Cultivate Urban Rainforest & Gallery


Branding a lush oasis, just a few miles outside of Chicago.

The Challenge

To brown thumbs, plants can be intimidating. (Our studio’s graveyard of air plants can attest to that.) Cultivate concepted their shop as a place where people of all thumb colors are welcome; a store that can help you pick out the perfect plant – from exotic to simple – that is best for your home and style. With curated gallery of nature-inspired artwork on the walls, classes to teach you everything from plant care to terrarium making, and event space to spare, Cultivate aims to make you feel at home while shopping for your own. Cultivate tasked Tiny Bold with bringing their ethos to life from the ground-up (literally!)

Photo of the Cultivate storefront

Logo Design

Cultivate balances curated work and plants with a small-town shop feel. No plant snobs here! Their logo and brand look had to match.

After an exploration period looking into everything from detailed vintage woodcuts to extremely minimal, we landed on our plant-inspired accented logo. Focusing on a logotype of bold type with a custom flourish conveys a modern, higher-end feeling that can stand strong against a backdrop of beautiful plants, while remaining neutral enough to not distract from the artwork on the walls.

Photo of the Cultivate store sign seen from the street
Photo of Cultivate product tags and stamps

Shop Collateral

With a small budget and extreme variables in sizes for pieces being sold, Cultivate wanted a flexible way to put their mark on things in the shop. A logo stamp was made in two different sizes, allowing the shop owner to order bags and price tags and brand them as needed. This helped twofold: it cut costs on ordering custom pieces, and reinforced the idea that everything – from choosing the plants, to selecting the artwork, to packaging the purchases – was done with a personal touch.

Photo of Cultivate product tags and other collateral

Website Design

With the shop coming together, the next focus was on Cultivate’s online presence. The space itself is jam-packed with nature and fun, while remaining elegant and welcoming. The responsive WordPress website was designed to fill the screen with what you’d find in the shop, balancing photography with custom illustrations that push the message of Cultivate: Plants, Art, and Community.

Photo of a screenshot from the Cultivate website
Illustrations created for Cultivate

What we did

Logo Design / Branding / Website Design / Website Development


“I really love the logo and branding work that I was able to achieve with Tiny Bold. I also enjoyed the experience of working with Alison, who was helpful, clear, and professional.”