99 Cents
Only Stores

Oct 2017 – May 2019

Agency: Meaningful Works
Creative direction: Eric Boisvert
Art direction: Youna Jang
Copywriter: Linda Birkinstock
Illustrator: Bryant Santamaria
Other designers: Maryia Bulka & Hera Cho
Photography: Jason Travis
Videographers: Tyler Evans & Tom Gault

Brand refresh, experience design, and campaign work for a beloved retail icon

99 Cents Only Stores was a premier deep-discount retailer that primarily carries name-brand consumable and general merchandise. With more than 350 stores in four states and two distribution centers in California and Texas, 99 Cents Only Stores became the leading extreme value retail chain in the Western United States.

During my time as an designer at Meaningful Works, I helped lead a brand refresh that reimagined everything from visual identity and store experience design to marketing campaigns, events, and seasonal promotions. My role spanned art direction, design systems, and creative strategy, bringing new energy to a legacy brand while staying true to its playful and accessible roots.

Visual identity system

The brand refresh focused on celebrating the iconic "99" and spotlighting the unexpected variety of products you’d never expect to find at a deep-discount retailer. We used the repeating 9s as a bold visual device—both to highlight low prices and as a playful container for our photography system.

The 99 also became central to the brand’s tone of voice, turning into both a noun and a verb with lines like “Do the 99” and “99 your everyday.” To amplify the sense of discovery, we leaned into a “treasure hunt” concept by replacing vowels with custom icons in headline treatments—adding a layer of surprise and delight to the shopping experience.

Store and experience design

As part of the brand refresh, store openings were reimagined to align with the updated visual identity. I led the design and development of in-store assets for new locations—including window graphics, signage, pricing systems, register displays, uniforms, shopping bags, and grand opening promotional materials. I also partnered closely with a production company to oversee execution, ensuring accurate production, on-site installation, and alignment with quality standards and timelines.

#GO99BANANAS experience

As part of the store grand openings, we launched a pop-up activation called GO 99 Bananas to spotlight the produce section—specifically highlighting bananas as a key gateway product. The event featured free banana-strawberry smoothies, recipe cards, photo ops with themed installations, banana dancers, games, shopping spree giveaways, and social media engagement. I led the end-to-end execution of the experience, from concept and design to on-site setup and event management.

99 Day

To celebrate 9/9 Day on September 9th, 2018, 99 Cents Only Stores partnered with Meaningful Works to host a playful, record-breaking celebration—complete with a Guinness World Record attempt, vow renewals, and interactive brand activations. I contributed by supporting the large-scale knolling installation, hero promotional video, and designing both print and digital assets to promote the event across channels.

Seasonal campaign promotional assets

Below are examples of seasonal campaign assets I designed across print and digital. We used the 9s as an invisible visual container—arranging products in a knolling style to create a playful, organized composition that reinforced the brand’s identity.