Brand 'Scentscapes': 100 Days by Julia Taylor-Brown

100 Days is an annual project at New York City’s School of Visual Arts that was founded by Michael Bierut. Each year, the students of the school’s Masters in Branding Program spend 100 days documenting their process with a chosen creative endeavor. This year, we’re showcasing each student in the program by providing a peek into ten days of their project. You can keep an eye on everyone’s work in the SVA 100 Days projects gallery.

Julia Taylor-Brown builds culturally resonant brands, weaving vision into identities with emotional depth and enduring presence. For her 100 Days project, Taylor-Brown applied the chemistry and artistry of perfume science to ubiquitous brands, from the beloved to the infamous.

In her own words:

“Scentscapes examines brands through olfactory notes, drawing connections by asking: If brands are created in the mind, and scent is the strongest link to memory, what would a brand’s fragrance be?

Just as a perfume is composed of layered notes that unfold over time, Scentscapes follows a similar structure, exploring a brand’s top notes (immediately recognizable characteristics), heart notes (elements that emerge after the top notes fade), and base notes (those that outlast the top and heart notes, leaving a long-term impression).

Each exploration culminates in an AI-generated imagining of the Scentscape, transforming a brand’s abstracted essence into a tangible, sensorially branded experience where identity, connection, and design converge.”