Positioning: vision, values and brand promises
Kaili Blues is a brand based on the Chinese film of the same name. The film is about a journey into the past, a sense of loss and silence — about deep melancholy.
This brand is a psychological self-help club. The «Kailish» mood is taken as a basis, and specific tools are offered to work with similar feelings. Not through complicated theories, but through simple rituals and questions.
Vision: turning personal melancholy from a heavy burden into the beginning of a conversation with yourself.
Positioning: Kaili Blues is a practical self—help community. It is based on rituals and questions (inspired by images from the film), allowing you to understand and live your complex feelings.
Brand values:
- Acceptance instead of denial. They don’t say «don’t be sad» here, but they teach you to be honest with any condition.
- Practice instead of theory. Specific steps are suggested: evening rituals, diary questions, simple actions.
- Beauty as a support. The created items (posters, badges) serve not just as decorations, but as reminders and support during a difficult day.
- Community without shame. Here you can talk about silence, sadness or emptiness and be heard.
Logo
The logo concept for Kaili Blues is built on the principle of adaptive integrity, where a single visual element dynamically transforms depending on the context of its use, while maintaining instant brand recognition. The foundation of the system is an expanded, full version of the logo — the Kaili Blues inscription, executed in a unique, memorable typeface. This version serves as the primary form and is used wherever a complete brand presentation is important: on printed materials, merchandise, and large-scale advertising.
All derivative forms are logically derived from this basic variant. A close-knit variant is used for computer or mobile app icons. The letters are placed close together, creating a compact yet legible symbol. This variant preserves the spirit of the main logo in a compressed space.
For the most minimal context—the browser favicon — a variation of the initials «K» and «B» is used. These letters aren’t abstract — they directly borrow their graphic features, serif shape, proportions, and character from the letters of the full name «Kaili Blues.» Thus, from the largest format to the smallest, the user sees not different characters, but a single entity that adapts like a living organism.
Complete graphic identity: moodboard, idea, color palette
In the movie Kaili Blues there is a reference to the «Diamond Sutra», an ancient text about wisdom and the illusory reality.
Important: it was in China that the first engravings appeared. And one of the earliest known engravings in the world is found in the Diamond Sutra scroll. Based on this historical and visual connection, the works use the effect of dots that gather and disintegrate. This is a direct visual metaphor: memories and feelings consist of individual particles of the past, which can form a picture and then crumble again.
To «make out» the melancholy from the film, key objects from the frames (disco ball, clock, buttons) are arranged on the poster like elements of a botanical illustration. As in such diagrams, each element of a plant has its own meaning and is a part of it, so these objects are the most important components of the film, revealing its mood. This is how this state becomes visible and understandable.
In the film Kaili Blues, melancholy dwells not in words but in things, for they are the protagonists of silence. These are not simply everyday objects, but canned feelings that remain unchanged while everything around them moves.
The old photo in the grandmother’s hands and her suitcase represent a quiet longing for what could have been, but never happened. The photo preserves the image of a love that is no longer there, and the suitcase retains an imperfect journey. The disco ball, which no longer illuminates anyone, and the cassette tape are like ghosts of past joy. The television and the humming fan are the backdrop to everyday emptiness, the soundtrack of anticipation. And the clock drawn by a child on the wall doesn’t move at all, as if internal time has frozen in this world.
All these objects, toward which the camera turns in the film, form the map of melancholy in Kaili Blues. These are things that have outlived events and now simply remind us of them, motionless and full of quiet meaning.
The brand’s color palette completely follows from the visual world of the movie Kaili Blues, where blue is the key and meaningful color. He is present in most scenes: in the river water, in household items, in the evening sky, creating a general atmosphere. Therefore, blue became the main color — a direct reference to the name and to the very essence of melancholy, sadness and the passage of time.
To balance the depth, a light blue is added — it’s like a flash of memory or a glimmer in this blue. Together with classic black and white, which provide clarity and graphics, these colors form a holistic and recognizable palette that conveys the mood of the film.
Movie poster
Thus, drawing on all of the above — from the philosophical connection to the ancient sutra and the technique of engraving to the analysis of melancholy objects and the film’s color palette — this poster was created. It doesn’t simply announce Kaili Blues; it becomes its visual essence, a material exploration of that special, «Kaili» melancholy.
Social media campaign: posts demonstrating brand and film communication
This series of posts is the practical part of a project where the film becomes a tool for self-help. Objects from Kaili Blues, which onscreen convey a quiet melancholy, become metaphors for self-analysis.
Each post offers a look at one such object — a watch, buttons, a disco ball — and asks a simple, personal question. This question functions as a ritual, a way to pause and reflect for a moment. You can answer silently, in a comment, or in a journal.
The most important thing happens in the discussion. When people see others responding to the same metaphor and question, a sense of not being alone in your experiences emerges. Understanding that your feelings are not unique or strange, but rather universal, lifts the burden of isolation. The goal of these posts is not to give advice, but to create an opportunity for honest conversation with yourself and a safe space for sharing. Through the film’s metaphors, one can learn to experience complex feelings rather than suppress them, and thus better understand oneself.
Branded products
Club Membership Products: visible signs of support.
This group includes everyday items: a T-shirt, a phone case, a tote bag, a sticker set, a shoe bag, and perfume. Their purpose is to make the invisible sense of belonging visible.
These aren’t just logo-emblazoned items. These are stylish signals for their own. Seeing such a T-shirt or a sticker on a laptop makes you realize, «There’s someone out there who feels the same way.» This reduces the feeling of isolation and transforms a personal experience into part of a collective identity. Items in this group say, «It’s not shameful. You’re not alone.»
Ritual Products: tools for practice.
These are personal items that help practice self-care and create rituals:
Notebook and pen — a basic tool for fasting, recording thoughts, and journaling. A space for self-reflection.
Soft tissue — a multi-layered symbol. It’s a practical item for crying (as a release for emotions) and a reminder of self-care.
Yoga mat — a fundamental space for mindfulness and life practices.
Sleep mask — a sleep care product that directly impacts emotional well-being.
Soothing herbal tea — a ritual drink for creating a pause, a moment of silence and physical relaxation.
Thermos — a companion for mindful pauses throughout the day. In our culture, carrying a thermos of hot water or tea is a habitual act of health care.
These actors thus translate ideas into concrete, tactile brand actions. They help make self-help a tangible goal, not an abstract idea.
Ultimately, the work on the Kaili Blues brand became a story about transforming a complex emotion from film into concrete support. It ranged from a visual exploration of melancholy through posters and color to the creation of practical tools. These include signs of belonging that show you’re not alone and ritual objects that help you process these feelings. The brand built a bridge between the film’s atmosphere and real life, encouraging people not to suppress their feelings but to explore them through beauty, questions, and simple actions, thereby creating a safe space for honest self-talk.
The Diamond Sutra says, «The past is unknowable, the present is unknowable, the future is unknowable.» Live now, be who you are, and enjoy, enjoy, and enjoy again.
