About the client

Elephant Watch Portfolio is an umbrella “company” under which the famous Elephant Watch Camp, Olerai House and the newly formed Bespoke Safaris lie. It is a family business run by very passionate people who have worked constantly and tirelessly to save the elephant populations within Kenya. The family I am talking about is none other than the Douglas-Hamilton family. As you probably know, Iain Douglas-Hamilton is known worldwide for forming the Save The Elephants (STE) organization under which a lot of elephants in Samburu National Reserve were monitored, tagged and protected. His wife – Oria Douglas-Hamilton – is not any less famous. She has single-handedly built the Elephant Watch Portfolio empire which is now being run by Saba Douglas-Hamilton and Dudu Douglas-Hamilton.

About the design work

In 2015, I was approached to design an invitation card for their fundraising which was to take place in the USA, and business cards and a flyer that were to be handed out to potential donors, and logos for the overall umbrella company i.e. The Elephant Watch Portfolio and the newly-formed Boutique Safaris.

Based on the logos for Olerai House and Elephant Watch Camp, I designed the other two to look very clean and sophisticated. Again, earthy colours were used as the clients were rather keen on sticking to the colour theme that was set a few years ago. As their family is extremely talented in photography, I was able to incorporate quite a large amount of professional and eye-catching photos to enhance their portfolio.

After this task was complete, they then requested that I design their administration documents, i.e. letterheads, email signatures, receipt books, booking vouchers, etc. and they also wanted me to design a fact sheet for them which included in-depth information about the products in their portfolio. Having completed these, I was then invited to design their landing pages and update their current websites – Elephant Watch Camp and Olerai House – and also design the welcome pack that they place in all the rooms of their properties.

The websites were completed and they have had a 200% increase in bookings ever since. I am truly proud to have had the opportunity to work on this project and honoured to be part of the work that the Douglas-Hamilton family does. I wish them all the best for the future.