ESCoP Branding Project
Project Requirements: “Design a basic visual identity, including a system of typographic marks for an organization around Centre County. The system must include the design of brand assets and a series of deliverables. Students will also design a set of identity guidelines.
This project all started with research, and client meetings, and is foundationally built on the design brief that came from the research and meetings. The design brief reads as follows:
This brand system aims to inform and engage a border audience, Penn State students, while also keeping the current target audience of faculty. The brand system includes a lot of baseline templates. A newsletter, a PowerPoint, a letterhead, a poster, and designed envelopes exist to create uniformity for the program. There are also supporting elements, such as advertisement cards (like a business card for the collective program), stickers, icons, social media, and posters, which aim to advertise and inform the public about this program.
The brand will consist of bright colors in combination with fun, organic shapes and designs. These elements will engage the current and new audiences. The templates and other deliverables will also feature these elements, but in a simplified way so the content is the focus. The type selection will be sans serif so it is simple, easy to read, and not too serious. The logo will also be eye-catching yet legible. The organic patterns will be incorporated throughout the systems to add visual interest.
There was a lot of good that came out of this project, even the bad was a learning opportunity. I had two other members in this group; Hanlin Zhang, and Katelyn Morganti. This project was our first group project and one of my codesigners (Katelyn) pushed me to try out her very funky and bright style. Up until this project, everything I created was very uniform, mostly neutral, and played more with modern layouts. This project was a complete 180-degree turn. This brand thrives off of patterns and unconventional hand-made fonts. This was something I was very unsure of at first, but I fell into a very successful grove with this group member.
During this project, we learned to work as a team, but we also learned what it meant to work with a client. We learned that when designing a brand, trial and error is key. It takes a lot of extra effort, but being willing to go back to the drawing board until the client is happy, ultimately builds a client relationship, but also a successful brand. We also learned the importance of education. Sometimes a client has an idea but does not know how to execute it, so we learned to teach the client about basic design principles to make sure they were on the same page as us.
There were group dynamic hiccups and deadlines were very tight, but it was an invaluable project, that I am very glad was assigned.
The Process
First, we were assigned random groups and given a client. We met with the client and discussed their goals, their desired deliverables, and their style.
2. After meeting with the client, we developed a mood board that we felt aligned with their advertisement goals and current brand identity.
3. Then we divided up tasks by looking at the strengths and weaknesses of each group member. I ended up taking on a lot of the technical layout elements, I was the point of contact for the client, and I did most of the physical crafting of the final product. I was also in charge of gathering supplies like purchasing paint and tote bags for the crafting element of this project.
4. Next, we began sketching and discussing how different patterns and shapes would translate into different layouts. We were all very active in this step.
5. After sketching, everything was digitally rendered and proofs were created for critique. I am a firm believer in test prints now because so many errors (like the margins being too tight) would have gone unnoticed. It also helps with sizing.
6. After critique edits were made, it was time to edit and craft. There was an incredibly frustrating print challenge; using sticker paper. For some reason, the printer did not want to take the printer paper and continued to print on regular paper, with a little determination I created physical stickers (I am very averse to mock-ups when a physical solution exists).
Then more crafting…
7. And then I had to bring my painting skills out of my mental archive until I was finally finished crafting 25 hours later. This project is now one of my favorites.
8. Then we documented all of our deliverables through photography. Overall the project was a great success. In a previous course, I had tried a mock branding assignment and it was hard to make a brand without redundancy and overuse of elements; making everything look the same. This project was a successful turnaround from that. We were able to use a system, without letting it get boring and overdone.
