administration and give him more time for what he really loves to do: his therapy work.

    In developing the Almond Tree Therapies website, I focused on creating a platform that was intuitive, easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing.

    The end result is a website that aligns with the brand’s values and vision. With its fluid and loose forms, it conveys a sense of serenity and relaxation. The main focus of the website is to let people know who Nuno Amendoeira is and what he does, as well as to introduce his therapies and their benefits. The website has plenty of white space to breathe, which helps to convey the idea of Almond Tree’s calm and serene atmosphere.

  • Maldita: A sauce branding

    Maldita: A sauce branding

    Maldita is a brand of Pimenta da Terra, an Azorean condiment which consists in a thick sauce made of Azorean peppers and salt. In the Azorean cuisine, this spicy and salty sauce adds flavor to dishes, marinates meats, and serves as a perfect accompaniment to cheese and bread.

    They offer a unique flavour to enhance the taste of any dish. Their goal was to create a visual identity that not only reflected their unique taste profile but also captured the vibrant azorean culture.

    My role was to develop a visual identity that was simple but bold, which also included creating it’s packaging that should be aligned with the brand’s personality. Ultimately, I wanted to create a design that would stand out of the supermarket shelves.

    As a brand designer, I am passionate about creating bold and distinctive brand identities that help companies stand out in their respective industries. One of my most recent projects was for Maldita, a sauce brand that wanted to bring a fresh and modern look to their packaging.

    Main logo for Maldita, a spicy sauce branding

    Maldita is a Pimenta da Terra sauce brand that offers a unique flavour to enhance the taste of any dish. Their goal was to create a visual identity that not only reflected their unique taste profile but also captured the vibrant azorean culture.

    To achieve this goal, I began by researching the azorean cuisine, exploring the various spices, flavors, and ingredients that make it so unique. I used this knowledge to inform the color palette, typography, and overall aesthetic of the Maldita brand.

    To bring the branding to life, I designed a series of packaging labels that included eye-catching illustrations and playful but bold typography.

    The brush style of the lettering paired with the italics conveys a screaming sensation that we associate with spicy. The brand name itself reinforces this idea: Maldita in Portuguese means cursed/damn.

    The result was a cohesive and visually impactful design that effectively conveyed the unique qualities of Maldita’s sauces.

    The final result was a bold and eye-catching design that showcased the brand’s playfulness while communicating its premium quality and unique taste. The vibrant red color palette was inspired by the fiery peppers and bold flavors of azorean cuisine.

    Overall, the Maldita branding project was a great opportunity for me to showcase my design skills and my ability to create a bold, memorable brand identity that reflects brand’s unique offering.

  • Tennis with Science Branding

    Tennis with Science Branding

    Tennis with Science is a platform dedicated to reducing the lack of information available regarding health in tennis.

    Its mission is to share information and promote exchange between professionals and athletes in the tennis community.

    The goal was to develop a visual identity for Tennis with Science from scratch.

    Tennis with Science Branding

    My goal was to develop a visual identity that would convey the energy and sense of movement associated with tennis.

    One key inspiration was the circular shape, which I saw as a metaphor for both the kinetic chain in tennis and the tennis ball. I used this shape as the foundation for the logo design, creating a sleek and modern emblem that would easily catch the eye of tennis enthusiasts.

    The color palette for Tennis with Science was carefully chosen to evoke the energy, excitement, and dynamism of the sport. The primary colors, orange and yellow, were inspired by the clay of tennis courts, evoking a sense of the game’s heritage and tradition. The complementary color, blue, was chosen to balance the warmth of the orange and yellow, adding a touch of coolness and stability to the overall design.

    The resulting palette is bold, energetic, and perfectly captures the essence of the sport and the platform’s mission to provide information and resources for tennis enthusiasts.

    A sticker with Tennis with Science logo on it
  • Williamson: a jewelry branding

    Williamson: a jewelry branding

    Williamson is a jewelry brand founded by Jenny Williamson. Jenny is an influencer and wants to sell jewelry through her Instagram channel. She sells trendy jewelry that she wears herself.

    My role was to develop a brand that would be cool and young but high quality. This project deliverables included the primary logo, a short version / symbol and packaging design.

    Williamson logo over a photo

    This branding simple yet elegant and timeless to reflect the brand’s values. For the accent element, I created in a more conceptual way a ring in the “o” letter. That element would also become the brand’s symbol.

    Williamson logo
    Williamson branding - brand symbol
    William Jewelry Brand colour palette
    Williamson Jewelry Symbol
    Willimason Jewelry logo
    Jewelry Mailer Mock Up
    Jewelry Box Mock Up
  • Kids Club: a preschool and daycare branding

    Kids Club: a preschool and daycare branding

    Kids Club is a preschool and daycare center that offers a fun and nurturing environment while provides preparation for school years

    My role was to develop a visual identity that was simple but distinct, that would stand out among other daycares.

    I created a fun and impactful brand that reflects the cheerful vibe of a dar care.

    A fun and playful branding can help a preschool differentiate itself from other preschools that may have a more traditional or serious branding. By having a unique and recognizable look, the preschool can create a memorable impression on families and stand out in their minds.

    Kids Club Logo - daycare center branding

    This branding is vibrant, joyful and very kids oriented. It consists in a fresh and bold but also familiar colour palette and simple shapes.

    Children are naturally drawn to bright colors, playful shapes, and fun imagery, so this bold and fun brand was meant to create a welcoming and inviting atmosphere.

    Through all communications these shapes are used, defining the brand identity – which makes this brand flexible and dynamic.

    Full colour and white version of Kids Club logo - daycare center branding
    Kids Club Branding Secondary Version - daycare center branding
    Kids Colour Palette - daycare center branding

    The brand’s use of bold colors is a key part of its visual identity and helps to convey the brand’s energetic and playful personality. This use of bold colors serve to attract the attention of children and create a fun and exciting atmosphere, encouraging them to engage with the preschool.

    Kids Pattern Branding - daycare center branding
    Kids Cups Mock Up - daycare center branding
    Kids Club Branding Stationary Mock Up - daycare center branding
    Kids Club Branding Billboard - daycare center branding
    Kids Club Branding Business Cards - daycare center branding
  • Annual Report Design and Illustration

    Annual Report Design and Illustration

    Annual Report Design for Clube de Ténis do Porto

    Earlier this year – as in the last couple of years – I was in charge of the layout as well as the visuals for the 2020 Annual Report for Clube de Ténis do Porto.

    Despite the on going pandemic, it was an overall nice year for the club, so I really enjoyed planning and executing this report, as I was proudly displaying our accomplishments.

    Cover Annual Report Design by Mariana Ponte
    Cover Annual Report Design
    Chapter title page of a annual report design by Mariana Ponte
    Annual report design inside pages by Mariana Ponte
    Detail of an inside page of a annual report design by Mariana Ponte
    Chapter page for annual report design by Mariana Ponte
  • Social media posts for Tennis Club

    Social media posts for Tennis Club

    I had the opportunity to work at Clube de Ténis do Porto as both a designer and marketer. One of my responsibilities was to create social media posts that would not only engage the audience but also showcase a variety of designs inspired by the club’s atmosphere.

    I’d get inspired on special days and come up with simple looking yet clever visual puns involving a tennis ball.

    My goal was to present a visual representation of the club’s unique ambiance and encourage interaction from the audience.

    Social Media post for Tennis Club featuring Children's Day

    Social Media Post: Children’s Day

    This playful design was created to mark Children’s Day in Portugal, celebrated annually on June 1st. I envisioned a unique take on a pacifier, created from a tennis ball. This image was specially created for the Club’s social media to spread joy and celebrate the innocence of childhood.

    Social Media post for Tennis Club featuring Portugal's Day

    Social Media Post: Portugal’s Day

    June 10th is a day of celebration in Portugal, marking the Day of Portugal, Camões, and the Portuguese Communities. To commemorate this special occasion, I designed a creative tribute to honor the Portuguese poet, Luís de Camões. The design features a tennis ball wearing a laurel wreath, , just like how Luís de Camões is frequently portraited.

    Social Media post for Tennis Club

    Social Media Post: Portugal’s Day

    In Portugal, St. Martins Day (Dia de São Martinho) is a day to celebrate the maturation of the year’s wine production.

    Traditionally it’s also the first day first wines of the season can be taste, hence why we have this saying “É dia de São martinho. Comem-se castanhas; prova-se o vinho!”
    (“It is St. Martins Day. We’ll eat chestnuts; we’ll taste the wine.”)