Ask: The project was to create a brand identity for The Second Chapter, a modern secondhand bookstore with a cozy café, aiming to raise local awareness through posters and a website. The brand needed to reflect a welcoming, inclusive space that sparks curiosity, celebrates diversity, and fosters meaningful connections through books, events, and conversations. It embraces slow living, offering visitors a tactile, authentic experience that encourages relaxation and a break from the digital world.
Solution: Inspired by Mexico’s Día de los Muertos festival and the idea of giving books new lives, the design balances vibrant colour against desaturated, textured backgrounds. Colourful figures contrast with fractal glass and vintage grain effects, symbolizing life and death coexisting in parallel realms.
Dynamic, handcrafted shapes inspired by traditional papel picado banners add a playful cultural touch. Papel picado is a vibrant Mexican art form deeply tied to celebrations of life, death, and heritage—most notably Día de los Muertos—where it symbolizes the fragility and joy of life. It fosters community and cultural pride through collaborative craftsmanship and festive displays, much like how rereading a beloved book brings its story back to life again and again. This creates a fresh, joyful identity that challenges typical secondhand bookstore stereotypes.
