If you're a branding nerd, this post is for you! In 2022, I took Elizabeth Chappell's Quilt Pattern Writing Course and our first assignment was to use Canva create a mood board that captures our brand's aesthetic. I, along with many others, found this assignment to be very fun but surprisingly challenging. Ultimately, it pushed me to get super clear on what Due Pinoli means to me and what I want it to evoke for others. The mood board I created for Due Pinoli is above and I break down the brand elements below.
If you struggle with choosing a color palette or selecting fabric for a project or to add to your collection, consider creating your own mood board!
Brand Inspiration
I'm hugely inspired by the incredible creativity that came out of the 1960s, the era of The Beach Boys and The Beatles, when jet air travel became the norm, and when we went from low-Earth orbit all the way to the Moon.
I'm also hugely inspired by nature, especially the quiet, calm places that provide restoration, and by friends and family who are important to me.
All of these influences make their way into my quilt designs -- a little bit rock and roll and a little bit Sunday morning, a little bit familiar and a little bit disruptive.
From this, I chose these six words to capture the Due Pinoli aesthetic:
Nostalgia
Sunrise
Escape
Comfort
Romantic
Jet Age
Brand Colors
I love color, so it was hard defining a limited color palette for the brand board exercise and, ultimately, our designs. I leaned on those feelings of escape, comfort, and nostalgia to create the Due Pinoli color palette of sun-kissed blood oranges, berry purples, and pumpkin golds combined with a little bit of 1960s jet age sky blue.
Brand Typeface
If you've ever flown out of Dulles Airport in the Washington, D.C., area, you might have seen signs in the main terminal with a very distinctive typeface designed by architect Eero Saarinen, who built the incredibly beautiful main terminal. To me, it evokes so much of what inspires me -- the futuristic style of the 1960s especially common in aviation contexts that so quickly became nostalgic. Saarinen's typeface is unique to the airport, but I found a similar one that evokes that same style called Biome and is the typeface that appears in the Due Pinoli logo.
Brand Name
I already had a brand name in place when I started the Quilt Pattern Writing Course, but it was reassuring to see the things that led me to my brand name reappearing on my mood board, especially feelings of nostalgia. Every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think about my mother and aunts who have a great debate about who will make the fruitcakes for this year's family gatherings and where to get the most crucial ingredient -- pine nuts -- for the best price. It's those pine nuts and that family tradition that inspired the brand name “Due Pinoli” which translates to “two pine nuts” in Italian. This name honors my family, my Italian heritage, and my own two little pine nuts who will hopefully grow into mighty trees.
Brand Logo
Building on the brand name, the Due Pinoli logo, beautifully drawn by @OnceUponAPrintShop, combines quilting with the Due Brand name. The logo evokes a sawtooth star quilt block with star points made of pinoli (pine nuts) and the two trees at the center are stone pines which grow from pinoli and are commonly found in Italy.
Bonus BenefitThinking deeply about branding resulted in an unintended and surprising benefit: It's now easier to shop for fabric because I can quickly say "yes" to fabric that aligns with this aesthetic and "no" to those I might love but don't fit the Due Pinoli brand.
If you're struggling to shop for fabric or rein in your fabric collection, you're welcome to steal this idea and create a mood board for yourself to guide your work. And if you made it this far, thanks for reading all about the Due Pinoli brand!