Yolanda Santosa explains how her firm set about turning the Pinkberry brand from a single store and a logo into a national chain beloved by celebrities and groupies alike. The main tagline, “swirly goodness,” influences how they talk about the brand, even to the extent that employees are called “swirlers.” This informs everything from graphic design to store exteriors, interiors, and decoration. A fast-paced, swirling look into creating the Pinkberry brand and the challenges of staying on top in a sea of frozen dessert copycats.
Yolanda Santosa knew in high school that art was her calling when dissecting frogs, factoring prime numbers and interpreting Kafka failed to interest her. Graduating from Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design in 2000, Santosa launched her career designing main title sequences for film and television for yU+co, where she led notable projects for Desperate Housewives, An Inconvenient Truth and Zack Snyder’s 300. Despite her passion for motion graphics, she couldn’t seem to shake her fascination with branding. In 2006 she founded her own branding studio, Ferroconcrete. She landed the Pinkberry account, managing all brand and marketing strategies for the company. Ferroconcrete has allowed her to explore the loyalty people have to the brands that surround them. And she believes design applies to just about everything. Santosa has worked as an instructor at Art Center College of Design and is also an active guest lecturer. Her work has received worldwide recognition. She has been featured in several prestigious national and international publications and has earned over a dozen awards, including three consecutive Emmy nominations.
