The official tourism board of Branson, Missouri (U.S.A.) had planned a year-long celebration for America's 250th birthday. As part of this celebration, they wanted a family-friendly, limited-edition gift for key stakeholders that represented their city and also celebrated this important event. When the idea of a custom brick set came up, they reached out to Playwell Bricks to make it happen.

Playwell’s contact at Branson explained that they wanted a set that would represent their city. They played with the idea of creating a street corner scene, but ultimately decided that they’d rather have a set based on the city’s brand graphic, a stylized calligraphic rendering of their name. To keep the project within a reasonable parts budget, the client suggested Playwell focus on recreating the B.

It was a simple enough request, but for Playwell’s designers, creating something this curved out of a small amount of bricks is extremely difficult. Designer Eric Dubois Yang created the first concept, but the client rejected it, saying it was too abstract. This sent the team back to the proverbial drawing board.

After asking for help from the rest of the team, Eric came up with another concept. This one captured all the curves of the B, but it was above the original parts budget. While the Playwell Bricks team does everything they can to meet the budget the client sets out, details like curves that require a certain amount of sculpting will sometimes require more bricks than originally budgeted for. When this happens, the Playwell team will inform the client and show them what the designer was able to create, allowing them to make the decision to increase the parts budget or start again.

After some back and forth, Eric was able to whittle the parts count down by removing a series of white stars that he’d embedded into the B. This redesign was still above the original parts budget, but not by much. The client agreed to this redesign, but instead of the series of white stars, they requested a single red star at the base of the B. After confirming that a red star was available, this challenging design was finally ready for production.

“This was really difficult to design,” Eric admits, though you’d never know to look at it. The final look captures the calligraphic nature of the logo and the bricks themselves lend the family-friendly element that Branson, Missouri, is known for.

Inspire gratitude, elevate your brand, and celebrate relationships with intention. Playwell Bricks partners with you to brand well, build well, and gift well, delivering gifts that lift your culture and message. Contact us to schedule your discovery call today.