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Leslie Olson
  • Design + Illustration
  • About
  • Photo Journal
  • Shop

Terah Wine Co. X Domestique Wine

I worked with Terah Wine Co. and Domestique Wine to create packaging for their collaboration natural wine. The packaging was inspired by the citrus plants and herbs which naturally grow around the vineyard.

More about Tara (source: Domestique Wine)
”Terah Bajjalieh is a winemaker, native Califorian, woman of color and certified somm who studied viticulture in France and Spain, and started her own personal label in 2020.

Terah sources fruit from organic and biodynamically farmed vineyards from unique microclimates in California.”

All photos, styling, and art direction by me.

Nordlys Brand ID

Nordlys translates to Northern Lights, which can be seen from the Northern Wisconsin property (and thusly inspired the brand identity I designed for the client). Nordlys properties have received recognition and publicity in highly reputable architectural and interior design outlets. Learn more about Nordlys: https://visitnordlys.com/

Ad Fed Best in Design: RIO Packaging

This project recently won Ad Fed Best in Design 2024. I greatly enjoyed this collab with Reach International Outfitters, with updates releasing later this year! The product is a series of travel-friendly card decks containing activities to try and locations to visit around each state. The packaging shown here is a preview of the full set of decks I designed. More to come!

Fresh Coast Film Fest

I designed the brand identity for the 2021 Fresh Coast Film Festival, located in Marquette, MI. I illustrated the custom wordmark and other typographic elements to extend the illustration style used for the main poster art. The brand colors are inspired by fall sunsets in the UP.

Alto Pino

I designed the logo and iconography for Alto Pino, a new restaurant on Superior Street in Duluth, MN. Excited to share more brand touchpoints and restaurant interiors soon!

The Lake and Stars

The inspiration for The Lake & Stars was to abstract a map of Lake Superior and its surrounding landmarks with an overlaid segment of the universe, blending the Great Lake with a starry sky. The constellations are abstractly depicted as they might appear over the lake in the nighttime, reflecting the vastness and depth of both lake and sky.

Foil details weave together to create layers of depth within the hand-painted lake. The lines connecting the constellations and the parallels are blind debossed; the locations around the lake and the constellations are foil-stamped; the stars are pale matte silver foil; the lake a screen-printed from an original hand-painted piece. Printed on French Midnight Blue 100# in collaboration with Vahalla Studios and McIntosh Embossing. CD: Dan Olson (Studio MPLS)

Churchill St. Restaurant ID

A new restaurant is open in Shoreview, MN! From the Churchill St. website (designed with Eric Berseth):

“A place people can go to savor good food, cultivate relationships, and nourish the soul. At Churchill St., you will find an honest, authentic gathering place that represents our community’s values. You will be able to eat food from local farms and linger over a coffee or tea with your neighbors and family. As you enjoy your meal, you’ll know that we are also supporting hunger-relief nonprofits in Minnesota, participating in composting and other green initiatives, and embracing our food suppliers and community partners. Because restaurants only become gathering places by serving their communities. And dreams only become real when they are shared.”

The Northlands Consulting team and founder Carly Gatzlaff have been wonderful to work with.

All photography by me.

Grand Jeté

CD + shoot production: Van Horgen, Andrew Beckman (Superhuman Agency). Writing by Van Horgen. Photography, retouching, art direction, shoot production, brand ID by me. Website redesign is now live; check it out here.

“Grand Jeté has been the destination for dancers of all abilities since its opening in 1983. The new ownership wanted to maintain Grand Jeté’s reputation for customer service and expertise while focusing on making dance more accessible and inclusive for people of all backgrounds.

How can Grand Jeté be welcoming to people who are beginning their dance journeys and relevant to underrepresented communities who typically don’t have access to the performing arts?

Drawing upon influences from other movement industries and artists, we crafted a solution that feels timeless and inviting — reflecting the diversity and vibrancy of future generations of dancers.”

Fika Coffee

Fika Coffee is located in Lutsen, Minnesota. I designed a refreshed brand identity and packaging system for Fika; an important objective for the client was the ability to print labels in-house, eventually scaling to larger wholesale distribution while maintaining a consistent look and feel. CD: Dan Olson (Studio MPLS).

Cold Wave

This Askov Finlayson brand campaign celebrates Lake Superior, and highlights ways to counter climate change’s effect on the lake in the years to come.

I worked with the team to concept graphics around the campaign theme, which translated to apparel, digital platforms, website and landing page, as well as creation of blog posts, all visual assets for organic and paid advertising, and email blasts. I also produced and art-directed product lifestyle + e-commerce photoshoots and executed all digital assets for the brand campaign launch.

Pictured photos by Reece Hickman.

Bernie's Restaurant

Bernie’s Restaurant, located in East Grand Forks, MN, is Molly Yeh’s first brick-and-mortar location. The restaurant is named after Molly’s daughter, Bernadette, who is named after Nick’s great great grandpa Bernt (who came over from Norway and settled the Hagen farm) and Molly’s great grandpa Bernard (a Hungarian who found his way to New York).

The restaurant includes a bakery, café, and market, and includes brunch, lunch, and dinner menus. More brand applications coming soon! Follow along with the latest happenings at Bernie’s here.

Dala horse and menu board interior photos by Chantelle Lauren Photography

Art Crank

I was selected to be a poster designer for Art Crank Minnesota in 2016. Foil stamped at Studio On Fire. Available for purchase here

Icons and Logos

A compilation of marks from past and present clients.

Cascade Lodge

Cascade Lodge is location just off of Highway 61 in Northern Minnesota. The lodge was built on the North Shore in the 1920s; despite renovations to maintain the structural integrity of the cabins and main lodge, the original property and surrounding trails remain intact. The logo and brand identity represent landmarks in the area (in particular, Cascade Falls) and draw stylistic inspiration from old campground signage and wood-cut or lino-block linear style.

Learn more (or make a reservation) at https://cascadelodgemn.com/!

Book Design

I recently designed the full 208-page interior and exterior cover design for “The Ultimate Guide to the Witch’s Wheel of the Year.” (Documentation of interior pages coming soon!)

I additionally designed a full cover for Susan Tuttle’s book, “Green Witch Magick.” Available for pre-order now.

Client: Quarto Publishing Group.

Board Games

I partnered with a client to design art for their wooden board game sets. The theme is set around Minnesota lakes and shorelines. I also recreated the client’s family’s “JA” monogram that was passed down through generations, via a cattle-branding iron.

Red Wing Heritage

For over 110 years, Minnesota-based Red Wing Shoes has been exporting their meticulously-handcrafted footwear to the world. However, they have not produced footwear specifically tailored to women since the 1920's. That all changed in 2016 with the launch of the Women's Heritage Collection. We worked closely with the Red Wing brand team and Kate Arends of Wit & Delight to define and activate the collection’s visual and verbal positioning, culminating in a lookbook and catalog for the global launch of the product line.

CD: Dan Olson (Studio MPLS).

Book Design - Mezcal

Quarto Publishing Group was looking for a cover design for Mezcal: The History, Craft & Mixology Behind the World’s Most Ultimate Artisanal Spirit, authored by Emma Janzen. The cover design references traditional ingredients used in the making of Mezcal and features executional details inspired by Oaxacan art. The book is available at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. CD: Dan Olson (Studio MPLS).

Fish Poster

This poster was designed for Minneapolis’ Posters For Parks. Two color options for the poster available: foil on 40% post-consumer recycled paper in construction gray, the other foil printed on pewter paper. Both are available in my shop (pewter linked here). Part of all proceeds are being donated to MPLS Parks.

The Bachelor Farmer - Menus

I worked with the TBF team to design re-structured dinner and drinks menus (in Publisher format so the staff could make daily updates to the menu items). I also designed specialty menus for a Climate Reality vegan pop-up dinner featuring Former Vice President Al Gore; a New Year’s Eve prix-fixe menu; and the annual TBF Cafe’s Latte Art Throwdown.

Tabassum

 Tabassum produces fine jewelry and fashionable accessories made from sustainably-sourced natural materials from around the world. Named after the founder's spouse and business partner, Tabassum commissioned us to build their brand from scratch, activating key positioning and objectives through a high-end yet approachable visual brand language spanning identity, packaging, materiality, and photography style. Photography by Brent Schoepf. Renderings of brand applications / brand identity design by me. CD: Dan Olson (Studio MPLS).

State Park Series

The theme of this incoming series celebrates Minnesota State Parks. More to come!

Growler Magazine 2019

I was asked to design the cover of The Growler in 2019 for their “Kind of a Big Deal” issue. I was inspired to incorporate natural and man-made landmarks into a linework-driven illustration to span the length of the cover. The composition is pattern-like, weaving cities, landmarks, and breweries together around the state.

Crafts & Cocktails Year II

I was asked to design the Crafts & Cocktails poster for Tattersall Distilling's annually-hosted art fair. Digitally printed poster + applications for Facebook and Instagram.

Cafe Demitasse Packaging

This selection of beans was a small-batch, limited-edition holiday product, sold by Café Demitasse (California). Learn more about the company at cafedemitasse.com

Album Designs

A selection of record sleeve designs I’ve done for various clients.

Posters for Parks

Posters for Parks launched its first-ever show in October 2016, featuring posters inspired by Minneapolis parks created by local artists / designers. 50% of sales were donated to People for Parks. Black and copper two-color screen-print by Eric at Steady Co. I recently created a pin & pin-backer, to be sold later this year. 25% of profits from those sales will go to Mpls parks.
 

Duluth Trading Co. Icons

I developed an icon set for Duluth Trading Co.’s core line of men’s products. I worked with the internal design team to create the set based on the brand sector’s audience, product attributes, and aesthetic.

Portfolio 1-On-1®

AIGA Minnesota Portfolio 1-On-1® offers design students a unique opportunity to have their portfolios reviewed by professionals in the design industry. I was tasked with branding the event.

CD: Dan Olson (Studio MPLS)

Boreal

Boreal is a nonprofit organization that provides community information and local connectivity for residents and visitors of the Cook County region of northern Minnesota. Their team recognized a pressing need to modernize the organization's identity while elevating and expanding their visual language. The resulting identity system conveys a sense of legend and exploration, with a nod to the artisanship that is present in this creative community.

CD: Dan Olson (Studio MPLS)

Mono Rebrand

Mono may be located in the Midwest, but its attitude is that of cutting-edge ad firms in LA and New York. Mono’s brand ethos centers around simplicity; the rebrand aims to accomplish that via a restrained color palette, timeless typography, and a minimalist “M” monogram.

Digital Book Cover design

I designed this art for a client's digital book (part of a virtual travel app). The art celebrates the Wonders of the World.

Terah Wine Co. X Domestique Wine

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Nordlys Brand ID

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Ad Fed Best in Design: RIO Packaging

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Fresh Coast Film Fest

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Alto Pino

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The Lake and Stars

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Churchill St. Restaurant ID

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Grand Jeté

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Fika Coffee

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Cold Wave

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Bernie's Restaurant

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Art Crank

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Icons and Logos

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Cascade Lodge

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Book Design

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Board Games

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Red Wing Heritage

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Book Design - Mezcal

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Fish Poster

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The Bachelor Farmer - Menus

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Tabassum

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State Park Series

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Growler Magazine 2019

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Crafts & Cocktails Year II

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Cafe Demitasse Packaging

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Album Designs

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Posters for Parks

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Duluth Trading Co. Icons

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Portfolio 1-On-1®

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Boreal

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Mono Rebrand

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Digital Book Cover design

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