Blue Skies Pottery case study · 2022–2025
She planned for more than one studio. Now there are three.
A class-based community pottery studio for all, in Hoboken and Long Branch, NJ, and Bryn Mawr, PA.
- Client
- Blue Skies Pottery
- Where
- Hoboken · Long Branch · Bryn Mawr
- Worked together
- 2022–2025
- The work
- Brand identity + two location updates
No grey days.
Valerie found me on Instagram in 2022, while she was getting her first studio ready in Hoboken. She didn't want it to feel like a lot of pottery studios do: serious, a little intimidating, and not that fun if you've never touched clay.
Her questionnaire said it better than I could.
…where there are no grey days and no such thing as a "bad" pot/piece.
whimsical, artistic, optimistic, relaxed, polished
Pastels but with accent colors that are vibrant or grounding.
i do love a flower, but certainly not as important.
Come get your hands dirty
I'd like to open multiple locations (my goal is 10 in the next 10 years)… launching merch (sweatshirts, aprons, tshirts, hats) is always in the back of my mind.
From her branding questionnaires, 2022
Hold onto those last two. They come back.
Pastels, with something to hold onto.
The colors started from one photo: woven bags in peach, aqua, and lilac, under a shelf of pastel plates. I kept that softness, then added the grounding part she asked for: forest green, burnt orange, golden tan, and black.
Palette inspo, a Moda Operandi post · the final eight
The logo is wavy, a little retro, and hard to take too seriously, which was kind of the point. She wanted people to feel like the studio wasn't taking itself too seriously, but was still polished.
The primary logo, October 2022
Made to show up on everything.
Then the rest of the system: secondary logos, BSP submarks, a pattern, line drawings of pots and vases, and the flower she said wasn't that important. It ended up on almost everything, including a whole wall.
The secondary logos
The submarks
The pattern + the brand elements
Style guide mockups · her tagline idea made it onto the poster
The Hoboken studio · the "not as important" flower, on the wall
Then came the beach.
In 2024, Valerie and Jordan came back. They were opening a second studio in Long Branch, right on the boardwalk, and wanted the brand to feel a little beachy there without starting over.
I added two colors for the sand and the ocean and put the new location on the logo. Then I designed a submark just for the beach: the wave. It's pulled from the same wave shape in their primary logo, so it reads as Blue Skies first and beach second, and both studios still feel like one brand.
The 2 new colors · the logo with Long Branch, and with both studios
They opened in June 2024, right on time for summer, and the wave went straight onto their first summer session post.
June 2024 · their opening-day post
Opening day, BSP shirts on · the wave, on their first summer session post, May 2024
Long Branch, on the boardwalk · the temporary banner first, then the real signs
Early mornings in Long Branch · from their Instagram
And then a third.
In 2025 they came back again, this time for Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, their first studio outside of New Jersey. I made the logo with Bryn Mawr, one with all three locations, and new profile photos for their socials. The studio opened that October.
With Bryn Mawr · with all three
The profile photos, August 2025
The home stretch in Bryn Mawr, October 2025 · from their Instagram
The signs going up in Bryn Mawr
The window poster, with the Bryn Mawr logo · "Bryn Mawr opens October 27" · the holidays on Lancaster Avenue
Then they ran with it.
Remember the aprons on her merch list? Here they are. None of these are mockups. It's the walls, the signs, the merch, and their own Instagram, all of it them using the brand.
Their merch, made from the final files: the BSP sweatshirt, the Long Branch wave, the aprons · and the aprons, on the owners
Their booth at the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival, May 2024: the banner, the wave totes, the BSP giveaway sign, the tees
The Hoboken walls · the logo sticker, on a toolbox · coming soon: a new ground-floor spot in their Hoboken building
Inside, it's all brand: even the doormat · the BSP wall, mid build-out
Valerie, apron on · the logo, painted big
Class is in: under the walls, in the aprons
And around town
Their flyers, all over Monmouth County · from their Instagram
And what people make there
Student pieces, from their Instagram
Their Instagram today: the three-location badge, and the flower highlight covers from the brand files
And in August 2026, the morning news came to Bryn Mawr. Aprons on.
August 2026 · FOX 29 Philly, live from the Bryn Mawr studio · me, in their comments
Three studios, one brand.
Back in 2022, her goal was 10 studios in 10 years. Three years later, she has three. The brand was built for that from day one, so each new location got an update, not a do-over.
- Oct 2022The brand identity
- Apr 2024The Long Branch update
- Aug 2025The Bryn Mawr update
- NowThree studios, and live on TV
Everything on file.
Planning to grow? Let's build a brand that can keep up.
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