The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Back to feedPost
This evolved from conversation about a female-founded, non-alcoholic luxury beverage. I wanted to invert the romantic fantasy of Gatsby and play around with that dynamic around a little. The dated "beautiful little fool" line, straight from Fitzgerald gets "put in it's place" by the woman's facial expression and smile. She's authentic and in control of her own story sipping her cocktail, solo and confident at the bar. I liked that little bit of irony and how it plays against the sexy, sophisticated imagery. i enjoy creating a tangible world around a brand with it's own homages and visual storytelling.
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
Challenges
View all
Related posts
I just joined Contra and I’m still figuring out how things work around here, so I thought I’d introduce myself instead of quietly lurking.
I’m Mariya, founder, strategist and lead designer behind Mariya Design. I’ve worked internationally since 2015, and today I run a boutique branding studio focused on brand identity systems for premium and luxury-led brands.
Most of my work sits somewhere between identity, packaging and the wider system around them. I’m particularly interested in what happens after the logo: how typography, color, packaging, digital applications and brand rules actually hold together as the business grows.
One project I’ve been revisiting recently is SAE-REN, a premium beauty and wellness identity system. I’m currently rebuilding some of my case-study presentation system, so it felt like a good one to share here first.
And since I’m genuinely new to Contra, I’d love to hear from people who have been active here for a while:
What actually helped you become part of the community here?
Was it sharing work regularly, joining conversations, applying to opportunities, or something else entirely?
Any early mistakes worth avoiding are welcome too.
great designs..
New cover, new visual taste test.
As a visual director, the hardest choice is choosing between your own creations.
Two covers. Two directions. One choice.
Which one gets your vote?
34 voted
79%
9 voted
21%
43 votes
Closed
the blue background makes the orange shapes pop
What's your one-rule brand? Tell me.
Most jewelry brands photograph the object. This one photographs the grip.
AQUILIFER — a brand I built around one idea: jewelry as something carried, not worn.
Case study + full site now live.
The name comes from Roman military rank. The aquilifer carried the standard — the one thing the legion couldn't afford to drop.
That single word killed my first direction before I'd finished it.
No polish. No faceted stones.
Hand-cast, asymmetric pieces, tool marks left visible.
Photography went extreme macro, unretouched skin, hands gripping the face instead of posing near it.
Color system: two darks instead of one dark + accent.
#1E1E1E and #27331A let the brand shift register — campaign world to product world — without ever going light.
#D9DED4 stays structural only. Never a fill.
Motion rule on the site: diagonal masks only. No rotation, anywhere.
A spinning object reads as being shown off. This brand is about weight, not display.
Same angle, same easing, top to bottom.
One idea, held all the way through — name, object, photography, palette, motion.
That's the whole pitch for how I work.
Absolutely love your works!