Joan Gray
A memory, lit.
A gifting campaign that treats scent as memory — forest shadows on folded paper, not a product shot.
Campaign direction · Hero + story design · Rollout plan
A memory, lit.
Why this line, for this business.
The business
Joan Gray Candles describes its work through the connection between scent and memory, and offers private-label and custom gifting alongside its core range.
The goal
Give the gifting offer a campaign of its own — one that a corporate buyer or a thoughtful friend would recognize as premium without a single candle being shown.
The central idea
A candle is a small way of keeping a memory. The campaign makes that literal: light moving across folded paper, a shadow of pine, a line that reads like the first words of a note. Everything stays suggestive so the real products can carry the final layer.
Metaphor over merchandise.
No fabricated vessels or wax. Double-exposed forest shadows and translucent paper stand in for scent, so the direction never misrepresents a real product.
One editorial serif.
A single refined serif carries brand, headline and CTA. Tracked-out capitals for the name; a soft italic for the call to action.
Keep the palette hushed.
Pine, parchment and a hint of bronze warmth. The story version crops in and stacks the headline so it reads at a glance on a phone.
Quiet, textured, editorial.
The system is built so it can hold real photography later: a textured, low-contrast field, a centered serif headline and a small italic CTA. Swap the paper study for an approved product still and the hierarchy holds.
Centered headline, tracked brand name at the top, italic CTA at the base. Generous margins on every format.
The background study. Shadow, paper, candlelight or an approved product photograph can occupy the field.
Landscape leads with the full line on one row. Vertical stacks the headline and crops tighter into the texture.
Two formats.
One identity.
The landscape hero and the vertical story were designed together so the campaign reads the same on a website banner and on a phone. This is the completed, deliverable artwork; everything in section 05 builds on it.
Words that match
the pictures.
Starter copy in the campaign’s voice — a headline, a supporting line, three social captions and an email subject. Written to show the tone; the business would refine every line.
A memory, lit.
Supporting lineCustom gifting from Joan Gray Candles. Scents chosen for the people you’re thinking of.
Call to actionExplore custom gifting
- Some gifts are things. Others are the evening you spent together. A memory, lit.
- Private-label gifting for teams, clients and the people who made the year. Explore custom gifting.
- Choose the scent. We’ll handle the rest. Custom gifting, now open.
A memory, lit — custom gifting is open
Completed assets.
Proposed extensions.
The two completed pieces are the complimentary concept. The rest is how the idea could grow if the business wants to take it further — each would be scoped separately and built from approved brand assets.
Campaign hero · 3:2
Delivered as the landscape design on the board above.
Vertical story · 9:16
Instagram story and Reels cover version with the stacked headline.
6-second motion cut
Light drifting across the paper; headline resolves on the last beat. Same scope as the Amude study.
Email header + gifting one-sheet
A header for the gifting announcement and a single-page PDF for corporate inquiries.
Product-led round two
Once approved product photography exists, the same layout carries a real candle in the field.
The next step is simple: place one approved product photograph in the field and see whether the quiet still holds.
Project scope & production notes
What this study covers
Campaign idea
Visual direction
Hero + vertical story design
Sample copy and rollout plan
Created as a complimentary, self-initiated concept and shared with the business as a proposal.
What it is not
An independent concept for a real business, created without its involvement. The artwork is AI-assisted and illustrative; it does not depict Joan Gray Candles’ products.
No commission, client approval or measured results exist for this work. Motion, print and email items in the rollout are proposals only.
DEHV
Scent meets sculpture.