Iso Rabins / Independent creative direction
Branding & design.
I help people name their business, find the words for their website and figure out what the whole thing should look like.
I started doing this for my own projects, including forageSF and Forage Kitchen in Oakland. These days I also work with other people on theirs. Right now one of them is a coach.
01A home for food makers
Forage Kitchen
A shared kitchen in Oakland, built around the space and support I wished I’d had when I started.
The decision
I wanted people to see what went on in the kitchen.
When Matt and I started Forage Kitchen, I kept thinking about the space I wished I’d had. I worked with RVH on a drawing of the whole place, from the people cooking to the people sitting down to eat.
My role
Co-founder. Brand, founding story and creative direction. Illustration by RVH.
The logo
The colors
- Orange#F15823
- Navy#1E485A
- Red#EE3B33
Sampled from the cafe menu.
The words
This is the space I wish I’d had when I started my business.
Starting a business is a lonely endeavor.
CreditsBrand concept, founding story and creative direction by Iso Rabins. Community illustration by RVH. Co-founded with Matt Johansen.
02Wild food, close to home
forageSF
Wild food classes, dinners and a business built around helping people get to know the place they live through what grows there.
The decision
What happens on a wild food walk?
If you’ve never been foraging, you probably want to know where we’re going and what we might find. I put that on the flyer. The class photos show what a day out with us looks like.
My role
Founder. Brand, language and creative direction.
The logo
The colors
- Cream#FDF4D7
- Rust#955339
- Ink#1E1A11
Sampled from the live site.
The words
Wild food foraging in the Bay Area.
Private events. It’ll be a great day.
Press and numbers
CreditsI founded forageSF. This is an early flyer. The current classes are on forageSF.com.
03Small-business advocacy
Save Your Local
A campaign about COVID EIDL debt and the neighborhood places people don’t want to lose.
The decision
What if your favorite restaurant closed?
I wanted people to understand what COVID loans meant for a restaurant still paying one back. I wrote the page around a place you might eat, the people working there and a petition you could sign.
My role
Campaign creator and spokesperson. Landing-page argument and public framing.
The name
The colors
- Red#B03A2E
Sampled from the campaign page.
The words
Covid Loans are Closing Your Favorite Restaurant. Help Stop It.
Today let’s make one thing right.
CreditsCampaign by Iso. The live domain is unavailable, so this is a copy rebuilt from the archived site. Dates, petition targets and statements in the screenshot belong to that historical campaign; they are not current results.
Beyond food
I’ve also worked on community projects and software.
04Community projects + AI
Many Hands
A project with Dima that helps communities use AI to create something or crunch a huge amount of data, without having to set up the software themselves.
Wordmark
Mark
Tiles
Drawing
Drawing
Drawing
Drawing
The decision
What would you use AI for in your neighborhood?
Dima and I put that question at the top of the site. People can bring us an idea without having to know how to build it.
My role
Brand, language, creative direction and website. Co-created with Dima.
The colors
- Ground#F4ECD8
- Ink#17130F
- Red#E0432A
- Brown#594A3D
Type: Young Serif and Archivo.
From the site’s own stylesheet.
The words
Where would your community point AI?
You bring the what. We bring the how.
CreditsCo-created with Dima. This is an early project; the example campaigns on the site are demonstrations.
05An AI partner for small business
Fridays at Four
An AI partner for small business, built from an earlier community for people working on creative projects.
The decision
Someone to meet with on Friday.
Fridays at Four started with people meeting up to work on their creative projects. I chose a cover from Nick’s artwork for that group. Later I built an AI partner for small business under the same name.
My role
Founder. Brand, language and creative direction. Marketing artwork by Nick.
The original logo
The colors
- Terracotta#C97D60
- Paper#EBE4DD
- Ink#2F2A25
Sampled from the original community cover.
The words
Support for the creative mind.
Accountability without pressure.
What’s your next small step?
CreditsBrand, language and creative direction by Iso Rabins. Marketing artwork by Nick.
06Classes & community
Circle Space
A class and community project. Classes that help you be more you.
The decision
Classes that help you be more you.
I wrote that line for Circle Space. We used it under the logo and on the banner.
My role
Brand creation, language and creative direction.
The colors
- Orange#FF8F4B
- Yellow#F0C74D
- Amber#F1BC52
- Sky#9AD3DA
- Teal#3499A4
- Deep teal#055169
Sampled from the logo.
CreditsBrand creation, language and creative direction by Iso Rabins. Original artwork from the Circle Space archive.
Four things I do
How I work.
- 01
Start with someone who’s never heard of it.
For forageSF, that was a person who’d never been foraging. The goal was for them to understand what they’d do and feel comfortable joining.
Wild food foraging in the Bay Area.
Jump to forageSF - 02
Say it in ordinary words.
On Many Hands, the language explains the setup in ordinary terms.
You bring the what. We bring the how.
Jump to Many Hands - 03
Show people doing it.
Forage Kitchen shows people cooking, teaching and eating together. You get the idea before you read the explanation.
This is the space I wish I’d had when I started my business.
Jump to Forage Kitchen - 04
Give them something to do.
On Save Your Local, the headline explains what’s happening and the petition gives people something to do.
Covid Loans are Closing Your Favorite Restaurant. Help Stop It.
Jump to Save Your Local
Working together
What are you building?
Maybe you’re opening a place and need a name. Maybe you’ve been at it a while and the website still doesn’t sound like you. I’d like to hear what you’re working on.
Book a 30-minute introIf you already have a menu, flyer or website, bring it along.
- 01The brand
- What it’s for, who it’s for and what to call it.
- 02The language
- The story, the website copy and words you’d actually say.
- 03The design
- Logo, colors, creative direction and the pieces you use every day, like menus, flyers and your website.