Building a Brand Around the experince

Beach & Beyond Custom Excursions (B&BCE) is a small, independently operated excursion and transportation business based in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. The company offers airport transfers, private transportation, excursions and custom experiences designed around what travelers want to see and do.

The business has a clear advantage: B&BCE isn’t trying to compete with local large tour operators. Its strength is the owner’s lifelong local knowledge and personal experience—the flexibility and ability to build an experience custom-built around the client’s interests and requirement.

The challenge was expressing those qualities visually and creating a professional identity that could support a growing business.

The brand identity needed to communicate more than tourism in Costa Rica. It needed to convey personal service, local knowledge, reliability and a sense of discovery without falling into the familiar visual clichés of the travel industry.

There was also a practical challenge. The identity had to work across very different applications—from a website and social media to business cards and printed promotional assets.

The result needed to feel approachable and authentic, while building up the owner with a strong visual presence and the credibility of a more established company.

Before developing the visual identity, the business needed a name that could establish its personality and leave room for the company to grow. I explored names that would communicate both the destination and the broader range of services, ultimately arriving at Beach & Beyond Custom Excursions. “Beach” reflects the immediate appeal of Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, while “Beyond” suggests that the experience extends beyond the beach to include inland excursions, local culture, nature, transportation and custom experiences. “Custom Excursions” clearly communicates the company’s more personal approach to travel.

I started by looking at what made Beach & Beyond Custom Excursions different, rather than trying to make it look like a typical Costa Rican tour company.

The identity was built around the idea of “Seeing Costa Rica Your Way”—a more personal alternative to standardized, one-size-fits-all tourism.

I developed a visual language that could balance the relaxed character of Costa Rica with the professionalism people expect when booking transportation and excursions in another country.

The goal was to establish a consistent visual foundation that could carry the brand identity across digital, social and print communications.

One of the most important parts of the project was creating consistency across the many ways clients encounter the business.

The website became the primary hub for communicating the range of services, while supporting graphics and printed materials extended the identity into the real-world travel experience.

Photography plays an important role in the system. Rather than relying entirely on generic tourism imagery, the design gives space to the actual places, people and experiences that define the business.

The small details—typography, design elements, photography, layout and the treatment of information—were used to make the brand feel cohesive while keeping the communication straightforward.

Working on Beach & Beyond underscored how much context matters in design.

A travel industry brand can easily become a collection of predictable visual cues—palm trees, sunsets, tropical colours and beaches. Those things may communicate Costa Rica, but they don't necessarily communicate this particular business.

The more useful design question was: What makes this experience different?

The answer was the personal nature of the service offered by the owner. The design became stronger when it focused less on representing Costa Rica and more on representing how B&BCE tailors clients’ interests to deliver an exceptional people experience.

It also demonstrated the value of designing a system rather than a single piece. A logo can establish recognition, but a coherent visual language is what allows a small business to look consistent and established wherever a client encounters it.

The biggest influence was the environment itself—Guanacaste's beaches, landscape, wildlife and relaxed pace—but the goal wasn't to reproduce those elements literally.

I was more interested in the feeling associated with traveling through the region: discovery, openness, connection and anticipation.

I also looked at the local travel/transfer landscape to understand the visual conventions that dominate the category. That helped identify where B&BCE could fit naturally while still having a personality of its own.

Ultimately, the strongest influence was the business itself: a local operator offering a more personal alternative to the large, standardized tour experience.

• Brand naming and positioning

• Brand identity development

• Logo design and visual identity system

• Colour palette and typography selection

• Brand messaging and tagline development

• Website design oversight and content creation

• Provided guidance and website page structure to website building partner

• Photography selection from online sources

• Sourced personal photography library and utilized across formats as required

• Icon and graphic-element development

• Marketing and promotional materials

• Business cards and printed collateral

• Developed vehicle graphics and van branding (for future installation)

• Bilingual English/Spanish marketing materials

• QR code graphics and applications

• Ongoing visual and messaging consistency across brand touchpoints

• Ongoing correspondence with client, project coordination and day-to-day communication

• Coordination with local suppliers and business partners, ensuring steady workflow and delivery of assets when required

• Establishing WhatsApp group chats for project communication and project status

• Ongoing WhatsApp chats and Zoom meetings as required from Toronto to Costa Rica