GrownPups
A brand that challenged how people think about senior dogs by asking one question: if experience is valued everywhere else, why not in dog adoption?
Context
Academic Project, Loyola Marymount University
Discipline
Brand Strategy & Visual Design
Role
Creative Director
Design Timeline
fall 2019
Tools
Illustrator, Photoshop, Facebook Ads Manager
Insight
Senior dogs are adopted at less than half the rate of puppies, often because adopters assume they've already had their chance to bond with someone else. We saw a disconnect. In almost every other part of life, experience is seen as an asset. We wondered why that thinking disappeared when it came to dog adoption.
Brand Idea
We built GrownPups around a single insight: if experience is valued everywhere else, why not in dog adoption? Instead of asking people to feel sorry for senior dogs, we celebrated what made them special. Working alongside local shelters, we created personalized resumes that used humor, puns, and personality to reframe age as a strength rather than a drawback, giving prospective adopters a fresh way to connect with their future companion.
As Creative Director, I led the creative vision from concept through execution, developing the brand identity, visual system, and campaign across adoption materials, merchandise, and social.
Bringing the Brand to Life
Partnering with Petspace
We partnered with Wallis Annenberg Petspace to bring GrownPups into a real adoption setting. We created personalized resumes for every senior pet in their shelter and distributed them at their Senior Pet Adoption Event, where 200+ resumes were shared with prospective adopters.
Building community at LMU
We brought the brand directly to students through an interactive campus activation, selling GrownPups merchandise and sharing stickers to spark conversations around senior pet adoption. The event generated 100+ sticker handouts and 15 shirt sales, with LMU's therapy dog Buster making a memorable appearance.
Growing an online community
We extended the campaign through Instagram, building a community of dog lovers and testing paid social with a $30 budget. The campaign reached 17,000+ impressions and grew the account to 370+ followers in under a semester.
Impact
Reflection
GrownPups taught me that design can do more than communicate an idea. It can change the way people see a problem. By reframing senior dogs from overlooked to experienced, we shifted the conversation away from sympathy and toward admiration. That lesson continues to influence how I approach design today: how you frame a problem can be just as important as the solution itself.
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