GrownPups
A brand built around a simple idea: if experience is valued everywhere else, why not in senior dog adoption?
Client
Student led, LMU
Discipline
Brand & Marketing
Role
Creative Director
Timeline
fall 2019
Tools
Illustrator, Photoshop, Facebook Ads Manager
Context
Senior dogs are adopted at less than half the rate of puppies. The perception is that they've already had their life with someone else, that the bond won't be as strong. But people don't think that way about experience in any other context. We did.
Solution
We created GrownPups around a simple idea — if experience is valued everywhere else, why not when adopting a pet? Working with animal shelters, we produced personalized resumes filled with puns and personality, giving prospective adopters a ready made profile of their future companion and reframing age as a qualification rather than a drawback.
As creative director I led the brand identity from concept to execution, including the logo, t-shirt design, and the resumes. The logo features a sassy illustrated character and a tagline that captures the brand's spirit without taking itself too seriously.
Activations
Pet-working with Petspace. We partnered with Wallis Annenberg Petspace to create resumes for every senior pet in their shelter and set up a table at their Senior Pet Adoption Event. 200+ resumes were handed out.
In-person tabling at LMU. We tabled outside the library to sell t-shirts and hand out stickers to future pet adopters. LMU's own therapy dog Buster showed up, which didn't hurt. 100+ stickers handed out, 15 shirts sold.
Instagram paid social. We grew a community of dog lovers in under a semester and ran a paid campaign on a $30 budget that punched well above its weight, hitting 370+ followers and 17,000+ overall impressions.
Impact
What it moved
Reflection
GrownPups was the first time I saw a brand I helped build actually change how people thought about something. A semester is a short runway, but the work proved that a clear insight, a little humor, and a strong point of view can do real cultural work, not just look good in a portfolio.
It also taught me how much personality matters. A confident, humorous tone gave senior dogs a voice that felt aspirational instead of pitiable, and that reframe is what made the campaign land. That shift from sympathy to admiration carried more weight than any tagline or layout decision.
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