With Love | Brand Communication Strategy
Communication theory in the field of design
The study of communication theory highlights its relevance beyond abstract analysis and demonstrates its practical value within contemporary design practice. This project approaches theory not as a detached academic framework, but as an active tool for shaping meaning, structure, and ethical positioning in branding.
The development of the «With Love» brand serves as an example of how communication theory can inform design decisions in contexts where sustainability, cultural meaning, and user participation intersect. Positioned at the intersection of sustainable fashion, emotional storytelling, and participatory consumption, «With Love» is understood not only as a second-hand retail space, but as a communicative platform in which clothing functions as a carrier of cultural meanings, personal memories, and shared values.
From this perspective, communication theory provides designers with conceptual tools for thinking about how meaning is constructed and interpreted. The project is informed by Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm and Stuart Hall’s Encoding and Decoding Model, which together emphasize storytelling, interpretation, and the active role of the audience in the communication process. These theoretical approaches support an understanding of branding as an interactive system rather than a one-directional transmission of messages.
Using «With Love» as a case study, the project suggests that communication theory can function as a practical foundation for creating meaningful, coherent, and ethically responsible brands. By prioritizing openness, participation, and interpretive flexibility, design can facilitate dialogue and engagement, reinforcing the role of communication theory as an integral component of contemporary brand design.
Presentation for a general audience
Packaging for «With Love»
We believe that clothing can live more than one life. That is why we created With Love — a second-hand brand built on creativity, care, and shared value.
With Love is not just a place where you buy clothes. It is a space where things move from one story to another. If you have clothes, shoes, or accessories that you no longer wear but that are still in good condition, you can bring them to us. Our team carefully evaluates each item, and in return you receive bonus points. These bonuses can be used to buy other second-hand pieces in the store at a discounted price.
We know that many people keep unused items at home — things that once mattered, but now simply take up space. Instead of throwing them away and adding to environmental pollution, With Love offers an alternative: give these items a second life and pass them on to someone who will truly appreciate them.
Posters for «With love»
With Love, Аgain.
Our system is simple and transparent. You bring an item, we assess its condition and quality, bonus points are added to your account, and the item becomes part of the With Love collection — ready to be discovered by someone else. In this way, every participant becomes part of a shared creative process.
With Love is for you if you want to dress well without spending too much. If you care about quality but don’t want to waste money on things that quickly lose their relevance, you are in the right place. We speak to those who enjoy fashion and trends, but understand how fast they change. If you love shopping, enjoy discovering unique pieces, and value practicality, sustainability, and smart choices, With Love was created for you.
Parcel locker for «With Love»
Website for «With Love»
Socks for «With Love»
With Love is about making mindful fashion feel easy and accessible.
We want you to feel confident and creative, even if you are shopping on a budget. Here, you can experiment with your style, try new looks, and wear good-quality clothing without pressure or overpaying. Our goal is to grow With Love into an open and welcoming second-hand space where everyone can find something that truly feels right — a piece with character, a past, and the chance to begin a new story.
Box for sneakers for «With Love»
Sneakers for «With Love»
We know how good it feels to find something special for a fair price. Here, shopping is about smart choices, not impulse buying.
Hoodie for «With Love»
Beanie for «With Love»
And finally…
We believe that good things don’t end when they stop being new. Clothes can live more than one life, carry more than one story, and still feel right. With Love was created for those who choose thoughtfully. For those who care about style, but don’t want to overpay. For those who enjoy searching, discovering, and making fashion their own.
We see second-hand not as a compromise, but as a conscious and creative choice. A way to dress well, respect the planet, and stay true to yourself — all at the same time. Every piece here once mattered to someone. Now it’s ready to be chosen again, worn again, and loved again. With Love is a space for sharing, rethinking, and continuing stories.
Style is not about being new — it’s about being meaningful.
Presentation for a Professional Audience
From a design perspective, we developed «With Love» as a communication-driven brand system rather than a purely visual identity. Our intention was to build a brand in which design functions as a tool for meaning-making and interaction, not only as decoration or promotion. The conceptual foundation of the brand is based on the Creator archetype, which informed both strategic and visual decisions.
Brand archetype: Creator
We chose the Creator archetype to reflect the idea of transformation and active participation. Within the brand, this archetype is expressed through several key principles:
1. Giving existing objects a second life instead of producing new ones. 2. Encouraging personal styling, reinterpretation, and experimentation. 3. Positioning the customer as a co-author who contributes to the ongoing brand narrative.
In this sense, the brand is not finished or closed: it evolves through the actions and choices of its users.
Logo for «With Love»
Communication strategy and audience segmentation
The communication strategy of «With Love» is grounded in an interpretive and semiotic approach. We designed visual and verbal elements to function as open symbols rather than fixed messages. This allows the brand meaning to remain flexible and context-dependent, enabling different users to project their own values, experiences, and interpretations onto the brand.
Rather than relying on explicit or didactic messaging, we focused on creating a communicative environment that invites interpretation and emotional engagement.
Logo guidelines for «With Love»
Design guidelines for «With Love»
In our communication strategy, we distinguish between two main audiences: 1. The general audience, which is primarily engaged through emotional storytelling, atmosphere, and visual language. 2. The professional and design-aware audience, which we address through transparent systems, conceptual clarity, and ethical positioning.
This differentiation allows the brand to remain accessible while still maintaining theoretical and structural depth.
Visual language and value proposition
Corporate identity for «With Love»
The visual language was developed to support the core values of care, authenticity, and restraint. A soft color palette and tactile materials were chosen to create a sense of warmth and trust. The logo design remains minimalist in order to avoid over-commercialization and to support the idea of openness. Merchandise is designed as functional, everyday objects rather than promotional tools, reinforcing the brand’s practical and ethical orientation.
From a professional perspective, «With Love» can be understood as a participatory communication platform within the second-hand retail context. Here, design operates as a mediator between sustainability, personal identity, and emotional value, enabling meaningful engagement rather than passive consumption.
Tag design for «With Love»
The role of Communication Theory in shaping the With Love presentations
The development of the two «With Love» presentations was guided by different communication theories, each selected according to the needs and expectations of a specific audience. Rather than applying theory in an abstract way, we used it as a practical framework to shape tone, structure, and meaning-making processes.
Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm and the client-focused presentation
The presentation designed for the general audience was primarily informed by Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm, which views communication as fundamentally narrative in nature. According to this theory, people make sense of information through stories that feel coherent and meaningful within their personal experience.
This approach was particularly relevant for the second-hand context, where clothing already carries personal histories and emotional value. In the client-facing presentation, the brand is communicated through storytelling, emotional tone, and accessible language. Each item is framed as part of an ongoing story rather than as a static product, allowing customers to emotionally connect with the idea of giving clothes a second life.
By using narrative coherence and narrative fidelity, the presentation avoids moralizing sustainability and instead invites identification, care, and participation. As a result, second-hand consumption is presented as a natural, human, and emotionally engaging choice.
Stuart Hall’s Encoding and Decoding Model and the professional presentation
The presentation created for the professional and design-aware audience was shaped by Stuart Hall’s Encoding / Decoding Model, which emphasizes that meaning is not fixed by the sender but actively constructed by the audience. This theory informed how the brand’s design and communication system was explained to professionals.
In this presentation, we focused on how meaning is intentionally encoded through visual identity, tone of voice, and brand systems, while remaining open to multiple interpretations. Design elements such as color, typography, materiality, and layout are discussed as communicative tools that carry values and cultural meanings rather than as purely aesthetic choices.
By addressing professionals, we acknowledged that different audiences decode the same brand differently depending on their background, expertise, and context. This allowed us to present «With Love» as a flexible and open system, rather than a closed or prescriptive brand narrative.
Theoretical integration and outcome
Together, these two theories allowed us to develop differentiated yet coherent presentations. Fisher’s Narrative Paradigm supported emotional engagement and storytelling for the general audience, while Hall’s Encoding / Decoding Model provided a framework for explaining brand logic, openness, and interpretation to professionals.
Overall, communication theory functioned as a practical design tool rather than a purely academic reference. It guided how meaning was created, communicated, and interpreted across different audiences, reinforcing the idea that effective brand design emerges through interaction between creators, messages, and users.
Fisher, W. R. (1984). Narration as a Human Communication Paradigm. Communication Monographs.
Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/Decoding. In: Culture, Media, Language. London: Routledge.
Griffin, E. (2012). A First Look at Communication Theory. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Communication Theory: Bridging Academia and Practice // https://edu.hse.ru/course/view.php?id=133853 // (date of access: 12.12.2025).
https://portfolio.hse.ru/Project/178122 (date of access: 12.12.2025).
