Zee & Zoey’s Chronicle Connection
What began as a weekly series of funny pictures and humorous narratives about four adorable newborn kitties, masterly written by Deb Barnes, turned into an amazing colorful chronicle about the life of the reigning couple – Zee and Zoey.
The Zee & Zoey’s Chronicle Connection blog launched in September and ever since it’s come a long way, so we wanted to bring you now the story behind designing the beautiful and quirky Zee & Zoey brand and what it meant to us. While the website is no longer news, it will always be new, fun, and exciting, just like on the first day we launched it.
When Deb Barnes decided to publish these lively amazing stories, after reading the book manuscript it was love at first sight: so we got really excited that we had the chance to be a part of the Chronicles by putting all our love and inspiration into designing the book cover – first and then, the website. Later on, it turned out that the order needed some re-thinking, so instead, we approached like a new brand, the Zee & Zoey brand. It started with a logo, to capture the essence in one fun and memorable symbol, then it continued with the business cards, letterhead, and envelope – which Deb needed for a presentation package she was putting together – and then came the website/blog, which compliments the book in style and creates anticipation for its release. The book cover came much later – it hasn’t been made public yet, but an insider’s voice tells us it won’t be long!
The logo, as unique as the felines it was inspired by, features two cats – a Maine Coon and a Bengal – as a couple in a loving embrace, with their tails creating a lovely heart shape which then became Deb’s favorite symbol to use throughout the Zee & Zoey graphics. The custom lettering compliments the smooth curves of the icon and together they define what shortly after because the Zee & Zoey brand: fun, whimsical, unique, rich in eye-candy details and always making you want to discover more. While the letterhead and the envelope were kept simple and elegant (since they need to fulfill more practical jobs), the business card really expresses all the notes of the brand and comes across as truly fun and unique.
Creating the perfect design for the blog was nothing less than a challenge, after all, it is not easy to match the extraordinary catitude of these fun and playful felines. So when putting our magic wand to work, nothing was spared: from leopard spots to ivy swirls, lovely hearts made of cat tails, and sparkling butterflies, they all came together making this blog a garden of wonders and magic – the perfect place for the reigning of Zee and his beloved Zoe. We wanted the visitor to be excited to discover lovely little details in every little corner. But none of this would have been possible without the beautiful photography provided by Dan Power. Scroll down to the bottom of any page of the blog and you will see – our “surprise footer” – you just want to reach out and touch the soft fuzzy kitties.
And then the official Catvitation was out to invite everyone to come to see how the ordinary in our lives becomes extraordinary. It was a great reason for celebration, complete with confetti and champagne…
…but truly our favorite part of the celebration was Deb’s birthday cake:
And back to the blog – the story, in its whole greatness, is revealed through colorful and expressive photo galleries, hilarious lively videos, and extraordinary fun narratives that will allow the readers to watch these kitties’ lives from day zero and learn to explore the world through their curious cat eyes. Wrapped in the fairytale design, this blog is a place where even non-cat lovers will feel bewitched.
And as you contemplate our labor of love, you should know that the story doesn’t end here. The journey has just started and there are many other fun and exciting things to discover. Because nothing we could say about the Zee & Zoey’s Chronicle Connection would do it justice, we invite you to simply “embrace the ordinary in your life and dare to make it extraordinary”, and see the story coming to life with your own eyes.
