Live the life you always wanted, BE that virgin on fire.

Founded in 2020, Virgins on Fire Candle Co. is a small LGBTQ+ business that creates a variety of authentic, handmade, high-quality, community-driven, and fun candles. Each candle is often accompanied by witty titles like “Condescending Barista” and “F*** It, I’m Buying a Cabin.” The brand aims to spark an emotional connection with customers, whether by making them stop and think, “I need this,” or by inspiring them to give a candle as a heartfelt gift that says, “I see you, I love you.”

However, the names of the candles often get more attention than the brand itself–the brand loyalty became secondary to just making people pick up the candle, laugh, take a picture, and walk away. The challenge was to turn the laughter into a deeper, more meaningful connection that extends to the purchase itself and the brand loyalty. 

With this in mind, I was asked to refresh the brand identity to better convey the brand’s core values, highlight the quality of the candles, and tell the brand's unique story in a more compelling way.

In the brand refresh, I carried over the bold and humorous spirit while refining the visual identity by redesigning the logo, creating a new label template, and cleaning up the language and overall strategy. Hand-painted textures were prominently used to reinforce the idea that “we are all work in progress,” and the label design includes elements that emphasize the LGBTQ+ nature of the business, their “Why”, and what it means to be a “Virgin on Fire.”

As part of the refresh, I created a series of “Flame Man” illustrations to represent the brand’s key scent profiles: Floral, Earthy, Clean, Musky, Sweet, Citrus, Holidays, and Pride. Each scent category has its own unique “Flame Man” character. For example, the Floral holds a flower, the Earthy Flame Man wears a park ranger hat, the Holidays is surrounded by snow (a fun twist for a flame to be in the snow!), and the Pride waves a rainbow flag. While the logo maintains a bold, hand-painted texture, the Flame Man and primary typeface are more polished to work better in digital environments. 

These Flame Man illustrations bring a fun, engaging element to the brand while serving as a clear guide to the various scent categories. Designed to be used across packaging, social media, and digital platforms, they create intimate connection and brand loyalty, working as a unique differentiator from other existing brands. Additionally, the Pride Flame Man is featured on the label,  with a bold statement that reads “This Candle Was Handmade by a Gay Man, Not a Multinational Corporation with a Rainbow Logo 30 Days Out of the Year.”