Aesop, the brand storytelling agency, has plotted the complete brand story, created identity and collaterals for Lewaso Cottages, a new safari camp owned and operated entirely by the local Maasai people of Kenya’s Rift Valley Province. This charitable and sustainable project is scheduled to launch next year with profits ploughed back into the community to help fund the education of Maasai children.

Having plotted the brand story, Aesop created the identity, stationery, staff uniforms, merchandise, vehicle livery, advertising look and feel, brand guidelines and a website, which will go live later this year, when Lewaso Cottages is in a position to take its first bookings. When the camp is operational Aesop will help to roll out the branding to interiors in a sustainable and appropriate way. The A in Lewaso has been accentuated to represent a leaping Maasai warrior performing the tribe’s famous ritual dance, which has captured travellers’ imaginations for centuries.

Aesop executive creative director Martin Grimer says: “This was a wonderful opportunity to work on a very worthwhile project and to create something as colourful and characterful as the people running Lewaso. Bringing their story to life was a great experience, not least for one of our narrative planners who literally presented work to a group of warriors sitting around a fire.”

Photo: Lewaso brand identity created by Aesop