The Oakland Zoo is a place for animals where colorful whimsy meets interactive education for both kids and adults.
DISCIPLINES
Brand Identity
Marketing Strategy
Vector Illustration
TEAM
Samantha Heintz
Hailey Bae
TIMELINE
Spring 2026
4 weeks
ROLE
Print Designer Illustrator
THE CHALLENGEHow do you take an existing space and transform it into something that’s colorful, functional, and more interactive?
PACKAGING A DESTINATIONOur team created Dat, a luxury confectionery brand centered around chocolate-covered date cakes, filling a gap for a naturally sweet, on-the-go treat. Inspired by travel, we designed an immersive brand experience featuring a luxury travel bag-inspired PR package, postcards, a passport, and retail packaging. Unified by the slogan "Save the Date," our brand turns this unboxing into an invitation to connect and share the journey.
ILLUSTRATION ITERATIONS
To keep the illustration style consistent, I made the profile of each character the same and ensured the same level of detail throughout. Since the style is flat, I used a rough texture to bring it back to life. I wanted to keep the diversity of animals and had the idea of collecting stamps for each geographical area of the zoo (i.e. African Savannah, Tropical Rainforest, etc.)
Process
For next time…
I’m happy that I got to explore creating vector illustrations, which went through many iterations
TAKEAWAYS