Cheryl Li

Experiences, unwrapped


Client: Virgin Group
Year: 2024-2025
Role: Visual Designer
Team
Partner: Richard Swain
Creative Director: Alexis Sellal
Design Director: Emma Barrett
Senior Designer: Luke Winn
Mid Designer: Cheryl Li, Joey Nanni
Strategy Director: Chloe Jensen
Senior Strategist: Maddy Patterson, Shelby Williamson
Project Manager: Rachel Honigman
Freelance Designer: Paul Sparks, Andrew Golden
Motion: Chris Anderson
Copywriter: Peggy Afriyie
Researcher: Giulia MacGarr
Gifting is as old as humanity itself. It’s how we show gratitude. How we express care. How we celebrate each other. And yet… 53% of people get gifts they don’t want 1, and 71% feel anxious about giving them 2.

Virgin knows a thing or two about tackling unconventional problems like this one.

For decades, they’ve shaken up every market they’ve entered. In 2005, Virgin Experience Days joined the group in the UK with their marketplace offering thousands of experiences: flying a fighter jet, a VIP dinner with a Broadway star, a massage in a bamboo tiki garden. In 2021, they expanded to the US as Virgin Experience Gifts.

ResearchOver six weeks, we designed and conducted a robust quantitative and qualitative research process to understand the complex feelings associated with gifting. Over 100 people were surveyed, 30 people joined focus groups, and we conducted a handful of gifter-giftee paired interviews to dial in on relationship dynamics specifically.

One customer persona stood out among the rest, providing an insight that would power the work: Gifting is fuel for relationships. A chance to energize the bond between the gifter and giftee. To shake things up and to strengthen their relationship through the gifting moment.


StrategyFrom there, we distilled the opportunity that lay ahead for the brand: to deepen connections through unconventional gifting. A call to action was born: ‘Gift Anti-Ordinary’.

Anti-ordinary goes beyond Christmas and birthdays. This new approach reframes gifting around connection, not occasion. It guides how Virgin curates its offering. It expands use cases, driving more purchases and repeat customers. And it informs how the brand shows up in the world.

To mark this transformation, Further worked with internal stakeholders and the Board to merge the US and UK regional brands and align under one new name: Virgin Gifts.




Brand SystemThe design system was built through the lens of relationships, a contrast to Virgin’s transactional competitors. The system puts the gifter-giftee bond at the center, bringing them together at each step on the customer journey.

Our imagery reflected this: micro shots highlighting the gifter and giftee, macro shots featuring the experience itself. The art direction is candid and expressive, capturing how the experiences make you feel.

Much of the system embodies the spirit of “anti-ordinary”. Of course, the iconic Virgin red is at the heart of the color story, building association with the brand’s disruptive identity and capturing equity. A refreshed palette adds energetic neon pops.

Unconventional shapes flex across the system to create both functional and surprising frames. A new typographic system and suite of icons add character through unexpected embellishments and curves. Finally, a new logo of an opening envelope ties the system together with a subtle nod to a ribbon.










© CherylLi — 2026