Reflection 7.4.1 Design Strategies and Motivation
Original Timeline:
Project Plan:
Final Timeline:
Plan Summary:
Human-Centered Design “means believing that all problems, even the seemingly intractable ones like poverty, gender equality, and clean water, are solvable.” (IDEO.org, 2011) Through this philosophy the average person holds the answers to the problems that surround them. From this thought process designers creating elements for a client have all the tools necessary to solve any design problem that should arise. Human-Centered Design empowers the designer as the ultimate key-holder of all solutions for the created design as it places the ownership of design research and solution creation in the sole hands of the designer. The theory behind Human-Centered Design is that the answers are already within the designer’s grasp by either looking within themselves or searching for the answers within the client. From this theory, all design problems are then solvable. Is this really, true? Can Human-Centered Design processes truly solve all design problems? This theory will be tested over the course of the next few months as the process of Human-Centered Design is utilized to solve all upcoming design problems. Over the course of the next three months designs will be created to elevate the Kyoto brand through Style Guide creation, to elevation of the video message, and finally elevation of the multi-platform website delivery.
Importance of Branding
It is imperative to create a cohesive brand for Kyoto, one that will not only increase its tourism within their desired demographic but to also differentiate the city from its competitors. Competitor brands typically focus on the beauty and aesthetics of the area, while this branding will focus on the allure of the mysticism and adventure that surround the city. The recipe for building and sustaining a successful brand resides in these simple ingredients: differentiate, collaborate, innovate, validate, and cultivate. When a designer successfully does each of these steps, then a successful brand is not just created but sustained. As Sean Adams states, “Branding goes beyond logos, brochures, and website designs. Branding is a complete system for communications a company’s unique message.” (Adams, S., 2015) The branding for the city of Kyoto is a majestic city filled with mystery and adventure, a city where tradition, spirituality, and folklore blend in such a manner to create an epic adventure for the traveler. The conveying of this brand message accurately is essential to the website campaign. As Pallotta states, “brand is much more than a name or a logo. Brand is everything, and everything in brand.” (Pallotta, 2014)
Kyoto: The Introduction
Kyoto, a city of mystery and majesty, where centuries-old traditions are so intrinsically intertwined with mysticism that the Voyager finds themselves entranced in an epic adventure. Kyoto welcomes explorers of all ages, especially voyaging families, through their fabled seaport. Rich in traditions on land and sea, the Wayfinder will never tire from adventure through this enchanted city. Youthful explorers will find themselves entranced by a city where dragons once roamed, while their parents mystically re-energize their spirits in the sacred temples. Kyoto, the city of enchanted adventure.
Campaign Voice
The voice of the campaign is vital. According to David Martin, “great brands are built over a long period of time with advertising that is faithful to product personality...lose it and lose the franchise.” (Felton, 2013, p. 94) Felton goes on to say that, “voice is the brand’s personality as expressed in language. Every ad and corporate communication should be true to that personality, the brand’s tone and point of view.” (Felton, 2013, p.103) With these things in mind, the voice of the campaign should be one of majesty and mystery. The voice should be not superior, but of care and concern. The voice should engage and educate the view on dangers not only to marine mammals but also the link of these dangers back to humans.
Mysterious was chosen to showcase the mystical aspects of Kyoto. The city is filled with rich history that is entangled in folklore and mysticism. This enchanted history paves the way for Kyoto’s viewers to create an expedition they could have only dreamt about as children. Utilizing the correct tone is vital and to ensure this one must equally decide what the tone is not. (The Logo Creative, 2018) Kyoto is mysterious but not scary or creepy. The type of mysticism that Kyoto exudes is an allure, pulling the reader into its mystical shroud. Mysterious is also tied to Kyoto’s spiritual path, which again is filled with mysticism. By using the tone of mysterious, this allows the designer to set the tone to one that is reverent, sacred, mystical, and enchanting. Through the usage of the voice and tone of mysterious, Kyoto is provided the ability to become a “vivid character, allowing its personality to come to life.” (The Logo Creative, 2018) In turn, this creates a dynamic for the consumer that stirs the desire to travel to this mystical land.
Style Guide
A Style Guide will be crafted in month seven to represent the brand of Kyoto. The necessity of the Style Guide is to create a document that will provide information to future designers or employees wishing to craft anything based on the Kyoto brand with a informative guide on what is and is not the Kyoto brand and how to cohesively represent the brand through visual and narrative elements. A Style Guide in its purest form has never before been created by the designer, therefore this will be a new and welcomed challenge to the designers current skill set. This is an imperative creation for the Kyoto brand, as this will dictate exactly how the brand is to be represented and utilized. Research via website research and lynda.com videos will be referenced in how to best create this essential document.
Video
The video element of the brand will be elevated in month eight. Through this process research will be conducted to determine the best way to visually represent the Kyoto brand. Initial designs were created in month six, however the elevation of this initial creation is vital to the branding process. The brand’s voice and narrative was given a much more cohesive and powerful tone in month five, however due to classes being taken out of order, the cohesive voice and narrative were not available for the initial video designs. This recreation of the video element is essential in creating the ultimate Kyoto brand.
Multi-Platform Delivery
In month nine, the website element for a multi-platform delivery will be elevated. During this time, research will be conducted in how to best deliver a completed website via multiple- platforms. This is essential as the trend for website usage is moving toward the mobile sphere with various screen sizes. A responsive website is imperative to delivering the proper branding.
Conclusion
Though out the next three months, designs in all three of the above fields will be conducted and the Human-Centered Design concept will be put to the test. Utilization of this design concept will further the design process, putting the designer in full control of solution creation. From this, the end of the three month program should deliver products and designs which not only solve the design problems but also elevate the Kyoto brand to a unique status amongst its competitors.
Ideation and Implementation:
Revision 1:
The project for this month is to create a Style Guide for Kyoto. The desire is to create a Style Guide that embodies the Kyoto brand with the specific voice and tone created for the brand and campaign. The Style Guide should focus on the necessary elements to ensure a cohesive brand message for any new designers or employees wishing to create something to represent the brand.
State the problem.
Identify your resources.
Request peer feedback.
The problem that is being faced is the best way to communicate the design attributes along with ensuring the Style Guide is different from other competitors.
Resources at this point are Lynda.com videos, Google searches regarding Style Guide creation, along with feedback provided over the previous months regarding creating a cohesive vision for the brand. The inspiration I have for this project is from several images from well crafted Style Guides on LauraBausche.com.
Please offer feedback on ways to help differentiate Style Guide from other brands.
Feedback for Revision 1:
Donalyn ManionFri Dec 7 @ 11:42 pm EST
Peer Review 1: Melissa Caraway
The problem Melissa is solving this month is to create a style guide that embodies the Kyoto brand that includes the voice and tone created for the brand and campaign. The style guide gives the opportunity to educate and document the elements that withhold a cohesive brand for the client on an on-going basis. It is a rulebook and lets everyone know exactly how to present the brand for a consistent message.
Even though a revision wasn’t represented in the post below are six key elements to help build a brand style guide (Nediger, 2018).
Brand story: mission, vision, and core values with personality.
Logo guidelines: proper usage of spacing, color, size, and do and don’ts.
Color palette: pantone, hex codes, RGB, and shades used in the brand’s core.
Typography: the hierarchy, styles, sizes, and specific purposes.
Brand voice: writing tone, key words, and voice that relates to the target audience.
Imagery: illustration and photography uses.
There are many ways to distinguish a brand from the competition but some of the ways that can help a style guide stand out includes what reflects the brand’s personality, promise, value and its main characteristics. Build and develop the story behind the brand and tell the world. Storytelling distinguishes the brand by demonstrating the personality, commitment and worth to the target audience. The focus should be on creating a brands story that supports the unique values that are different from the rest (Council, 2018). This is easier if you know and understand the brand voice and tone. By creating and including this content in the style guide will help differentiate the brand.
Revision 2:
Based on the review provided, more detail was added to the Style Guide for Kyoto. Upon review of Revision One and the evaluation of the critique given, the decision was made to add essential elements to the Style Guide that were missed in the first revision. While the Style Guide touches on the six essential elements of building a Style Guide (Nediger, 2018), two elements were missing, such as Kyoto’s narrative and voice and tone. Without the vital display of Kyoto’s voice and tone, it is impossible to separate the Style Guide from competitors. Utilizing the correct tone is vital and to ensure this one must equally decide what the tone is not. (The Logo Creative, 2018) Cummings further illustrates this by verbalizing that the essence of voice and tone is to “create an expression of the people behind the brand and set the design apart from the rest.” (Cummings, 2013) The reviewer even states that "by creating and including voice and tone in the style guide will help differentiate the brand."(Manion, 2018) Therefore voice and tone, along with a narrative were added to the style guide. The research was conducted to evaluate the proper voice for Kyoto and to create the ability not only to separate Kyoto from the pack but to also accurately reach their chosen demographic.
Feedback for this revision is requested in regards to elevating the Style Guide. Should the designer include examples of do's and don'ts for each element created? Would this add to the style guide elevation or create clutter? Also, should the guide transform from a single pamphlet to a magazine-style format?
Revision Three:
The goal for this revision was to include a photography section that eloquently displayed the Kyoto brand. The idea was to carry the branding of a majestic and mystical Kyoto throughout the visual representation. The photographs needed to represent the ideals of the Kyoto brand; it had to be relatable to the Kyoto audience. (Knapton & Schwartz, 2018) Imagery that specifically spoke to the adventure seeker in everyone, especially families as this is Kyoto’s key demographic, was sought to create the photographic display. The imagery not only needed to represent the branding of a majestic and mysterious Kyoto and inspire adventure seekers, but it also needed to represent one of Kyoto’s unique assets, its majestic and mystical waterways including the Kyoto Sea. The research was conducted via Adobe Stock for just such imagery to represent the brand accurately. It was decided to display the imagery in circles, thus allowing for dual iconic display, as the circles not only represent one of the key graphic elements the Kyoto sun but also strongly reference the mystical Kyoto waterways as water bubbles. In searching for the correct imagery, guidance was sought on rules for brand photography. Just as important as it is to find imagery that represents the above ideas, there are also rules on photography to avoid such as photographs that are of people staring, excessively smiling, staged, and most importantly those that show a cultural cliché. (Knapton & Schwartz, 2018)
In order to further elevate the Style Guide for Kyoto, feedback is sought explicitly in the area of usage displays, for example more diagrams showing how to display the logo on stationary, etc. Is this an area that should be explored or should more emphasis be placed on the do's and don'ts of the areas already created? Also, feedback is again requested on whether the style guide should convert to a magazine based style guide.
Revision Four:
The final revision for Kyoto’s Style Guide focused on the usage of proper spacing when utilizing the logo. It is essential to know the proper amount of clear space to include around a logo, as the clear space “gives breathing room to the logo, and shows the design in the best possible light.” (Youngs, 2016) Youngs goes on to further state, “while Clearspace is often underestimated, or neglected altogether, it really is a very important part of design. Utilizing adequate clear space ensures that your logo has optimal visibility and makes the greatest impact.” (Youngs, 2016) Through this revision, it is clearly displayed the proper amount of spacing to place around the logo for the best visibility and to avoid diminishing the brand.
Instructor feedback is requested in regards to elevating the Style Guide, in regards to expanding the Style Guide. Considering that even more detail can be added to the Style Guide, should it be converted to a magazine-style format or should the concise infographic style be kept as a poster version while another more expansive magazine or book format was created in addition to the original design? The guide at this time is image heavy, should more verbiage be included for a more explicit purpose and usage of the elements created?
Connecting/Synthesizing/Transforming:
This month was the creation of a timeline that would become the basis of projects to be developed over the next three months. In addition to the timeline, the first project of the three-month series was initiated, which was the creation of a Style Guide for the Kyoto brand. Research began with the exploration of the creation of an essential style guide to the focus of various style guides for cities and then further on to drill down to segments of specific features of style guides. The decision was made to create the Style Guide as an infographic which would be easily viewed in poster format. The easily displayed format would make the guide easy access for future designers or anyone seeking to utilize the brand elements. Utilizing Krug’s theory of usability and understanding his views that most people will only glance at an item instead of reading it thoroughly (Krug, 2013) the Style Guide was designed to present the elements with less text and a mostly visual format which was perfect for an infographic style Style Guide.
Problem Solving:
The problem that was trying to be solved was how can Kyoto’s branding best be showcased to other designer’s and city employees that would need or like to utilize the design elements so that the newly created or utilized items would continue to represent the brand. Trying to convey a majestic and mysterious Kyoto, a city that wants to inspire adventurers of all ages but most importantly families to its mystic city while making the information concise enough to fit on an infographic was a challenge in itself. The key to keeping the branding the same throughout and showcasing it in a manner that represented the brand was in staying true to the voice and tone of the brand. Ensuring the photographs, color pallet names, even down to the angry and happy dragons that represented yes or no, all of these elements carried through with them the voice of the nautical adventure spirit of Kyoto. Each element not only represented some part of the nautical, mystical, majestic Kyoto but was crafted in a way to inspire the adventurer spirit.
Innovative Thinking:
While the infographic styled Style Guide provides a fast visual guide for Kyoto, it also separated the Style Guide from Kyoto’s competitors. As seen from research when searching city based Style or Brand Guides, most guides are more comprehensive such as a magazine or book-style guide. By creating an infographic version, this sets the guide apart from the competitors by creating something that is easily referenced or hung on a wall. The Style Guide could still push the boundaries of innovation; however that will need further research and exploration to decide which direction to continue. One idea of how to further elevate the guide is to create a more comprehensive guide that will further detail all the specifics regarding design element usage.
Acquiring Competencies:
The competency gained in this course was the creation of a Style Guide. Until this point, the designer had never created a Style Guide or even fully considered all the elements that would be needed to depict a brand accurately. From this course, the designer now feels more confident in the ability to create a Style Guide and have it accurately represent the brand for which it is designed.
Future:
From here the next step is the elevation of the video elements for the Kyoto brand. However, even though this course has completed further work will be conducted on continuing to elevate the Style Guide and even potentially creating a more comprehensive magazine-styled guide. The knowledge from this course and this project is instrumental in the design world and in the position I hold at this time in the workforce. The company I work for has never had a style guide created, therefore taking the knowledge and skills gained throughout this course and utilizing them in the company I currently work for will not only increase my value to the company but make life easier for the designers the may come after me.
References
Adams, S. (2015, March 27). Foundations of Branding for Designers. Retrieved
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Designers/363131-2.html?org=fullsail.edu
Council, F. A. (2018, April 26). 13 Content Marketing Strategies To Differentiate
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forbesagencycouncil/2018/04/26/13-content-marketing-strategies-to-
differentiate-your-brand/#ab9a9f0605a3
Cummings, H. (2013, October 23). Finding Your Brand’s Voice: How to Shape a
Tone of Voice. Retrieved from https://www.distilled.net/tone-of-voice/
Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: concept and copy. [VitalSource ed.]. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.vitalsource.com
Knapton, D., & Schwartz, M. (2018). Choosing & Using On-Brand Photography.
Retrieved from https://constructive.co/insight/choosing-using-on-brand-
photography/
Manion, D. (2018, December 5). 7.3.1 Weeks 3-4 Mastery Learning Project
[Online Course Comment]. Retrieved from https://online.fullsail.edu/
class_sections/33272/modules/120702/activities/779451/discussion
Nediger, M. (2018, October 31). How to Create a Brand Style Guide Like These
Top Tech Companies. Retrieved December 7, 2018, from
https://venngage.com/blog/brand-style-guide/
Pallotta, D. (2014, July 23). A Logo Is Not a Brand. Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2011/06/a-logo-is-not-a-brand
The Logo Creative. (2018, April 15). The designer’s guide to Brand Tone of
Voice. Retrieved from https://www.thelogocreative.co.uk/the-designers-
guide-to-brand-tone-of- voice/
Youngs, T. (2016, November 07). How to Use Clearspace in Logo Design.
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