CARLOS VELASCO
CONTENTS 4
C O L L E C T I V E C U LT U R E
12 EARTHSTOCK 18
SHRINE BOWL
22
U N L O C K T H E I TA L I A N R U N Z A
2 6 E L E VA T E 31
LOGO EXAMPLES
32
POST AND NICKEL
37
N E B R A S K A I N N O VA T I O N C A M P U S
39
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
COLLECTIVE C U LT U R E BRIEF
AN ANTHOLOGY ON LIFESTYLE
_E DITION NÂş1 SPRING 2017
Collective Culture, previously known as This Season magazine, is a lifestyle and fashion magazine from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In the Spring of 2017 I worked with the team to research and investigate their current audience and potential, from there my strategy and suggestion was to rebrand their publication to better fit their potential audience.
PHASE 01: RESEARCH BRIEF
Research for Collective Culture involved the use of secondary and primary quanitative and qualitative research using a mixture of interviews and exercises with staff, students and community members. Research insights gained from Nielsen, literature, web analytics and CubeYou Analytics and more. Once the research was conducted the creative brief was developed and presented to the staff at various points. The Creative Brief outlines the current Market Situation, the Objective, Target Audience, Strategy Recommendations, Brand Tone Recommendations, Tactical Elements for production and Executional Mandatories. These insights and research documents helped to form the Tactical Elements for production, the print magazine and the Website alongside led to the development of the branding.
PRINT SPECIAL EDITION
A print special edition magazine was created to celebrate the launch of the new brand. This publication explores ways that the best articles from the magazine, especially those focused on social and cultural issues can be represented through playful and conceptual use of layout, type and image exploration. An edition of 25 was created and distributed to staff and influencers.
WEBSITE
The website was relaunched with the new brand. The new site uses Wordpress to best manage the amount of content that comes in alongside making the site as fast, reliable and secure as possible. Special touches are added throughout the publication to make it relate closely to both the brand standards and the print magazine.
BRAND REFRESH
Collective Culture was chosen as the new name after carefully considering the direction and tone of the magazine. Collective Culture represents the collective spirit and energy and ideas of the zeitgeist. The logo that was finalized was based on a fluid idea where type can be playful and live outside its constraints and where the logo can be interpreted in various ways. Brand colors were based off strategic research that signified Yellow as a powerful statement color. This played alongside an electric blue, blush and magenta. The brand typeface families are Raleway and Playfair.
EARTHSTOCK: Four Weeks to Learn & Grow is an annual month-long series of events hosted by UNL’s Environmental Sustainability Committee. The programming is diverse and ranges from music festivals and block parties to community forums with local policymakers. Now in its fourth year, Earthstock was due for a large-scale revamp to its marketing and identity to reach a larger audience than ever before. I worked closely with Earthstock director Shelby Janke to translate the goals and programming of Earthstock into a cohesive identity and marketing plan that resulted in the most successful Earthstock yet. Apart from higher engagement through social media and turn out at events, Earthstock was able to secure the largest amount of sponsorship and funding yet. TOP: The visual identity of Earthstock was updated to include a refreshed color system and a cohesive yet fluid logo system that focused on dividing information into separate panels. These panels were changed for indiividual events. Photo Credit: Lauren Farris
PRINT POSTERS
Advertising for Earthstock involved various tactics such as a series of photographic posters for each event, special edition posters for the general Earthstock event and a psychadelic take on the Music Festival poster. The posters were printed on newsprint and in many areas wheatpasted onto buildings to create an urgent vibe.
A N I M AT E D A D S
Communications for the event included animated social media and environmental signage that dotted the online landscape in areas such as social media, digital ads and in person through digital signage.
EVENT SIGNAGE
Signage such as a large Earthstock banner allowed guests to see they were near an either official Earthstock event or an Earthstock Partnered event. At Lincoln Environmental Arts Festival, Earthstock partnered up with the L.E.A.F. team to
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media strategy for promoting the events included a takeover of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s snapchat account which averages around 6k views per snap. The snapchat day emphasized celebrating the earth through multi-language engagement, and video of the various booths and how they celebrated the earth. Alongside this continued engagement through the already established and growing @ GreenUNL Facebook, Twitter and Instagram proved a successful way to engage across wide audiences.
EXTRA GOODIES
Ephemera such as buttons, screen-printed shirts, tote bags and business cards made out of seed paper dotted the landscape and helped to create awareness of events and a culture of Earthstock throughout the month of April which created excitement and promotion of the event. Special give aways such as treat bags with plantable business cards became more likely to be grabbed by passing students.
SHRINE BOWL
59TH NEBRASKA SHRINEBOWL
59TH NEBRASKA SHRINEBOWL
GENERAL PRINT POSTER
TICKET DESIGN (CLUB LEVEL)
The general design for the Shrine Bowl campaign was
Print ticket designs were typographic based and relied on
centered around the concept of making both the players
an updated and elegant color scheme alongside print details
and those connected to the games feel special. Inspired by
like spot gloss to create a premium and distinct fee
athletic lifestyle companies, this was a huge departure for
alongside three distinct color schemes to the illustration.
the Shrine Bowl.
59TH NEBRASKA SHRINEBOWL S O C I A L M E D I A S T R AT E G Y + A R T D I R E C T I O N
Our key audiences were alumni, family and the players themselces. We placed importance on highlighting players, events like a hospital visit and using social media like Snapchat to create indepth and personal storytelling. Alongside this I had the opportunity to direct the videographers and digital team in creating motion graphics and video content that reflected the tone and style.
B E YO N D T H E F I E L D
Beyond the Field is a special event held at Nebraska Wesleyan where Shriner Kids have the opportunity to meet the Shrine Bowl players. This event needed a sign-up flyer and a t-shirt design.
UNLOCK THE I TA L I A N R U N Z A C A M PA I G N OV E R V I E W
One could call the Italian Runza the Midwestern McRib, a novelty sandwhich from the Nebraska-based fast food chain that comes and goes with much cult-like fanfare. To relaunch this sandwhich after a period of almost ten years, we were tasked with generating buzz among a new generation that wasn’t familiar with the sandwhich, Milennials.
My role in this project was to develop the general style of collateral, develop and strategize the snapchat component of the campaign and chronical the campaign as it happened.
SAFE
S I G N A G E & F I LT E R S
(LEFT)
Participating restaurants were outfited with designated spots and signage where one could use the snapchat filter to unlock the secret codes that would lead to them unlocking the safe, and five years of free Runza.
To create buzz for this launch, alongside promote the snapchat account, a large (10ft by 4ft) safethemed display was planted in the middle of a high-traffic Runza location.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social Media posts played an important role in the campaign in both building hype, showcasing things like the winners, and most importantly, giving clues to participants where the clues would be. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat were consistently among the most popular methods of showcasing the campaign and connecting with fans.
PA R T I C I PAT I O N
Overall there was a large amount of participants, with many catching on to clues and even arriving to locations beforehand, ready to try out the snapcode. The photo shows a group of people who had arrived to the final location before the final clue had even appeared, many of them interviewed stated that they drove around Lincoln scouting potential locations for hours.
LIVE FEED
Using both Facebook Live, Snapchat and Instagram Stories, Runza was able to capture moments such as the winning contestant and celebration afterwards.
E L E VA T E I was approached to design a full campaign for the ‘Elevate’ Student Government Election party at UNL in 2015. This campaign included everything from social media, videos, print ads and more. The Elevate campaign was special because, with a record breaking 25% voter turnout and over 80% of the slate elected into a position, it represented one of the most ambitious and strategized campaigns to reach across the 25,000 students at UNL. The social media reach was also fantastic with 20,000 impressions in the first week alone.
Nº1 Creal Blue Dark Matte Serenity Blue
Nº2 Elevate Blue Serenity Blue
Nº3 Nasrati Rose Pastel Matte Rose
This campaign later went on to win the Bronze award in the Student AIGA SHOW competition. One of the most prominent visual elements of the brand was the consistent use of gradient infused waveforms and the elevate upwards mark throughout. This border design was inspired by the idea of diversity and inclusiveness. One of the key platforms of Elevate was including student voices of all backgrounds and perspectives. Because each line, each color, and each shape variance could represent this concept, it was placed around the central Elevate mark.
Selection of Profile Pictures
Selection of Printed Materials Utilizing Mobile App ‘Snapchat’ with customized filters that were purchased for strategic locations and days allowed the reach of the campaign to go beyond print material that is too-often discarded.
To launch the campaign, it was important to consider both the real world and the world of web from start to finish. Before launching the campaign, I shot and edited a short video of the executive candidates officially announcing their candidacy. This video launched alongside an official website, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and an extensive first-day campaign event in strategic locations throughout City and East Campus. The video reached large organic growth, and alongside an established list of key platforms and topics, helped to create a comprehensive, ready from day one strategy.
PRAIRIE PINES
During the summer of 2015 I enrolled in an independent study studio course for graphic design that was centered around the theme of branding ‘Prairie Pines’ a property in the edge of Lincoln that serves as a research site for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. In the class I produced a variety of material ranging from wooden signage, photography, and, a short film that used both animation, videography, motion graphics and kinetic typography to tell the history, mission, and future of Prairie Pines through the words of Prairie Pines founder, Walter Bagley.
P R A I R I E P I N E S FA S H I O N P H O T O G R A P H Y
Photography by Carlos Velasco. Models: Dorsey Kauffman & Halle Bowman, Masks by Aaron Sutherlen
PRAIRIE PINES MOBILE A P P L I C AT I O N
Concept Screens of Prairie Pines Mobile Application, showing the use of different trails, navigation, and an icon system developed for the trails.
SIGNAGE SYSTEM
The signage system created for the Prairie Pines park is made of untreated wood that was laser-cut into a rounded corner rectangle with two variations, one with a hollow back and one with a moss back. The type and graphics were created with black vinyl on top of the wood.
EYES OPEN SHORT FILM
Eyes Open was a short documentary about the life of Walt and the origin of Prairie Pines that was filmed and edited by me during the Prairie Pines project. The film utilizes a variety of motion graphics, a warm color grade throughout and playful use of visual with Walt’s narration. WAT C H T H E F I L M
http://tinyurl.com/ne37z7y
LOGO SAMPLES
POST & NICKEL For a branding course I decided to take on a local struggling high-end fashion store, The Post and Nickel, and envision not only ways to sustain it and improve it, but to redefine their brand, their potential and their appeal on a national level. Utilizing in-person interviews, online-surveys, a focus group, Nielsen research, CubeYou analytics and interviews with the store itself, I developed a concept to take the store into a direction based on the “Everyday Occasion�. The Everyday Occasion was a philosophy that everyday and every moment can be a special occasion and that, there are perfect looks to be had for the Everyday Occasion. The entire brand, from logo and copy and patterns, to advertising, architecture, website and more would be redefined to become a place where you could get timeless and well-crafted clothing, personalized service and a staff that will know you, and most importantly, a place where you could return time and time again to find the perfect piece. In-depth research led to special insights on how the voice should be crafted, what snacks and drinks to offer customers and how to best keep the brand sustained across multiple generations without sacrificing appeal and quality.
BRAND IDENTITY
The brand identity was updated to reflect a more sophisticated yet understated look and feel complete with a new brand pattern that could be applied on elements ranging from packaging to web to architecture. In a later brand standards guide, the elements were expanded to include three distinct logo variations.
WEBSITE
The website concept for Post and Nickel combined a unique retail experience where one could shop by looks, an editorial section dedicated to staff-written stories of the ideal ways Post and Nickel clothing could fit certain occasions. Campaigns like a hypothesized “#Style2go campaign also had dedicated microsites to showcase the various aspects of the campaign such as social interaction, campaign video and more.
PAC K AG I N G
Inspired by the lovely tradition of Japanese packing, luxury material and creating a special feeling at every touch point. Packaging concepts for the brand featured traditional boxes and bags with small touches such as a sealing sticker, envelope with receipt, sales associate card, booklet on the brand, and invitation to return. All merchandise also featured a black on black with spot gloss card with a joint “Ampersand� decorative card. Every single purchase had to feel special, well considered, and incredibly luxurious, whether it was a pair of Happy Socks or a Hugo Boss suit.
VISUAL MERCHANDISING
A unique challenge for Post & Nickel was the uninspiring window signage and visual merchandising that relied on clutter and a mismatch of signs. To alleviate this, the concept of a lifestyle brand was explored through conceptual window displays. The window display concept features a stark white organization of objects cluttered to create a cozy setting. The back shelf allows the viewer to see a metal cut of the brand pattern and pops of color naturally come from the fashion pieces themselves. ADVERTISING
Using the concept of different looks for the Everyday Occasion a series of brand ads based on “Looks” was devised. Each look conveyed a desirable lifestyle and was targeted towards different generations, keeping in line with the idea that the brand was relevant across multiple points in a person’s life.
ARCHITECTURAL ADDITIONS
Activating the natural architecture of the building from the exterior in order to convey the look and feel of the new brand was accomplished through the concept of wrapping the building in the brand pattern. In an ideal flagship, a metal cutout of the brand pattern would play alongside glass and create a modern and elegant facade that would invite customers inside. During the initial development, I consulted with an architect and interior designer to look at ways to best redevelop the interior of the space. Selections of dark wood, stained marble, rich velvet furniture and fresh flowers was chosen to create the feeling of entering an elegant home. Concepts were not taken to further renderings of completed concept store.
N E B R A S K A I N N O VA T I O N C A M P U S S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y C O L L AT E R A L
Internal Green Guide A publication was designed for Innovation campus as part of a sustainability efforts to be an internal guide to sustainability for NIC employees. Set in a simple two column layout (1/3 of the page devoted to a side bar) with typography set in the ‘Neutra’ typeface that is core to NIC brand standards. The publication was designed to be a clean, emphasizing the photography and statistics in
aesthetically pleasing manners. Sections are introduced with a large image taking up the width of the page, a header is over-layed on- top of the image for section heads. Copy inside of the publication is typeset in the NIC gray color with small pops of color throughout the flat graphics that correspond to NIC colors for specific topics such as waste or energy.
ALUMINUM SIGNAGE
A core goal of NIC is to reduce landfill waste and to promote recycling and composting. With Epoch Labs, we developed a system of three aluminum signs to be placed around NIC using easily recognizable graphic images, clear typography and recognizable color schemes that would also encourage the use of
WINDOW SIGNAGE
NIC uses extremely sustainable practices and materials and part of the collaborative effort included highlighting these facts in a series of window signs. These signs are duo-toned and each highlight individual parts of buildings such as LEED certification or the use of Alternative Energy.
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN ® STUDENT PLANNER
UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN STUDENT PLANNERS 2015-2018 For the past three years I’ve been able to design the official covers for the University of Nebraska Lincoln’s Academic Student Planner. Each planner plays off each other and has a common theme of lines, planning strokes, geometry and incorporation of Nebraska brand elements throughout.
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