Mangrove Surf Company

Building a family-run coastal apparel brand with a clear point of view, from its first mark and product line to the store, campaigns, and give-back model.

Visit Mangrove Surf Company

01 · The assignment

Make a small surf brand feel rooted.

Mangrove began as a family project with my son: a coastal apparel brand shaped by St. Augustine, the water around it, and the people who stay close to both.

We needed more than a logo and a few shirts. The work had to become a usable identity, a product point of view, an online store, and a steady way to release new ideas without losing what made the brand feel local.

02 · The identity

A mark that could hold the whole idea.

The mangrove tree gave the brand its center: coastal, resilient, and held in place by a root system most people never see.

From there, the visual language could stay loose and expressive. Muted coastal colors, hand-drawn lettering, and detailed illustration gave each release its own character while the larger story stayed recognizable.

Hope collection anchor and octopus illustration on a gray shirt — Fig. 02One story carried across front and back

First Waves surfer illustration with Florida landscape details — Fig. 03Local history and surf culture in one frame

03 · The collections

Give each release a reason to exist.

Collections became the working rhythm of the brand. A phrase, place, or piece of local history could become an illustration, then move across shirts, hats, hoodies, photography, and campaign language.

Front of the gray Hope collection shirt — Fig. 04Hope collection · front

Florida illustration printed on a sand-colored shirt — Fig. 05Florida as subject, not backdrop

Come to Life campaign shirt photographed at the Castillo de San Marcos — Fig. 06Campaign story placed in St. Augustine

04 · In the landscape

The place had to remain visible.

The photography keeps the clothes close to the coast, but avoids turning the work into generic surf imagery.

Mangrove lighthouse shirt photographed near the Castillo de San Marcos — Fig. 07The lighthouse shirt, photographed where it belongs

Surfer carrying a board in a Mangrove shirt — Fig. 08Made to be worn, not displayed

Mangrove shirt photographed among palms near the beach — Fig. 09A quieter side of the product line

05 · Built to continue

A brand the family could keep shaping.

The goal was never to make Mangrove dependent on one person’s taste or attention. It was to give the next generation enough structure to make good decisions and enough room to make the brand their own.

My son leads the company now. New products and campaigns continue to come from the same foundation, while three percent of every sale supports mental health, foster families, and the coastal community through the Ripple Effect.

Surfer wearing a Mangrove I Have This Hope hoodie — Fig. 10A message that became part of the brand

Family-run built to move into its next generation

23k+ people following the work

3% of every sale committed to the Ripple Effect

Mangrove Florida hoodie photographed in beach grass — Fig. 11The system still making room for new work

Next File · No. 06 Penguin Packaging