Project Information

The Joy Spot is an elegant space in Lisbon dedicated to the joyful exploration of pleasure.

There were several considerations when defining the name, brand and visual identity: it was important that the brand visuals and colours appealed to a wide age range, that the brand felt luxurious but approachable and that the name, logo and images shouldn't come off as explicitly sexual from the start, as this could immediately disconnect a more reserved part of the target audience from the brand.

I worked with Joana on several in depth discovery sessions to better understand her target audience and her vision for the project.

The name "The Joy Spot" emerged with 5 other options from an extensive naming exercise that I guided Joana through. We then polled the community Joana had already began creating to discover their favourites and from those, Joana decided that The Joy Spot was the most fitting name. It works on several levels, evoking the joy of curiosity and discovery that's so central to this project, the reference to the physical space "the spot", as well as being a cheeky play on the "g spot".

Once I had the name, the brand visuals began to come together to reflect the playfulness, beauty and joy of female pleasure. The wordmark in Lora is designed to look refined but playful, pairing with sans-serif Poppins to display information clearly. The color palette pairs an elegant off white with jewel tones of emerald, red and pink - these colors don't immediately scream "sex shop" but this was intentional.

As a pre-launch for the brand, I created the concept and art-directed an event for Joana's close friends and family to come together for a few hours of open conversation about the project in an experiential session and photo shoot at a photography studio. While Joana showcased products that would be available for sale at the Joy Spot, her and her guests were photographed interacting with the products and with each other to create the brand's first official photoshoot - these images were used along with content on The Joy Spot's website and social media.

Photography for The Joy Spot pre-launch event: Francisca Carreira

Project Impact

Defining the brand identity gave Joana a strategic roadmap that shaped every element of the project — space, partnerships, programming, and audience — enabling a coherent experience that held as the brand grew. The result: credibility with partners from the start, 150 newsletter signups within 2 months of launch, and a brand that has grown to 3,000+ Instagram followers and become a Lisbon reference for pleasure, featured in Time Out Magazine.