MAKAI
Surf, paddle, coasteer and jump. One brand for four businesses.
MAKAI was four businesses run by the same owner: Global Boarders, Lizard Adventure, Gwithian Surf School and Mousehole Adventure. Each had run well on its own for years, but four names, four email addresses, four websites and four sets of social accounts made it clunky to run and confusing for customers to follow. The plan was to bring them under one name, so the business was easier to manage and easier for customers to find.
The brief
Brand identity · Illustration · Signage · Photography · Social media · Email marketing
Services
Steve, the owner, came up with MAKAI, which means "towards the ocean" in Hawaiian. That tropical root is where the warmth in the brand comes from, crossed with the rugged edge of the Cornish coast.
The logo carries the same idea. Two navy peaks form the M, like cliffs above the water. A small orange shape glows behind the second peak, like the mouth of a cove, and a teal line sweeps beneath, standing in for the shoreline. It's hand-drawn and slightly uneven rather than a neat, geometric mark, and that loose, hand-lettered feel carries through into "MAKAI" itself and the wider set of illustrations across the brand.
The Name
I worked on the whole brand: strategy, the visual identity and illustration, a set of brand guidelines to keep it consistent, then took it out into the real world. That meant vehicle signage, flags, a branded marquee, and all the signage across three base locations, Gwithian, Mullion and the Lizard. I also designed a general leaflet covering everything MAKAI offers across all sites, including a hand-drawn map illustration showing where to find them.
That relationship hasn't stopped. I still do MAKAI's photography, run their social media and email marketing, and pick up whatever else they need. So the brand you see today, on the vans, on the beach, on Instagram, is still the one I look after.
What I did
