GJYLIE’S VINTAGE SHOP
Objects with a past. Beauty for the future.
Overview
Gjylie’s Vintage Shop is a vintage and antique brand created for my mother, Meri Curani, whose collection has grown over years of visits to antique shops, markets, thrift stores, and dealers. Her collection spans jewelry, clothing, paintings, porcelain, crystal, and decorative objects selected for their craftsmanship, history, and individual character.
The brand is named in memory of her mother, Gjylie, transforming a personal collection into a living tribute to beauty, memory, and the objects we choose to carry forward.
Creative Objective
Create a distinctive visual and emotional identity that could unify an eclectic collection while preserving the individuality and history of each object.
Rather than position Gjylie’s as a conventional resale shop, I developed the brand around the idea of collecting: objects with histories, chosen thoughtfully and given another life.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Brand Strategy
Creative Direction
Visual Identity
Art Direction
Copywriting
Digital Strategy
Social Media
I developed the brand concept, name treatment, visual identity, color palette, typography, photographic direction, editorial voice, website, social presence, and digital presentation.
SKILLS DEMONSTRATED
Brand Strategy
Creative Direction
Visual Storytelling
Art Direction
Identity Design
Editorial Design
Copywriting
Digital Strategy
Client Collaboration
The project required translating a deeply personal story into a cohesive brand system that could function across physical objects, digital platforms, photography, and editorial storytelling.
Creative Direction
The identity combines dusty rose, antique neutrals, ivory, archival black-and-white photography, and classic serif typography to create a world that feels nostalgic without becoming overly sentimental.
Gjylie’s portrait became an emotional anchor for the identity, connecting the contemporary shop to the woman whose memory inspired its creation.
Products are treated as collected objects rather than simply merchandise, using restrained compositions and editorial presentation to draw attention to craftsmanship, material, age, and detail.
BRAND PHILOSOPHY
Gjylie’s celebrates the idea that beautiful objects do not lose their value because they have been previously owned. Their histories become part of their character.
Each piece is selected not simply because it is old, but because it remains worth noticing, keeping, and passing forward.
Reflection
Gjylie’s challenged me to translate something deeply personal into a brand that could communicate beyond my own family.
It reinforced my belief that effective creative direction begins with understanding why something exists before deciding what it should look like. The resulting identity uses design not simply to sell objects, but to give memory, history, and personal storytelling a visual language.