Red Red Ruby
Summer Culinary Pop-Up — Vibrant event flyers that captured the energy of a seasonal lunch series and helped bring diners back for more.
Version 2 — Moody DIY (final design)
Client Need
Mary Dwan, a chef hosting a seasonal lunch pop-up for a popular Baltimore restaurant, wanted a flyer that felt like her — handmade, personal, and immediately recognizable to her audience. She also needed a piece that could perform well in Instagram’s fast-moving feed and stories, while aligning visually with the host restaurant’s popular account (14K followers). To succeed, the design had to:
Capture the tactile, immediate energy of her past creative projects
Stand out visually while blending seamlessly with the restaurant’s brand presence
Clearly communicate key event details so followers could see it, get it, and decide to attend in seconds
Challenge
We began with a bright, nostalgic poster concept — a clean, Herman Miller–meets–Endless Summer design using a childhood photo. Through testing early concepts, Mary and I recognized the event called for a darker, more immediate feel, so we collaborated on a moodier, hand-lettered design built around her own photography.
Creative Direction
Version 1 — Modern Nostalgia (initial concept)
Clean, Herman Miller–inspired layout with playful retro energy.
Used a childhood photo to capture warmth and personal history.
Balanced type hierarchy and color blocking for clarity and impact.
Version 2 — Moody DIY (final design)
Lo-fi, hand-lettered style echoing zines and show flyers.
Built around Mary’s own flash-lit rose photo taken at night.
Black and red textured backgrounds added grit and immediacy.
How the flyer appeared on Instagram:
Le Comptoir du Vin reshared the flyer on their Instagram Story (14K followers).
Mary’s collaborator, Christian Best, posted the flyer on their feed (678 followers).
Results
The DIY rose flyer was posted on Mary’s collaborator Christian’s account (678 followers) and reshared on Le Comptoir du Vin’s Instagram Story (14K followers).
Mary also created a flyer for the restaurant’s main feed grid to align seamlessly with their established visual style.
The pop-up was well attended, and the food received such positive feedback that Mary & Christian were invited back to host again the following month.
My designs gave her multiple viable directions and demonstrated flexibility to adapt mid-project — while still reaching her audience across channels.
This project highlights my range — from polished poster design to lo-fi DIY — and my ability to pivot quickly when client needs evolve.
It also shows how clear creative direction and quick iteration can amplify a pop-up’s reach and drive repeat attendance.
Scenes from the event, shared by Le Comptoir du Vin’s Instagram Story — helping amplify Mary & Christian’s pop-up to their 14K followers