Case study / 02
Vienna · 2025
Brand identity · art direction
5 min read
S!P. A school brief
rebuilt until it felt
actually real.
A school brief gave me room to invent a beverage brand from scratch. The first version worked on paper. The second version was honest. S!P is a sparkling lemonade brand built around one product (Fizzy Rizzy, lemon-basil, 500ml) and a visual identity that stopped apologising for its own ingredients.
Overview · what the problem actually was
The same brief.
Different standard.
The task was always the same: invent a beverage brand, make it feel real. Version one was technically correct: pastel palette, rounded type, soft illustration. It looked designed. It didn't look like it had a reason to exist beyond the brief. That gap is the actual problem this project tried to solve.
The rebuild started with the ingredient. Lemon and basil are not a pastel combination. The visual language kept softening something that didn't need softening. Dark verde as the base, editorial serif type, botanical line illustration, Mediterranean light in the photography. A system that earns the word rizzy rather than just using it.
If the visual language
apologises for the ingredient,
start again.
Process · how the world got built
01 · Start with the ingredient
Not the mood, not the market
Lemon-basil is an unusual combination: familiar enough to understand instantly, specific enough to own. That specificity had to drive every visual decision. The first version treated basil as decoration. The rebuild made it the point.
02 · Keep the name, earn it
Fizzy Rizzy already works
The name is confident enough to stand on its own and slightly absurd enough to be memorable. It doesn't explain itself. The problem was the original visuals were too soft to match it. Rizzy implies presence. The identity needed to catch up.
03 · Build a visual language with a point of view
Dark verde, editorial type, botanical line
Verde Nero as the base. Not because it's on-trend, but because it's what basil actually looks like in deep shadow. Limone Elettrico as the accent. Playfair Display Italic, 900 weight, for the wordmark. The illustration style references Italian apothecary labels and botanical prints. Every decision has a reason tied to the product.
04 · Build the asset system
Logo, can, pattern, photography
The brand guide defined the rules. The generated assets tested them. Logo composition, product render, lifestyle photography, repeating pattern. Each one had to hold the visual direction independently. If a single asset looked generic, the brief was still open.
05 · Remove the student-project bits
Cut the obvious decisions
This was mostly editing. Simplifying layouts. Killing effects that screamed “look, design”. Pushing the tone until it felt branded rather than assigned. The final version works because it leaves some air in the room.
Selected output · what belongs in this case
Outcome · what the rebuild had to prove
One
Clear product anchor
Everything orbits one drink with a specific ingredient and a defensible tone. The basil is not decorative. It is the reason the brand exists.
One
Visual language that scales
Colour, type, illustration, and photography direction are defined tightly enough to extend across packaging, social, posters, and merch without losing coherence or needing a footnote.
Zero
“Just a school project” energy
That was the real benchmark. If it feels like it could live outside the classroom, the work did its job.
Credits &
colophon.
- Project
- S!P · fictional beverage brand, identity rebuild
- Hero product
- Fizzy Rizzy · lemon-basil lemonade
- Role
- Concept, naming, identity system, brand guide, AI art direction
- Format
- Brand guide + generated asset system
- Visuals
- Verde Nero base · editorial serif · botanical line illustration
- Goal
- Make the second version tell the truth the first one avoided