Le Botaniste (Student Project)

Designed by Katherine Stover
School: Savannah College of Art and Design
Country: United States

Le Botaniste is a flower and herb shop concept and my final project for my package design class. It caters to foodies and those looking for eccentric flower arrangements.

While collecting images for research, I looked to my own photographs of cosmopolitan cities like New York City, specifically the West Village, as well as cities in France, including Paris, Angoulême, and Aix-en-Provence. These cities host a mixture of tradition and innovation that reflects in their local businesses.

My initial idea for this project was to create and brand a modern flower shop. While researching possible names for this flower shop, I decided that this idea had been done enough. I knew I wanted something more, something that would meld the atmosphere of traditional European markets with the artisanal West Village environment.

As I embarked on researching flower arrangements, I was drawn to the unusual.
Many of the images I looked at I had never seen anything like them before. I liked the idea that, as opposed to other florists, Le Botaniste would produce each arrangement differently. While the overall materials might repeat, each bouquet or boutonniere would be unique.

In my search for unique florals, I came across the incorporation of herbs as an element in floral arrangements. Though not common, it seemed like a natural progression from unique flower shop to a flower and herb shop.

As a shop name, "The Botanist" lacked the personality I sought for my concept. Translating the name into French created a sense of sophistication and exotic flare that I was ready to embrace. I designed the logo to be strong but approachable, with a slightly scientific feel. The arc of the logo echoed that of many French storefronts I saw in my research.

I looked at various label designs for inspiration but especially enjoyed labels with some form of hand-writing or stamping. For my final labels, I decided to leave many areas blank to allow for an employee to fill in the information. This reinforces the marketplace feel that I was striving for. Adding the element of handwriting helps to prevent monotony with the brand as a whole. Each time something is written, in this case with a white paint pen, it turns out differently. From person to person, or even label to label, the hand-writing will change, bringing the brand to life.