100 Years of Winnie-the-Pooh
The Hundred Acre Wood has always felt like a place where the world slows enough to remember what matters.
This centenary project carried that feeling forward, shaping a legacy with care so its magical stories about a 'silly old bear' and his friends could be discovered again by the next generation of dreamers and readers.
Client: Farshore
Product: Global brand refresh
Agency: In collaboration with Micaela Alcaino
Contribution: Creative Strategy, Creative Direction, Market Positioning
Finding Our Way Through the Wood
The foundation of this project rested on a shared creative language with my twin sister, Micaela Alcaino. Her design practice shaped the visual identity. My work focused on how the story could stay deeply rooted in its legacy while meeting a present cultural landscape.
The strategy began by listening to what already lived inside the Hundred Acre Wood. The task was to build a framework that could sustain its character as it entered a new generation of readers and dreamers.
A legacy like this holds its own weight. Strategy offered a way to carry it carefully and with intention, so that the feeling people return to remains steady, even as the world around it shifts.
Among Familiar Friends
This work required a clear understanding of the literary landscape in which Winnie-the-Pooh continues to live. The story shares space with works like Paddington Bear, Peter Rabbit, The Tiger Who Came to Tea, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse. Each of these titles carries history and speaks to readers in the present.
The positioning work focused on understanding where Winnie-the-Pooh sits within this landscape and how it can hold its space with ease. Colour became a guiding element. It grounded the brand in its heritage while opening a doorway for contemporary audiences.
Market positioning became an act of orientation. It gave form and clarity to how the story could be seen without reshaping its essence.
A Balloon in the Sky
Micaela shaped the design with care, respecting the illustrations of E. H. Shepard. My role was to hold the strategic frame around this work, allowing every visual decision to grow from a shared foundation.
The centenary mark drew on an image already known to readers. Pooh holding a balloon became part of the “100.”
A Story That Travels Well
The design language was built with time in mind. It was created to move across formats, meeting new readers without losing its texture. The colour palette carried warmth that connected both heritage and present.
Every element was shaped to sustain the story over distance. It was less about transformation and more about holding something steady as it moves forward.
“I think we dream so we don’t have to be apart for so long. If we’re in each other’s dreams, we can be together all the time” ― A.A. Milne
The Hundred Acre Wood has always been a familiar place for my sister and I. A part of our childhood, these stories carried through late-night listening to a cassette tape that unfolded its world as if it were ours.
Bringing together our backgrounds in branding and publishing, our goal was to create something that felt nostalgic and familiar, yet special for a new generation.
As twins who grew up reading, watching and listening to Winnie-the-Pooh, so to now be part of its legacy is surreal.
Earned Media
The centenary branding work reached far beyond the book jackets. It found its way into national cultural conversations, most notably through a feature in The Bookseller. The article highlighted how Farshore partnered with the National Trust, Scottish Book Trust and Royal Literary Fund to bring the Hundred Acre Wood into new spaces and experiences.
The story traced how the legacy of Winnie-the-Pooh continues to live within cultural institutions that shape how communities encounter stories. Exhibitions, book trails, and national campaigns were positioned not only as celebrations of a beloved classic but as living invitations for families to step into its world.