One of my final projects in university was to create a subscription service for anything we wanted. I’m not really a smoker, but after researching different industries that, at the time, lacked subscription services, I found cigars to be an interesting niche to explore. Not only were there not any popular subscription services for them, but the industry’s design was really cookie cutter. Every brand did the same few things, over and over again, and it was just getting dull. This was an opportunity to stand out and choose a niche product to include in a subscription box - and bring life back to an industry that was becoming stale.

The most exciting part of this project was the photography. At this point in my design career I had really gotten a grasp on taking high quality photos with better composition, and I was excited to show it off. There were two main photo sessions, one with a friend in a local cigar bar, and another with my partner at the time. Between these two shoots we were able to get so many more photos than I was actually able to use for the project, and to date they are some of my highest quality shots. The cover photo with the cigar, ashtray, and smoke is just unbelievable. The photo sits so well with all the colors of the brand, and uncolored. Even untouched that photo had such a stellar vibe to it.

The rest of the project went great as well, and to date it is tied for my favorite work I did during school. Everything is simple, clean, and effective, and the photography work was just the cherry on top. I am also proud to say that this was the second project I’ve ever had featured in a design exhibit. This was featured in the 2019 REVEAL Showcase.