For Mike Potts, Creative Director at Saentys, this is where strong brands begin.

“Great brands are rarely the product of a single discipline. Strategy gives direction. Design creates meaning. Writing builds narrative. Illustration brings personality and soul.”

This vision was then translated into a visual language by Art Director Ben Vulliamy.

From the outset, illustration emerged as a natural way to express the identity of the project. Not as a decorative layer, but as an integral part of the brand system itself.

“Illustration allowed us to express something more organic, more alive and more expressive. It brought a sensitivity that couldn’t be achieved through more conventional visual codes.”

The resulting crest draws inspiration from the flora, fauna and spirit of discovery that define the Jardin Ocre experience. A visual language designed not only to identify the place, but to tell its story. Yet it is through the garden map that this collaborative approach perhaps finds its strongest expression. Rather than creating a purely functional wayfinding tool, the team saw an opportunity to extend the brand narrative itself.

This is where illustrator Lauren Marina joined the process. Her role was never simply to draw a map. It was to interpret a world that had already been imagined collectively and give it a new layer of depth and emotion.

“I wanted the map to feel both functional and emotional. Something that would bring a sense of calm and joy, while creating excitement about everything visitors could discover within the garden.”

What made the process particularly interesting was that the garden was still under construction.

Working from plans, botanical references and ongoing conversations with the team, Lauren had to visualise a destination before it fully existed. What could have been a constraint became a creative advantage. It encouraged everyone involved to think beyond physical elements and focus instead on the experience the destination would ultimately create.

And perhaps this is where the true value of collaboration lies. When strategy is combined with strong creative direction and enriched by an external talent’s interpretation, a project gains depth. It becomes more than the sum of its individual parts.

For Mike, this is one of the most powerful aspects of creative collaboration.

“Lauren brought something that a more conventional approach could never have achieved: emotion. A sense of wonder. The feeling that there is always something else to discover around the next corner.”

A successful collaboration is not about adding an artistic signature to a project.

It is about revealing dimensions that may otherwise remain hidden. Offering a new perspective. Expanding the original idea and enriching the brand narrative.

When approached as an extension of brand strategy, collaboration does more than transform a piece of communication or a campaign. It transforms how a destination is perceived, understood and ultimately experienced.