Funix project
bouqEtc.
bouqEtc. set out to address a simple problem. Florists, nurseries, and wholesalers in Seattle throw away large quantities of beautiful flowers that never get sold. These flowers have value, yet most of them end up in the waste stream.
The goal was to design a brand and service that could rescue these remaindered flowers, turn them into something people would love, and make the entire experience feel intentional, artful, and sustainable. The system also needed to highlight bouqEtc.’s quirky personality and its commitment to the local ecosystem.
I developed a brand identity that presents each bouquet as a crafted object grounded in simplicity, shape, and found materials. The visual language reflects calm, curated beauty that contrasts with the chaos of the floral supply chain. I extended the system to the delivery experience, which operates through a team of bike couriers equipped with insulated cargo bikes. The packaging system uses fully compostable materials embedded with native Northwest plant seeds, creating a graceful end-of-life cycle for every bouquet.
bouqEtc. customers receive striking, artful bouquets at a fraction of florist prices, and the brand gives purpose to flowers that would have been discarded. The compostable, seed-embedded packaging turns wilting flowers into nourishment for new growth. The experience becomes a complete circle, from rescued stems to future plants, and the brand highlights the joy and sustainability of that cycle.
Funix
Research
Archetypes
The Busy-Bee
Description: People who have intense jobs, multiple children, or who are just very busy.
Motivation: They’re looking for fast, convenient solutions that simplify their lives.
Challenge: They need to trust a company enough to press the “buy” button without having to think too much about it.
Loves: Apple products for their simplicity and the ease of their shopping experience.
Hates: Shopping on Amazon and trawling through thousands of potentially fake reviews.
The Hero
Description: People who like driving change and trying new things. They want to make a difference.
Motivation: They don’t like feeling like consumers; the products they buy need to be innovative, not just novel.
Challenge: They have a natural distrust of consumer products and are ultra-conscious of generating waste.
Loves: Boutique, hand made, and buy-it-for-life products.
Hates: Single use plastics, ultra-cheap Temu novelty products.
The Skeptic
Description: People who loyal to their preferred brands and hesitant to try new things.
Motivation: Trust. Even if they don’t like their barber’s hair cuts, they keep going because it’s easier than finding a new one.
Challenge: They won’t try something new unless the incentives make it too good to pass up.
Loves: The familiar, the easy, the comfortable.
Hates: The confusing, the novel, the tech-driven.
Summary of findings
Insights
The biggest hurdle to overcome for bouqEtc. was marketing a lack of choice to a customer base that has become accustomed to an abundance of choice. Because bouqEtc. rescued flowers from multiple sources, part of its business model was that the customer did not get to choose their flowers and had to rely on the expertise of the picker.
One early solution was to allow the user a limited choice of their bouquet by filtering flower color and species according to what was appropriate for a given occasion.
After testing multiple options, we decided that the only choice the user would have to make would be the size of their bouquet.
We focused on marketing to make this lack of choice appealing, and user education to explain that we never arrange occasion-specific bouquets.
KVPs that became headlines
Customer journey map
Mid-fi mockups
Single product page mid-fi mockup
Brand positioning and strategy presentation deck
Hi-fi website mockup (mobile)