Responses by Justin Theroux, designer, Molly Dunne, associate creative director and Tom Fugleberg, cofounder/creative lead, Friends & Neighbors
Background: Ma Jolie is the Twin Cities’s first mobile market, which offers an assortment of pick-your-own flowers, macarons, candles, soaps and totes at each stop. French-inspired, this cream-colored 1959 VW Transporter’s goal is to capture the imagination of young professional social influencers who are interested in fashion, beauty and travel in high-traffic locations throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota.
Reasoning: Given that Ma Jolie translates to “my pretty,” we believe the brand should romance potential customers at every turn. Press announcements take the form of love letters. We don’t post locations as much as we do invite our followers to secret rendezvouses. Every confection is a gesture of enduring affection. Bottom line, we want to create more than a momentary experience, we want to establish a lasting affair.
Challenges: Ma Jolie, as a concept, is a motorized nod to the sassy chic, black-and-white canopied boutiques in Paris. However, if steered the wrong way, “sassy chic French” quickly becomes cliché—in look and language. Our goal was to embrace the most whimsical attributes of the brand, but bring them forward in a fresh, contemporary, timeless—and instantly Instagram-worthy way.
Favorite details: The mark is an abstraction of a tulip that also includes the M and J of Ma Jolie—it stands alone just as well as it pairs with the wordmark. Likewise, the patterns work on their own, or can be combined for a cool, textural feel on the packaging.
Visual influences: The French market is such an iconic visual—the black and white striped canopy, the baskets of goods, the handwritten signage. We put an unexpected twist on those references with a color palette that feels very of-the-moment. Instead of the classic black and white, we opted for layered neutrals anchored by black. We also mixed abstract and geometric patterns to liven-up the product packaging. The logo and labels also nod to classic French perfumeries and beauty brands.
Time constraints: Given that the time between creative download and soft launch was two weeks, it was quite a bit. But how do you say “no” to such an amazing client, and such an inspiring idea?
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