Borders Visual Strategy & Visual Development Guide_GR604 Student Project

This is a student project created for academic purposes. This rebrand concept is a fictional piece of work made as part of a branding class's assignment.

Hongtao (Ali) Deng Borders Re-branding

– Margaret Fuller 1810-1850 She was an American journalist, editor, critic, translator, and women’s rights advocate associated with the American transcendentalism movement.

ABOUT BORDERS

08–09

OUR HISTORY

10–13

8

BORDERS Who we are Borders Group, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol BGP) was a book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores.

The original Borders bookstore was located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where it was founded in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders during their undergraduate and graduate years at the University of Michigan. The first Borders bookshop opened at 209 South State Street, Ann Arbor in 1971.

Till 1995, the book store chain, renamed Borders Group Inc., spins off from Kmart and goes public on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: BGP) under CEO Robert DiRomualdo. At the time, Borders’ innovative inventory management system was considered “the envy of the industry,” as one publisher put it, and was a catalyst in the forthcoming boom in the company’s superstore footprint.

At the beginning of 2010, the company operated 511 Borders superstores in the US. The company also operated 175 stores in the Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment, including Waldenbooks, Borders Express, Borders airport stores, and Borders Outlet stores.

BORDERS

PART

ONE

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

9

ABOUT BORDERS

10

HISTORY

BORDERS

1971 / First Store.

1988 / First Move.

Brothers Tom and Louis Borders open an 800-square-foot used bookstore called Borders Book Shop at 211 S. South State St. in Ann Arbor.

In an effort to import business leadership, Borders recruits Robert DiRomualdo to lead the company’s expansion. DiRomualdo is later credited with leading the company’s rise to national prominence in the 1990s.

PART

ONE

11

1995-1997 / Spins off & Expansion

1994 / Largest in town.

Borders’ flagship store moves from 303 S. State to the ex-Jacobson’s department store on East Liberty.

The bookseller is the largest retailer in downtown Ann Arbor.

The book store chain, renamed Borders Group Inc., spins off from Kmart and goes public on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: BGP) under CEO Robert DiRomualdo. At the time, Borders’ innovative inventory management system was considered “the envy of the industry,” as one publisher put it, and was a catalyst in the forthcoming boom in the company’s superstore footprint.

Borders expands its store footprint by 25.5 percent, adding 52 superstores in the biggest one-year expansion in its history.

By January 1999, the company has 256 superstores averaging $256 in sales per square foot.

1999 / Biggest Moment

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

BRAND HISTORY

12

2008 / Stock closes down

HISTORY

Stock closes down 28.5 percent to $5.07 after Borders says it lost $157.4 million in 2007.

Borders contracts with online retailer Amazon to sell products online a relationship later blamed for making Borders late to the emerging web retail segment.

2001 / Work with Amazon

Borders buys United Kingdom-based Paperchase Products Ltd. The company also starts branding some Waldenbooks stores as Borders Express.

Borders signs deal with Starbucks Corp. to run Seattle’s Best Coffee cafe operations in its stores.

2004 / Co-Brand

BORDERS

PART

ONE

13

2009 / Declining profits

2011 / Bankruptcy and liquidation

Borders, despite posting a $187 million loss in 2008, gets some breathing room after receiving a one-year extension on a loan from Pershing Square Capital Management.

On February 16, 2011, the company announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing $1.275 billion in assets and $1.293 billion in debts in its filing.

On November 5, 2009, Borders announced that it would close some of its Waldenbooks stores in an effort to improve the profitability of its Specialty Retail operations. By January 2010, 182 stores had been closed.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

BRAND HISTORY

NEW BORDERS

16–17

BRAND MISSION

18–19

BRAND OBJECTIVE

20–21

16

BORDERS

The New Borders From here we will start to introduce you how new borders looks like, and what will the new borders bring to people.

BORDERS

PART

TWO

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

17

NEW BORDERS

18

MISSION Mission Statement.

We are here to break down the barriers for people to explore new ways of sharing and gaining knowledge.

BORDERS

PART

TWO

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

19

BRAND MISSION

20

OBJECTIVE Re-branding Objective Under the inuence of online finance, many traditional industries are facing with the problem of how to transform. Traditional bookshops and the retail sector have undoubtedly been hit hard.

Online sales or online experiences are an inevitable trend.

Therefore, as a retail bookstore, online store is one of the main forms of transformation.

Even so, modern society offers more opportunities and potential for all walks of life. We can combine shopping malls, stores and even schools to provide different forms of reading spaces, which not only provide a variety of reading formate or space and communication places, but also provide advertising space and customers for online stores.

Secondly, cooperation with different types of communities can be considered to form a regional sharing chain. Let people connect with others through reading, knowledge and sharing.

Or even provide online social platform to give people a new way to exchange or sharing.

In general, it is to expanding and exploring the forms of sharing and reading in order to bring people closer together.

BORDERS

PART

TWO

21

Potential The current era and market do have a certain impact on physical books and bookstores. But there is no shortage of ways to connect people in this era or in this market. And the book is a very promising idea.

USP / Differentiator The Borders Group, Inc. was a publicly held bookstore chain.

After Barnes & Noble, it was the second-largest bricks-and-mortar US bookstore chain, known for the innovation of creating the first superstore. The superstores feature books as well as special events, including live music, story times, and appearances by artists and authors.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

BRAND OBJECTIVE

BRAND KEYWORDS

24–25

AUDIENCES PROFILE

26–43

PAST LOOKS

46–49

FUTURE LOOKS

50–53

COMPETITORS

54–63

24

KEYWORDS

These are the three keywords we get from the first stage - Connection, communication, and Collaboration. And use them as the direction for logo development at this stage.

The purpose of bringing people together is to create connections, not just because they like books, but also to extend to neighborhoods, communities.

BORDERS

PART

THREE

25

The topic of communication will not stop at books, but take

After communication, cooperation. People are connected

books as the starting point of communication, so as to create

through knowledge, which enables them to communicate and

more connections. In addition to the exchange of topics, I

generate new activities. I want the new Borders to be not just

hope there will be cultural and field collisions

about communication and sharing, but something more positive and active in it.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

KEYWORDS

26

AUDIENCES Description At this phase, identifying and understanding who we are talking to is one of the most important initial steps in starting a conversation. In this exercise, I will explore the range of my potential audience. Through this assignment, I will also work with the concept of archetypes and their use in storytelling and in the design process.

The audiences for new Borders will be the people who loves to share and reach-out, who loves to make connection with people through knowledge or learning.

BORDERS

PART

THREE

27

In-target audiences Our target audience is people who enjoy not only sharing, but reaching out to the outside world. But also those who like to learn new knowledge and cooperate with others.

Out-target audiences Our out-target audience is those who are limited by various factors and are more concerned with self-development and stagnation.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

TARGETAUDIENCES

28

Sophia Abby “Influenced by my parents, I have been fond of reading since I was a kid.”

Truth Finder 31 years old Journalist

BORDERS

PART

THREE

29

About Sophia.

1. Sophia loves writing because she think it’s a quite way to express herself.

2. Sophia loves paper printed book because she loves to feel the texture of the paper.

3. Sophia loves to go to the library or bookstore because it reminds her childhood.

4. Sophia tries not to use her phone unless she has to because she like to make contact with outside or with people.

5. Sophia has enjoyed reading all kinds of literature since she was a child because she grew up in a family of teachers.

6. In addition to professional articles and serious biographies, Sophia also enjoys reading horror stories and science fiction because she think it’s two different fun.

7. Sophia loves talking to people because it will always give her more perspective to think about problems.

8. Sophia donates unwanted books to community library or to second handed bookstore, and she writes something in each book because she wants to pass the happy to the next person who gets the book.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

AUDIENCE 1

30

Gray Robert “I’ve recently fallen in love with the behind-the-scenes clips of movies.

I’m curious about how they make those cool special effects happen.”

Tech Geek 35 years old Game Programmer

BORDERS

PART

THREE

31

About Gray.

1. Every Saturday Gray will hold a sience fiction movie night with his friend because he loves to hang out with people who share same interest.

2. Gray thinks that books and programs are the same because they are built from a small unit into an object or even a world.

3. Gray likes to read on screen because it’s easier. It is more convenient to carry with him and easier choose what he wants to read.

4. Gray still to share other hobbies with his roommate because he likes to accept things he is not familiar with.

5. Rather than go hiking on weekends, Gray prefers to watch a movie with his friends because he’s not a very outdoor person.

6. Instead of wine or vodka, Gray likes to have a cold beer when he’s relaxing because the beer made him feel less serious.

7. Gray will always read two pages of his favorite book when he is tired from work because different “languages” help him relax his mind.

8. Gray will buy some limited edition books, whether they are Star Wars books or whatever he likes because that’s what makes this book so special.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

AUDIENCE 2

32

Lisa Wong

“I’d love to go in every bookstore I saw and get lost in it.”

Visual Person 22 years old Art School Student

BORDERS

PART

THREE

33

About Lisa.

1. Lisa’s two roommates often come to her to borrow some art books as reference because she always collect the art books she think it’s helpful.

2. Her books were always piled up on the windowsill, or at the head of her bed because there was no room for a bookcase in her room.

3. She has to goes to various bookstores and libraries because due to the limited space and the fact that some of her favorite art books are only physical.

4. She is also a part-time teacher that teaching painting at community high schools or colleges because she wants to spreads the fun and joy of painting.

5. She prefers tea to coffee because it helps her relax and focus.

6. Even though her roommates don’t understand, she still likes to watch the same movie or book again and again because she thinks each time will bring her new observation and experience.

7. Every time she wants to try something new, she gives up because of lack of motivation or afraid to fail it.

8. She loves to cook, and share the ,meal with her roommates because it will makes her proud of her cooking.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

AUDIENCE 3

34

Eric Thomas “It’s stressful, but also full of proud, to have someone who can read what you’ve written word by word.”

Proud Dad 38 years old Freelance Writer

BORDERS

PART

THREE

35

About Eric.

1. He often feels pressure to take care of his daughter because he hasn’t been able to adjust to the change in his life role.

2. As new parent, he always confused when choosing children’s books because wants to have a good influence on his kid, but also hope the book won’t limit her.

3. Many of his habits are about to change because of the new family member.

4. Although his daughter takes up most of his time, he still creates some time of his own to balance the stress because he believe that he need to take care himself before take care of another life.

5. He likes to drink tea while he is writing because the tea will give him energy but not strong like wine.

6. Most of his stories were about bad romances, but since adopting a daughter, he has gradually begun to try soft family stories because his daughter makes him feel the family and different love.

7. He occasionally takes his daughter to museums or art galleries on weekends because he wants his daughter will be influenced by art.

8. He sometimes has to turn to his parents to help him take care of the kid because he the pressure can be quite overwhelming sometime.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

AUDIENCE 4

36

Angel Valdez “It’s an amazing experience when you hear a familiar story in a different language.”

Globetrotter 42 years old Magazine Project Manager

BORDERS

PART

THREE

37

About Angel.

1. She loves cook but from time to time she likes go to a nice restaurant and enjoy a night by herself because she likes some small changes from time to time.

2. She loves to hiking and outdoor sports because it will fresh her mind even change her view of something.

3. She loves to go travel around the world with her camera because it not only fill her material bank but also explore the world.

4. She prefer portrait photo instead of landscape because she think the portrait is a better story teller.

5. She like to collect different magazine or books from different country because the different culture and language will bring her new idea.

6. She likes to relax with a glass of red wine after work because it makes her feel satisfied.

7. She enjoy the arts event is not just because of her job, but also it fits her interests.

8. She enjoying the life of being single because it allows her to focus more on her work and have more freedom in her life.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

AUDIENCE 5

38

Henry Taylor

“I like those new stuff that make my life more convenient ”

Learning Grandpa 64 years old Retired Marketing Director

BORDERS

PART

THREE

39

About Henry.

1. Although he has retired, he still keeps a regular habit of life because it makes him feel healthy.

2. He follows the news every day because he wants to know what is going on in the world.

3. He has finally been able to spend more time with his family since retirement because he enjoys the time with his family.

4. He would drive to the town park every weekend to play chess with friends because he finally has time to catch with his friends.

5. He is so proud of himself because his children love the Mafia stories he wrote.

6. Even though he likes new things, he prefers the traditional way of reading because he think the touch of book is also the part of the story.

7. His family always worried about him because he will spend whole afternoon in a bookstore without tell the family.

8. He likes to attend sharing sessions at his grandson’s school because he enjoys telling others his experiences and stories.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

AUDIENCE 6

40

Chris Jefferson

“Instead of sitting still, I choose to put my fragmented time in a better use.”

Out of Target 37 years old Youtube channel owner

BORDERS

PART

THREE

41

About Chris.

1. He likes fast information because it saves time.

2. He loves extreme sports and breaking the rules because his mom use to restrict his activities.

3. His always order food online because it’s quick and easy.

4. He doesn’t like reading because his teacher always made him sit still and read a book before he could go.

5. He always travels alone because it not only makes it easier to make plans, but also saves him from having to compromise.

6. He likes and always follow the trend because he is so afraid to be left behind.

7. He shares his movements and sports adventure on his channel all the time because he hopes one day he can become the trend.

8. His girlfriend just left him because it’s hard for him to commit on one action or idea.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

AUDIENCE 7

42

Cynthia Queen “I wish there were 72 hours in a day, in that way I can fi nally keep up with everything going on.”

Out of Target 38 years old Bartender / Bar owner

BORDERS

PART

THREE

43

About Cynthia.

1. She barely has energy to do anything during the day, or just simply sleep through it because she always works late until the bar closes.

2. She would have a cigarette outside the bar because that’s the only time she feel quite when she is awake.

3. She feel depressed and even suffocated because she has almost no spare time to do any thing she likes or interested in.

4. The books her friends gave her were forgotten in the corner because even when she was resting or on vacation, she would get together with her friends.

5. Books always give her a sense of seriousness because her father is a college professor.

6. Most of her friends are made from the bar because that’s the only time she can contact with people.

7. She just randomly stuff her book at the bottom of her backpack or fit the feet of the table because she has no emotion attach with it.

8. She always says, don’t force me to read an article, explain to me what happened because she is a visual learner.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

AUDIENCE 8

44

NEW BORDERS

The New Borders From here we will start to introduce you how new borders looks like, and what will the new borders bring to people.

BORDERS

PART

THREE

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

45

46

PAST & FUTURE

The past look of Borders is inactive, dated, idle.

BORDERS

PART

THREE

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

47

PAST & FUTURE

48

PAST & FUTURE

Before / Current.

Borders used to be stagnant, dated.

It gives the impression of an old sofa on a woolly rug.

BORDERS

PART

THREE

49

BORDERS

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

PAST PICTURE

50

FUTURE

The future look of Borders is vibrant, communicating and friendly.

BORDERS

PART

THREE

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

51

FUTURE PICTURE

52

FUTURE

Future / After The future of Borders is friendly and interactive. It’s upgraded but it’s also attainable.

BORDERS

PART

THREE

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

53

PAST PICTURE

54

Competitors

We are positioning the new Borders by considering competitors in three dimensions: current, adjacent, and future.

Each facet of the competitors shows how Borders will present itself at different stages.

BORDERS

PART

THREE

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

55

COMPETITORS

56

CURRENT COMPETITORS The current competitors are brands that sell traditional or electronic books, as Borders does..

BORDERS

Canada’s largest book, gift, and specialty toy retailer, operating stores in all ten provinces and one territory, and through a website offering a selection of books, toys, home décor, stationery, and gifts.

Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores.

Powell’s Books is a chain of bookstores, Powell’s established its Internet presence in 1993, beginning with email and FTP-based access to its technical bookstore.

An independently owned and operated bookseller with 10 locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.

PART

THREE

57

Anderson’s Bookshop has been selling books since 1875. Sharing a passion and knowledge of books to create lifelong readers.

Booktopia was founded on 4 February 2004 by Tony Nash, Steve Traurig and Simon Nash in Sydney, Australia.

Follett Corporation is a Westchester, Illinois-based company that provides a variety of educational products to schools, colleges, and public libraries through its subsidiaries.

Books-A-Million, Inc., also known as BAM!, is a bookstore chain in the United States. sell books, magazines, collectibles, toys, technology, and gifts.

Is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States.

A Canadian big box bookstore banner owned by Indigo Books and Music.

Formerly a separate company competing with Indigo, the combined company has continued to operate both banners since their merger in 2001

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

CURRENT COMPETITORS

58

ADJACENT COMPETITORS If people don’t buy books from Borders, where are they going to read books or get the same type of knowledge or information? Therefore, these adjacent brands are related to this idea.

BORDERS

Wikipedia is a multilingual online encyclopedia created and maintained as an open collaboration project by a community of volunteer editors using a wiki-based editing system.

Quora is an American question-and-answer website where questions are asked, answered, followed, and edited

by Internet users, either factually or in the form of opinions.

YouTube is an American online video-sharing platform headquartered in San Bruno, California.

Netflix‘s primary business is its subscription-based streaming service which offers online streaming of a library of films and television series, including those produced in-house.

PART

THREE

59

Amazon Books is not only a bookstore chain affiliated with Amazon, but also offers an e-book service for customers.

Audible is an online audi obook and podcast platform owned by Amazon.com Inc. The service allows users to purchase and stream audio books and other forms of spoken word content.

Rakuten Kobo Inc., is a Canadian company which sells e-books, audio books etc. It is headquartered of the Japanese e-commerce conglomerate Rakuten.

CBS is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network owned by ViacomCBS through its CBS Entertainment Group division.

RadioShack operates primarily as an e-commerce website, a network of approximately 500 independently owned authorized dealer stores, and as a supplier of parts for HobbyTown.

Yahoo provides or provided a Web portal, search engine Yahoo! Search, and related services, Yahoo was the most widely read news and media website.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

ADJACENT COMPETITORS

60

ASPIRATIONAL COMPETITORS After re-branding, these competitors shares the similar idea or soul – share and gain knowledge – with future borders.

Therefore, they will become our competitors in the future.

BORDERS

Wikipedia is a multilingual online encyclopedia created and maintained as an open collaboration project by a community of volunteer editors using a wiki-based editing system.

livepro is a cloud-based knowledge management solution designed to improve customer experience & staff engagement.

Samsung was founded in 1938 as a trading company. Over the next three decades, the group diversified into areas including food processing, textiles, insurance, securities, and retail.

And entered the electronics industry in the late 1960s.

TED Conferences LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American media organization that posts talks online for free distribution under the slogan “ideas worth spreading”

PART

THREE

61

Behance is a social media platform owned by Adobe which claims “to showcase and discover creative work�

Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.

Upwork is an American freelancing platform where enterprises and individuals connect in order to conduct business. To share skills and knowledge.

Bloomfire is a software-as-a-service company based in Austin, Texas. The business creates web-based software applications that aim to increase virtual knowledge-and-insights-sharing in the workplace.

MOMA plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of the largest and most influential museums of modern art in the world.

Trello is a web-based Kanban-style list-making application which is a subsidiary of Atlassian. Users can create their task boards with different columns and move the tasks between them.

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

ASPIRATIONAL COMPETITORS

62

CONTRIBUTES There are 20 words (attributes) that are common among quality or “soul” shared with my current and adjacent competitors

New Borders

BORDERS

PART

THREE

63

From competitors Positive Neutral Future Negative

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

BRAND CONTRIBUTES

64

NEXT STEP We will start to build new identity of Borders in the next book, Visual Develop Guide.

We’ll start to look at what and how Borders will look like in the future to present the idea of sharing knowledge and building connections.

BORDERS

PART

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

65

66

Visual Strategy Guide

Tools

Adobe InDesign Adobe Photoshop

Sources

unsplash.com freepic.com google.com

BORDERS

PART

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

67

This is a student project created for academic purposes. This rebrand concept is a fictional piece of work made as part of a branding class's assignment.

Hongtao (Ali) Deng Borders Brand Re-branding

– Jesse James Enoch / 1983– Better known by his stage name Lyrikal. Rapper, record producer and songwriter.

ABOUT BORDERS

08–09

BRAND HISTORY

10–13

8

Who we are Borders Group, Inc. (former NYSE ticker symbol BGP) was a book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In its final year, the company employed about 19,500 people throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores.

The original Borders bookstore was located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where it was founded in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders during their undergraduate and graduate years at the University of Michigan. The first Borders bookshop opened at 209 South State Street, Ann Arbor in 1971.

Till 1995, the book store chain, renamed Borders Group Inc., spins off from Kmart and goes public on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: BGP) under CEO Robert DiRomualdo. At the time, Borders’ innovative inventory management system was considered “the envy of the industry,” as one publisher put it, and was a catalyst in the forthcoming boom in the company’s superstore footprint.

At the beginning of 2010, the company operated 511 Borders superstores in the US. The company also operated 175 stores in the Waldenbooks Specialty Retail segment, including Waldenbooks, Borders Express, Borders airport stores, and Borders Outlet stores.

BORDERS

PART

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

9

10

BORDERS

1971 / First Store.

1988 / First Move.

Brothers Tom and Louis Borders open an 800-square-foot used bookstore called Borders Book Shop at 211 S. South State St. in Ann Arbor.

In an effort to import business leadership, Borders recruits Robert DiRomualdo to lead the company’s expansion. DiRomualdo is later credited with leading the company’s rise to national prominence in the 1990s.

PART

ONE

11

1995-1997 / Spins off & Expansion

1994 / Largest in town.

Borders’ flagship store moves from 303 S. State to the ex-Jacobson’s department store on East Liberty.

The bookseller is the largest retailer in downtown Ann Arbor.

The book store chain, renamed Borders Group Inc., spins off from Kmart and goes public on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: BGP) under CEO Robert DiRomualdo. At the time, Borders’ innovative inventory management system was considered “the envy of the industry,” as one publisher put it, and was a catalyst in the forthcoming boom in the company’s superstore footprint.

Borders expands its store footprint by 25.5 percent, adding 52 superstores in the biggest one-year expansion in its history.

By January 1999, the company has 256 superstores averaging $256 in sales per square foot.

1999 / Biggest Moment

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

BRAND HISTORY

12

2008 / Stock closes down Stock closes down 28.5 percent to $5.07 after Borders says it lost $157.4 million in 2007.

Borders contracts with online retailer Amazon to sell products online a relationship later blamed for making Borders late to the emerging web retail segment.

2001 / Work with Amazon

Borders buys United Kingdom-based Paperchase Products Ltd. The company also starts branding some Waldenbooks stores as Borders Express.

Borders signs deal with Starbucks Corp. to run Seattle’s Best Coffee cafe operations in its stores.

2004 / Co-Brand

BORDERS

PART

ONE

13

2009 / Declining profits

2011 / Bankruptcy and liquidation

Borders, despite posting a $187 million loss in 2008, gets some breathing room after receiving a one-year extension on a loan from Pershing Square Capital Management.

On February 16, 2011, the company announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing $1.275 billion in assets and $1.293 billion in debts in its filing.

On November 5, 2009, Borders announced that it would close some of its Waldenbooks stores in an effort to improve the profitability of its Specialty Retail operations. By January 2010, 182 stores had been closed.

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

BRAND HISTORY

INITIAL SKETCHES

16-31

INITIAL SELECTION

32-35

LOGO EXPLORATION 1

36-41

POTENTIAL SELECTION

42-43

LOGO EXPLORATION 2

44-53

DEVELOPMENT IDEAS

58-71

IDEA DISTILLATION

72-75

16

It starts with KEYWORDS In the initial stage of logo development, the most important thing is not only to ensure the diversity and creativity of the idea, but also to ensure the accurate direction and keywords.

According to the Strategy Guide, we have determined that in the

future, Borders is a brand about Connection, Communication

and Collaboration. These three words will also be the key words and direction of the Borders’ logo development.

The types of logos In the development of LOGO, we will develop from three

directions. They are generally classiďŹ ed as Symbolic, Graphic, and Word marks.

BORDERS

PART

TWO

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

17

INITIAL SKETCHES

18

These are the three keywords we get from the first stage - Connection, Communication, and Collaboration. And use them as the direction for logo development at this stage.

We want future Borders to connect people and create opportunities for people to connect. The chance to bind should not be limited to the place and go beyond the limits and click ideas, thoughts, and actions for people.

BORDERS

PART

TWO

19

Communication is a direct way to share

To connect and communicate is to create

knowledge. We should not limit the

cooperation and opportunities for people.

form of communication to words or

Expand these opportunities to different ďŹ elds

text exchange. It can be technical,

and industries, and provide diverse communi-

emotional, technological. We will break

cation and contact for more people.

the traditional ways of contact for people to exchange more experience.

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

INITIAL SKETCHES / KEYWORDS

20

About Connection We want the future Borders to connect people and create opportunities for people to connect. The chance to connect should be limited to the place and go beyond the limits and make connections between ideas, thoughts, and actions for people.

Potential Avoid

BORDERS

PART

TWO

21

Feedbacks This logo shows the concept of intersection, but it is not pure communication.

The dot and line logos represent connection but lack the idea of communication

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

INITIAL SKETCHES / IDEA 1

22

Potential Avoid

BORDERS

PART

TWO

23

Feedbacks Logos that abstractly express idea have advantages

The logos seem too technical and a little off topic

VISUAL DEVELOPMENT GUIDE

INITIAL SKETCHES / IDEA 1

24

About Communication Communication is a direct way to share knowledge, and more communication creates more opportunities to connect, and the more connections there are, the more opportunities for people to communicate.

We should not limit the form of communication to chat or text exchange. It can be technical, emotional, technological, etc.

Feedbacks Abstract representation of communication and connection is a potential direction

Try to avoid repeating ideas or similar directions to previous projects

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Feedbacks Solid shapes will present the “chat” idea more

Over designed words will mislead the audience

Potential Avoid

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About Collaboration One of the purposes of connection and communication is to form cooperation and create opportunities for more people to connect and communicate. Expand these opportunities to different ďŹ elds and industries, and provide diverse communication and contact for more people.

Feedbacks As previous feedbacks, solid shapes and lines will enhance the idea of communication

Abstract shape indicate the wrong idea

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Feedbacks As previous feedbacks, solid shapes and lines will enhance the idea of communication

Quote mark is a smart idea but can’t connect to the brand intension

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After First Round After the ďŹ rst round of sketches, we selected 30 potential logos from 300 logos, based on the next development direction. We distin-

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Symbolic Marks The symbolized logo mainly implies brand characteristics by abstract shape. Here I focus on an abstract representation of the connection

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Graphic Marks In Graphic Marks, I try to represent the theme with more concrete elements

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Words Marks Put brand in words is the most direct way to express the brand, through the different design of typesetting and layout to reflect the brand personality

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Combination of IDEAS After a lot of exploration and development, we initially selected some potential logos from those sketches as the next development direction.

After the first round of screening, we will gradually combine the three keywords to form a more accurate and specific direction. Based on this, we will further promote development.

In the second round of development, we will further select 10 LOGOS as the direction of the final stage.

In this stage, we focus on “communication” and “collaboration.” Take the “Chat bubble” as the primary foundation to carry on the next exploration.

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Ideas of communication are more comfortable to display, such as conversation bubbles, thus serving as the basis for logo development.

The ideas of Connection and Collaboration are similar, so I put them together to show cooperation.

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COMBAIN IDEAS

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Idea Foundation I choose these three logos as part of my direction to show connection and combination.

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Idea Foundation I choose these three logos as part of my direction to show Communication.

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Feedbacks The idea of solid shape is creating abstract “B” to connect the idea.

Quote mark is smart but not a compelling idea for communicating and chat.

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Move to COMPUTER After a lot of exploration and development, we initially selected some potential logos from those sketches as the next direction of growth.

According to the second-round selection and distillation, the following logo has tremendous potential. Therefore, In the ďŹ nal development, I will make further expansion and optimization based on them.

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Potential Logo Direction

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Why. After two rounds of selection, I ďŹ nally set the direction in the form of a chat bubble. Because the individual lines cannot apply the color collocation, it will also limit future development.

The intuitive expression is conducive to the direct dissemination of brand information.

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Chat bubbles represent communication, alternating or stacked bubbles represent bonding and cooperation.

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Connection + Collaboration

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This group of concepts more intensively expresses the feeling of “intersection”, and chat bubbles interlaced with each other can better reflect the idea of exchanging information

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Why. These are the logos that I decided on as my final direction. I narrowed the idea to 6 and moved them to the computer, exploring more possibilities from them and finding my final logo.

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Refi ned Logo The tessellations give it potential. The shape of the “B” allows it to display the brand’s letters.

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Versions

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Color Combination (Rough) The tessellations give it potential. The shape of the “B” allows it to display the brand’s letters.

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Type Combination (Rough)

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Symbolic Logo Avoid misunderstanding shape, such as G,K,J. Focus on brand image.

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Color Combination (Rough) Avoid too tight and over-designed typeface.

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Type Combination (Rough)

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Symbolic Logo Odd shape didn’t connect original idea of communication.

The idea of different dimention is workable, but it looks like “wall”

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Versions

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Color Combination (Rough) Odd shape didn’t connect original idea of communication.

The idea of different dimention is workable, but it looks like “wall”

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Type Combination (Rough)

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Symbolic Logo The idea of the chat bubble gives the shape of B. Considering the concepts of communication and cooperation, so this direction has the most potential.

The square stacks are a bit like bricks and cartoon boots.

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Versions

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Color Combination (Rough) Odd shape didn’t connect original idea of communication.

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Type Combination (Rough)

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Idea Foundation

Idea Distillation 1

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5

6

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2 and 12 have the best potential that

Potential

actually look like a capital “B”, plus the

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speech bubbles are coming from the same point

Don’t combine two different shapes.

Keep it consistent.

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Potentials 2

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Feedback 2 and 12 have the best potential that actually look like a capital “B”, plus the speech bubbles are coming from the same point

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LOGO LOOK-ALIKE

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FINAL LOGO

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Logo inspiration

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Competitors of identity Before we proceed to the next step, we need to make sure that the new logo we are about to deliver has not been used.

So we look at brands that have been successful and have similar logos. They may not be brands about sharing knowledge, but they are our competitors in terms of identity. So we found these visual competitors based on the initial prototype of our new logo. To ensure that the new Borders would be a unique brand without looking like anyone else.

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Idea of B B represent Borders. So we look at all the brands that start with B or represent by letters.

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Concept of letter B

The logo with bubble B as the

Abstract letters can also

Varying degrees of shadow

theme shows not only the idea,

convey brand messages.

create a sense of emphasis.

For an art brand, brush letter convey

Use negative Spaces to

Combine exclamation marks and

the idea of handwriting.

represent letter

letters to convey the brand message.

but also the brand letters

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A classic icon symbol that combines

Simply and directly presenting

Rich colors are worth adopting

chat with the letter B

is also an option

to our brand.

The symbolized letters are the same

Combining the commonalities

Also using negative space, Google

idea as our brand

of the two things helps to

also combines text symbols

build brand image.

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This symbol shows collaboration on

This symbol shows collaboration in

shapes and colors

different structures, as well as the letter B

Simply and directly express the elements of communication and information.

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Concept of Chat bubble B represent Borders. So we look at all the brands that start with B or represent by letters.

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Concept of chat bubble

Simple elements embody the

Line symbols also convey

Shows connect and communi-

collaboration of message

information clearly.

cate through bubbles

Combine the two ideas to convey

The Chat bubble is one of the most common elements of communication, so it can

textual information.

be found in social media app or communication-focused apps, so the new Borders also use the Chat bubble as one of the main elements.

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Concept of chat bubble Like other brands, chat bubbles can be connected or combined in different forms to demonstrate the purpose of the brand or product. The new Borders will fully incorporate this idea to showcase the new Borders brand concept.

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The new logo expresses that collaboration and communication breed knowledge.

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Symbol Brand Signature

Word Mark

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LOGO ELEMENTS Letter B The new logo takes the shape of B to represent Borders and also serves as the initial letter of Borders.

Chat Bubble

Joint

To express the idea that knowledge

The Joint embodies not only the

is shared through communication, I

concept of connection and cooperation

use two Chat bubbles to describe

but also shows the combination and

communication.

connection between communication.

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VERSIONS Vertical Signature The vertical version will be the main presentation of our logo. It will be used in most of the platform and printed versions, which also means that the vertical version will be the main image of our brand.

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Horizontal Signature The horizontal version will be used where the vertical version cannot be used, to accommodate more platforms and formats.

Symbol Symbols can be used independently when there is insufficient space or special requirements. Symbol is also the smallest way to use a brand logo.

Logotype Same as symbol mark, it can be used independently when there is in insufficient space or special requirements.

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We will introduce the new identity of Borders in the next book, Visual Standards Guide.

We’ll also look at what Borders will do in the future to help people share knowledge and build connections.

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Visual Development Guide

Tools

Adobe InDesign Adobe Photoshop

Sources

unsplash.com freepic.com google.com

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