Best of 2024: Brand Activations
Creating memorable experiences at special events through live calligraphy and engraving
Events
2024 brought so many opportunities for me to connect with brands and create unforgettable experiences for guests. When I first began my calligraphy journey, I never imagined that my skills would expand beyond in studio work. In 2024, through calligraphy, bottle painting, hot foil, and engraving services, I helped brands produce over 30 impactful events. Some of these prestigious brands include Pixi, Rare Beauty, GLAAD, Diptqyue, Sol De Janeiro, and Jo Malone.
As I reflect on 2024, some events definitely stood out to me. Below you will hear about some of my favorite brand activations and it might help stir some ideas on how we can work together to make your event shine:
Tiktok’s Olaplex Event
Tiktok’s Olaplex event welcomes influencers and other special guests with a glitzy, glamorous space filled with gold, black, and red decor and accents of white florals by Cristina’s Flowers. The absolutely stunning design was executed by the extremely talented Los Angeles based planner Marjorie Yan of 329 Events. The special guests were gifted a beauty experience that included a hair station, nail station, and make up station. Upon entering, they were handed their goodie bag filled with Olaplex’s best products, including their hair oil, which were personalized via calligraphy by me.
2. Kaitlyn’s Bat Mitzvah
This event was special as it was the first bat mitzvah I ever experienced and it did not disappoint. The grand celebration took place at the Waldorf Astoria in Beverly Hills. The event space was filled with metallic pink disco balls and fuschia, pink, and red floral arrangements that reached the ceiling.
The girlies were gifted jewelry boxes that included two bracelets and I personalized the faux leather box with hot foil. To make each piece a little more fun, we personalized the jewelry box with a name and an illustration: flowers, hearts, or leaves. Guests were given the options to also choose the foil color of silver, gold, or my personal favorite, rose gold.
3. Pixi’s 25th Birthday Celebration
Pixi is a brand that I loved over the years and meets my personal requirements when it comes to beauty products I use: they are cruelty free. Fellow calligrapher Rancy and I teamed up for this event in the hills of Hollywood. The special guests and influencers selected the blushes and bronzers to include in their custom make up palette, which we personalized in calligraphy with gold ink.
The event was just as magical as can be with fairies dressed in the Pixi’s signature mint green as they frolicked and pranced throughout the night. I even had the honor of meeting the founder: Petra Strand. I also got to fangirl while meeting Tolu from Netflix’s Perfect Match at the event.
4. Wags and Walks Annual Gala
Wags and Walks is a dog rescue, based in Los Angeles and Nashville, focused on saving pups from overcrowded shelters. If there is one thing to know about me, it is that I am a huge advocate of adopt don’t shop—seriously, if you want help on finding the right rescue pup for you, feel free to message me.
When Wags and Walks announced their 13th annual gala and called for sponsors, I knew this was something I wanted to be part of. For the event, I engraved metal pet tags for guests. They watched in awe and got their personalized piece in a few minutes. That’s the great thing about engraving: it is usually a very quick service and great for high volume events.
5. Rare Beauty event
I have been a Selena Gomez fan for decades and when I had the opportunity to work a Rare Beauty event, I was ecstatic. Rare Beauty has been on my dream client wishlist for years. And it wasn’t just any event, it was THE event! The Rare Beauty Impact Fund Benefit. This wonderful non profit, created by Selena Gomez herself, works to provide access to mental health services for youth globally.
One of my goals for 2024, was to give back to the calligraphers who had supported my business over the years by having some events that allowed me to bring on a team of artists. This event did just that. I assembled a team of 3 calligraphers, including myself, and we had a blast together personalizing Rare Beauty’s body and hair mist. In order to make sure the personalization was permanent, we opted to use hot foil instead of ink.
6. Sol de Janeiro x Sephora
A color palette of vibrant yellows, pinks, and oranges makes the Sol de Janeiro brand so much fun and I made sure to dress on brand in yellow paints and a beige top. Prior to the event, I painted some samples for Sol de Janeiro’s team and made sure that each painting took about 5 minutes to complete. The event was expected to be fast paced and high volume. It turned out to be a successful series of events and I painted over 120 pieces over 3 days at Irvine Spectrum and The Grove is Los Angeles. One of the best parts of personalizing gifts is meeting the people with unique names who can never find their names on premade items.
7. Kathy Hilton’s Hollywood GLAAD Party
This event was an absolute dream come true. A few years ago, I saw some calligraphers post an event at Kathy Hilton’s Holiday Pajama Party and I wanted to one day have the chance to work at one of her events. Well, the super talented calligrapher Queena of Created by Queena, invited me to part of her engraving team for Kathy Hilton’s Hollywood GLAAD Party. This event fulfilled two important things for me: so much excitement to get to see one of Kathy Hilton’s parties and second, being part of an event that supports the queer community. One thing that my business strives for is inclusivity and stand strong in my supports of the LGBTQIA+ community, BLM, and Stop APPI Hate.
The event was so festive and rooms were filled with Christmas trees, red and green balloons, full size nutcrackers, and even some handmade wreaths by Kathy herself.
Our team engraved Saratoga Water for guests to help them stay hydrated throughout the event. And some guests had some fun personalizations. Here are some of my favs:
Dont hurt me
Season regular—i really hope this manifests for her this year
Giving a fuck doesnt go with my outfit
A + K’s invitation suite gave guests the first glimpses of what to expect at their wedding. Invitations set the tone for weddings and upon opening the invitations, guests knew they would be in for a treat with a fun, beautiful black, tie event.
As always, I’m forever grateful for the brands, clients, event planners, and PR firms that trust me to be part of these amazing events.
Planning a brand or influencer event, wedding, birthday party, baby shower, or another special event?
Reach out through our contact form and let’s chat about how we can elevator your next event.
