California Riviera.

Brand Reinvention and Guidelines
Style Guide
Graphic Design
Art Direction
Campaign Creation
Packaging Design
Retail Design

The Tension.
Summer Fridays had grown up faster than its look. A viral sensation since the Jet Lag Mask arrived at Sephora in 2018, it had become one of the most loved names in skincare. But its customers were maturing, investors were circling, and a palette its own team described as "candy shop" no longer matched the brand it had become. It needed to grow up without losing the audience that made it.

The Insight.
Summer Fridays was never really about skincare. It was about a single emotion: the feeling of summer, the long, unhurried ease of a summer weekend. So we gave that feeling a place. California Riviera brings the timeless sophistication of the French Riviera to the sun-soaked ease of California, a world that already exists in the collective imagination.

The Decision.
Evolve, never erase. With dupes multiplying, the brand had to stay instantly recognisable on shelf, for its customers and for its legal protection. So we kept what people loved and refined everything around it, making Jet Lag Blue the brand's signature and building a considered family of colour around it.

The Discipline.
Every element was reconsidered, so that nothing about the brand felt incidental. Futura replaced the type for a cleaner, more contemporary hand, the logo was tightened, and Jet Lag Blue grew into a full family of colour. A secondary wordmark, L'Été Éternel, now carries the brand's romance and is embossed on every SKU.

The Work.
The complete brand and style guidelines: logo evolution, graphic design system, art direction, tone of voice and packaging. We introduced the Pinyon script, the towel stripes and the icons that are now synonymous with Summer Fridays. The Jet Lag Mist campaign followed as the first full expression of the new brand, shot over four days in Cuixmala, Mexico, with photographer Amanda Charchian. Alongside it came all retail concepting for Sephora, from end caps to full bays, fabricated with Rapid Outform, and redesigned gifting and shipping boxes.

The Effect.
The campaign ran on the Sunset Strip, in Times Square, Toronto and the London Underground, and in Sephora stores worldwide. In 2024, the year of the refresh, Summer Fridays jumped five places to become the number one skincare brand by market share at Sephora, and TSG Consumer Partners took a majority stake (WWD, YipitData). It held the top spot in 2025, with seven of Sephora's top ten skincare products and double-digit global retail growth. Forbes described a beauty powerhouse that has evolved across five categories, all tied together by a single emotion, the feeling of summer, and concluded that Summer Fridays had "transformed emotional branding into business scale."

Perhaps the truest measure is what has happened since. Summer Fridays, Sephora and the brand's partners have held to the guidelines without drifting, and the work they make today is work we are proud of too. A brand others can carry this faithfully is one that was built to last.

"His strategic approach, thoughtful stakeholder sessions, and sharp design perspective elevated the brand..."

Blair Badge, SVP Marketing, Summer Fridays. [Read the full reference]

My role.
The founders brought the brief to me in 2024. Summer Fridays had no creative team of its own, so SG Cartel became its creative department. I set the strategy and creative direction, created the California Riviera world, and co-led the Cuixmala shoot, from concept and casting to shot lists and art buying. The brand has since built its own creative team. Made with Alex Bones, Stuart Hall and Alex Molyneux; Amanda Charchian; Work by Holiday, Rapid Outform and King & Partners; and the Summer Fridays marketing team.