Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697795130648.pdf (Grenada)
509.209.0466 Tabor Cote tcote@pdx.edu PSU ID.
2 01 02 Origin Spokane Fashion Self Directed, Page 4 KAINA Album DES 224, Page 8 03 Spielberg SciFest DES 254, Page 12 04 Xeno Labs DES 225, Page 16 05 06 07 P Neurodivergent Group Collaborative, Page 22 COTA Brochure DES 200, Page 26 AVAK Kava DES 225, Page 29 Process DES 225, Page 33 W Writing Sample DES 225, Page 3 Contents 3 AVAK more than just a drink, It’s a community For this project I found it extremely important to do a good amount of research before starting to sketch or design the AVAK brand and logo.
To start I reached out to those in the Fijian and Kava communities.

I also reached out to a handful of pacific kava brands asking for any tips hey had for avoiding cultural appropriation when making my designs, while at the same time showcasing and incorporating the culture.

I decided to use more angular lines and forms since many Fijian art pieces and Fijian kava ceremonial bowls all had geometric like forms on them.
I also noticed that they use a lot of triangles and sharp angular forms in their art, so I decided to also incorporate that.

After talking to the professor and class I also half way through the designing process decided to switch from uniform lines to a more rough brush stroke look.

This in the end helped to add a roughness and organic feeling to the whole logo.

The name AVAK came from a simple switchover of the word kava but backwards.
Interesting enough it tough over 3o ideas to get to this simple solution name.

I also really did not want to use a brand name that had the regular spelling of kava in it,since so many other brands use kava in their brand name.

I wanted my brand to stand out in the market.

For the typography for this project i knew of one type face I defiantly wanted to use which is Atkinson Hyperlegible, which was a typeface made for the hard of seeing and can be still readable even when the words look blurry.
I thought this would be important as when you drink a lot of kava/ drinking in general your eyesight tends to be less sharp then when sober.

While Kava doesn’t completely remove your cognitive functions as much as alcohol does.

It can still at least for myself make me super calm, relaxed, bubbly, and things start to blur as my eye lids begin to feel heavy.

It is important for those who will be drinking from the bottle understand what is on it, even if they are intoxicated in some way.
For the tittle and heading font I chose Astroman which is a modern yet sort of quirky typeface.

I thought it suited this project because it mimicked some of the shapes I saw in pacific art while also adding a modern twist.

When considering color pallets, I went through quite a few, I wanted to use bright tropical like colors as to represent the fruit flavors that would be included in the kava drink while at the same time be eye catching for college students and look appetizing.
Since regular kava to most people does not look appetizing at all.

It resembles muddy water and tastes similar too without any added flavoring.

This is also why I decided to do a few flavors, as well as have the base flavor be a coconut blend.

As to further mask the earthy taste of plain kava.

I ended up choosing colors based off the illustrations I did inspired by the actual fruits I used for the flavors.
For example I used a pink and green on the guava bottle since those were the colors of the guava illustration, and so on for the other bottles.

However I kept the logo the same color a white/ cream on all the bottles as to add a cohesiveness element.

For the Mock-ups I decided to continue to keep it simple and use a color backdrop that was similar to the accent/ title colors on the bottle.

This in turn helped accentuate the accent colors in the design and help them stand out on the bottle more.
I also did a shot with the bottles on a fridge shelf, as that is probably where they would be if students owned them.

For the deliverables i decided to design a package design for dry powdered kava, for those who wanted to make it themselves.

I also designed a simple pattern for cheese cloth.

Since you need cheese cloth if you are going to make kava at home.

My third deliverable was a traditional kava bowl made for mixing kava, I just added the logo onto it making seem like it was painted on.
A simple touch for a simple object.

Writing Sample - DES 225 W 4 Origin is a Spokane Washington Fashion magazine.

Origin’s goal is showing the world the vibrant and creative world that is Spokane Fashion as I feel it is often overlooked.

The Magazine explores Spokane fashion trends and all things in the fashion world from runway shows to local brands and models.

All photographs are taken by myself.


Origin Fashion Magazine - Self Directed 05 5 Origin Fashion Magazine - Self Directed 6 Origin Fashion Magazine - Self Directed 7 Origin Fashion Magazine - Self Directed 8 An Album redesign for a female artist who’s songs are based around God, worship and Christianity.

The brand strives for self confidence and the belief that ones self can anything they set their mind alongside their true faith in God.
KAINA Cover Redesign - DSN 224 02 9 Spotify Interface created from scratch by me, Phone mock-up is from Adobe Stock.

KAINA Cover Redesign - DES 224 10 CD version of the larger Vynl version.

Background photo of Detroit city, where artist grew up.

KAINA Cover Redesign - DES 224 11 Interface of Spotify mock up created by me.
KAINA Cover Redesign - DES 224 12 The 2024 Steven Spielberg movie convention is having its annual movie convention showing all the new movies of the past years and delving into all things movies.

(Left, I created the mock up, minus the poster texture.

Which came from a separate pre made mock up).

Spielberg SciFest - DSN 254 07 13 This Brochure goes into the details about main movies and events during the convention.

Wordmark Typeface created from scratch.

All letters based off of the S form.


Spielberg SciFest - DSN 254 14 Spielberg SciFest - DSN 254 15 Spielberg SciFest - DSN 254 16 Xeno labs is a research and medical facility devoted to the education and protection of the super powered people everywhere.

Xeno Labs - DES 225 04 17 Rendering from the Sims 4, interior design and mock ups created by myself.

I created the screen interfaces, patterns in rugs and sofas and wall decor.

Greenery used to help calm new patients.


While Stone and concrete create strong building walls and rooms.

Xeno Labs - DES 225 18 Info Waiting TV interfaces.

One showing the order of patients and the other used for directions.

Every board has the date, time and current weather outside.

Xeno Labs 19 (Left) TV interface above welcome desk, (Right) Employee computer log in screen.

Xeno Labs 20 Mock ups created by myself, photography from stock photography.
Employee uniforms are color specific to level of worker.

Xeno Labs 21 Background pattern made from logo.

The “P and “NP” on the badges signify Powered (super powered) vs Non-Powered staff.

Xeno Labs 22 The Neurodivergent group at PSU was created originally by Brendan Hanna, I joined on at the beginning and designed the groups event posters as well as the social media posts.

We hope to grow this community in the coming years and provide a safe space for other neurodivergent students.
(Mock up created by myself).

Neurodivergent Club - Collaborative/ Self Directed 06 23 Background art created by AI with the given prompt of Nuerdivergcency / ADHD.

Neurodivergent Club - Collaberative 24 Neurodivergent Club - Collaberative 25 Social Media group post for events and group meeting times.

Neurodivergent Club - Collaborative 26 COTA or the College of the Arts is holding their annual support the arts event.
This brochure walks potential / existing donors through the world of the arts at PSU and future events.

Design is based off the Portland city buildings and streets.

COTA Brochure - DES 200 03 27 Map made from vellum and viewer is able to remove to use later.

COTA Brochure - DES 200 28 COTA Brochure - DES 200 29 AVAK is a Fijian Kava brand based in Portland OR.

Their goal is to bring PSU college students a safe alternative to alcoholic beverages.
Kava can make one feel drunk without all the cognitive deficits.

AVAK strives for afford ability and environmentally safe standards.

Keep Kalm and Kavanated with AVAK Kava.

AVAK Kava - DES 225 01 30 All bottle Mock-ups/ photography created by me, Traditional Kava mixing bowl (Middle).

AVAK Kava - DES 225 31 AVAK Kava - DES 225 32 Alternate Deliverables: Kava Mix Straining Cloth (Left), Dry Kava mix & mixing bowl created by me (Right).
*Paper bag was an existing mock up, but I created the bowel from scratch/ Stock photography.

(Photo taken in Fiji).

AVAK Kava - DES 225 33 Keep Kalm with Kava Process: AVAK Kava - DSN 225 Photo taken by me in Fiji village 34 In the beginning it was extremely important to me to learn the dos and donts of creating a Fijian brand as I am not Fijian and did not have that much knowledge on the matter.

Therefore I reached out to a local Hawaiian Kava brand for some tips.
As well as looking at what makes up a traditional Kava ceremony and where Kava comes from.

I also took a trip to Fiji to experience first hand the culture and a traditional Kava ceremony.

AVAK: Research & Notes 35 AVAK: Research & Notes 36 AVAK: Research & Notes 37 AVAK: Research & Notes 38 I ended up combining these two mood boards in order to come up with my final design.

I liked the bottle materials and bottle shapes from option one.
While the bright saturated colors and bold lines drew me to option two.

AVAK: Mood Boards 39 AVAK: Logo Sketches 40 AVAK: Logo Inked Sketches 41 AVAK: Inked Logo Sketches 42 AVAK: Digital Logo Sketches 43 AVAK: Label Sketches 44 AVAK: Color Exploration 45 AVAK: Label Drafts - Mango 46 AVAK: Label Drafts - Coconut 47 AVAK: Label Drafts - Guava 48 Test shoot for Label sizing.
AVAK: Label Mockup Drafts 49 AVAK: Color Exploration - Coconut 50 AVAK: Color Exploration - Mango 51 AVAK: Color Exploration - Guava 52 Atkinson Hyperlegible Brandon Grotesque Agenda Borro beatecto exceped que cus aceaquasped eum eribus eosti dipsapero molloresequo quam quate re vitate vent volest ut il et faciis nobit autem num et molorro es moluptassi commodi ostrum eniantur milit es quia sunt qui comnim quunt.

Odiatec erciur?

Qui rati culparum venihil iquae.


Pudis sam ant evelles tiosti dicium eat ut facitae nonem volor restior estistem.
Xererunt qui voloressum nobissus aliqui beate volorum eos a sequo quo culluptatur restorp oresequis dus, omnis et es eosam, vidi cus exped et evellaceste Borro beatecto exceped que cus aceaquasped eum eribus eosti dipsapero molloresequo quam quate re vitate vent volest ut il et faciis nobit autem num et molorro es moluptassi commodi ostrum eniantur milit es quia sunt qui comnim quunt.

Odiatec erciur?

Qui rati culparum venihil iquae.


Pudis sam ant evelles tiosti dicium eat ut facitae nonem volor restior estistem.

Xererunt qui voloressum nobissus aliqui beate volorum eos a sequo quo culluptatur restorp oresequis dus, omnis et es eosam, vidi cus exped et evellaceste con rescidebis voluptaque et et aut et quis et utemolore sum quo cus untus.
Borro beatecto exceped que cus aceaquasped eum eribus eosti dipsapero molloresequo quam quate re vitate vent volest ut il et faciis nobit autem num et molorro es moluptassi commodi ostrum eniantur milit es quia sunt qui comnim quunt.

Odiatec erciur?

Qui rati culparum venihil iquae.

Pudis sam ant evelles tiosti dicium eat ut facitae nonem volor restior estistem.
Xererunt qui voloressum nobissus aliqui beate volorum eos a sequo quo culluptatur restorp oresequis dus, omnis et es eosam, vidi cus exped et evellaceste con rescidebis voluptaque et et aut et quis et utemolore sum quo cus untus.

Monteserrat Blue Lagoon Kefa Borro beatecto exceped que cus aceaquasped eum eribus eosti dipsapero molloresequo quam quate re vitate vent volest ut il et faciis nobit autem num et molorro es moluptassi commodi ostrum eniantur milit es quia sunt qui comnim quunt.

Odiatec erciur?
Odiatec erciur?

Qui rati culparum venihil iquae.

Pudis sam ant evelles tiosti dicium eat ut facitae nonem volor restior estistem.

Xererunt qui voloressum nobissus aliqui beate volorum eos a sequo quo culluptatur Borro beatecto exceped que cus aceaquasped eum eribus eosti dipsapero molloresequo quam quate re vitate vent volest ut il et faciis nobit autem num et molorro es moluptassi commodi ostrum eniantur milit es quia sunt qui comnim quunt.

Odiatec erciur?

Qui rati culparum venihil iquae.


Pudis sam ant evelles tiosti dicium eat ut facitae nonem volor restior estistem.

Xererunt qui voloressum nobissus aliqui beate volorum eos a sequo quo culluptatur restorp oresequis dus, omnis et es eosam, vidi cus exped et evellaceste con rescidebis voluptaque et et aut et quis et utemolore sum quo cus untus.
Borro beatecto exceped que cus aceaquasped eum eribus eosti dipsapero molloresequo quam quate re vitate vent volest ut il et faciis nobit autem num et molorro es moluptassi commodi ostrum eniantur milit es quia sunt qui comnim quunt.

Odiatec erciur?

Qui rati culparum venihil iquae.

Pudis sam ant evelles tiosti dicium eat ut facitae nonem volor restior estistem.
Xererunt qui voloressum nobissus aliqui beate volorum eos a sequo quo culluptatur restorp oresequis dus, omnis et es eosam, vidi cus exped et evellaceste con rescidebis voluptaque et et aut et quis et 20 pt, 14/24 AVAK: Typography Exploration 53 When considering color pallets, I went through quite a few, I wanted to use bright tropical like colors as to represent the fruit flavors that would be included in the kava drink while at the same time be eye catching for college students and look appetizing.
Since regular kava to most people does not look appetizing at all.

It resembles muddy water and tastes similar too without any added flavoring.

This is also why I decided to do a few flavors, as well as have the base flavor be a coconut blend.

As to further mask the earthy taste of plain kava.

I ended up choosing colors based off the illustrations I did inspired by the actual fruits I used for the flavors.
For example I used a pink and green on the guava bottle since those were the colors of the guava illustration, and so on for the other bottles.

However I kept the logo the same color a white/ cream on all the bottles as to add a cohesiveness element.

For the Mock-ups I decided to continue to keep it simple and use a color backdrop that was similar to the accent/ title colors on the bottle.

This in turn helped accentuate the accent colors in the design and help them stand out on the bottle more.
I also did a shot with the bottles on a fridge shelf, as that is probably where they would be if students owned them.

For the deliverables i decided to design a package design for dry powdered kava, for those who wanted to make it themselves.

I also designed a simple pattern for cheese cloth.

Since you need cheese cloth if you are going to make kava at home.

My third deliverable was a traditional kava bowl made for mixing kava, I just added the logo onto it making seem like it was painted on.
A simple touch for a simple object.

For this project I found it extremely important to do a good amount of research before starting to sketch or InDesign the AVAK brand and logo.

I Started by reaching out to those in the Fijian and Kava communities.

I also reached out to a handful of pacific kava brands asking for any tips they had for avoiding cultural appropriation when making my designs, while at the same time showcasing and incorporating the culture.
I decided to use more angular lines and forms since many Fijian art pieces and Fijian kava ceremonial bowls all had geometric like forms on them.

I also noticed that they use a lot of triangles and sharp angular forms in their art, so I decided to also incorporate that.

After talking to the professor and class I also half way through the designing process decided to switch from uniform lines to a more rough brush stroke look.
This in the end helped to add a roughness and organic feeling to the whole logo.

The name AVAK came from a simple switchover of the word kava but backwards.

Interesting enough it tough over 3o ideas to get to this simple solution name.

I also really did not want to use a brand name that had the regular spelling of kava in it,since so many of their brands use kava in their brand name.

I wanted my brand to stand out in the market.


For the typography for this project I knew of one type face I defiantly wanted to use which is Atkinson Hyperlegible, which was a typeface made for the hard of seeing and can be still readable even when the words look blurry.

I thought this would be important as when you drink a lot of kava/ drinking in general your eyesight tends to be less sharp then when sober.

While Kava doesn’t completely remove your cognitive functions as much as alcohol does.
It can still at least for myself make me super calm, relaxed, bubbly, and things start to blur as my eye lids begin to feel heavy.

It is important for those who will be drinking from the bottle understand what is on it, even if they are intoxicated in some way.

For the tittle and heading font I chose Astroman which is a modern yet sort of quirky typeface.

I thought it suited this project because it mimicked some of the shapes I saw in pacific art while also adding a modern twist.
AVAK: Rational (Same as Writing Sample) 54 AVAK: Logo Finals 55 Headers Astroman A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Body & Sub-heading Copy Attikison Hyperlegible AVAK: Typography Finals 56 # 135349 # 2e3d52 # 000000 # 0d5d54 # f7901e # f8d089 # 135349 #: f58e84 # fbc9b9 AVAK: Color Pallet Finals 57 AVAK: Final Label - Coconut 58 AVAK: Final Label - Guava 59 AVAK: Final Label - Mango 60 All Bottle Mockups and photography done by myself.
AVAK: Mockups 61 AVAK: Mockups 62 (Left) Cheese cloth used to strain dry Kava mix.

(Right) Traditional style Kava Mixing bowl, Dry Kava mix.

Background photo taken in Fiji by me.

AVAK: Alternate Mockups - Dry Kava Mix, Straining Cloth & Bowl 63 Thank You