BUDDY L. BRAND BOOK
Designed by GRISHMA SHAH
2
BUDDY L. BR AND GUIDELINES
Design, Edit, Production by: Grishma Shah in December 2016. Email: grishma.shah.np@gmail.com Typefaces: Archive and Gotham (Archive and Hoefler & Co. type foundries) Š 2016 Grishma Shah School: Academy of Art University Course: GR 604 OL1 The Nature of Identity Instructor: Gordon Mortensen This book was created for graduate schoolwork purposes and is not for sale. The intention of the content is to demonstrate the process of rebranding of a dead brand—Buddy L Toys. It does not imitate or compete against any existing or future brands.
4
BUDDY L. BR AND GUIDELINES
Bringing generations closer by bringing back timeless toys.
6
BUDDY L. BR AND GUIDELINES
table of contents buddy l
06
BRAND INVESTIGATION
08
SEMIOTIC EXPLORATION
16
BRAND HISTORY
18
MISSION STATEMENT
22
BRAND GRID
26
AUDIENCE PROFILING
33
BRAND GUIDELINES
34
LOGO DEVELOPMENT
38
LOGO ANATOMY
40
LOGO DOS
42
LOGO DON’TS
44
T YPOGRAPHY
46
COLOR
48
GRIDS
52
GRAPHIC ST YLE
54
PHOTO ST YLE
56
BRAND EXTENSIONS
58
STATIONERY
62
BRAND PACK AGING
66
WORKSHOP BROCHURE
72
LOOKING FORWARD
8 6
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
BRAND INVESTIGATION
semiotic exploration
gray KEYWORD 1/2 With the bigger aim of rebranding a dead, dying or defunct brand in mind, the process began with semiotic exploration of two words—two random words, not necessarily related to the bigger aim of rebranding. The first word was ‘gray’ and I imagined the word in a variety of visual explorations. It is surprisingly complex to visually represent some of these ideas with pictures. Here, you can see the final touches after a few rounds of this exercise. This helpful exercise, determined the number of ways a word can be interpreted and opened the possibilities of being associated with a brand.
1: Grays in color photography 2: Poem on gray smoke of cigarettes 3: Fifty shades of gray 4: Gray area visualized 5: Million shades of grays in someone’s life 6: Old age—shades of worry; grays of experience
10 8
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
1
2
3
4
12 10
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
5
6
SMALL KEYWORD 2/2 I chose the second word to be ‘small’ and played with scale and perspective. Before thinking about a brand, I played around with the keyword to take any format and visualized it to be independent within each of the six final explorations. Some concepts were hard to explain visually, like life’s little pleasures. They’re literally small/tiny in comparison to the vastness of life itself, but has nothing to do with the physical shape when it comes to actually reaslizing the happiness from it’s pleasure. Once again, this exercise opened doors to possibilities which would be difficult otherwise.
1: Small perspective 2: Little pleasures of life 3: Think big, start small 4: Size of me compared to The Earth 5: A journey is made of millions of small steps 6: Small is the new big in competition
14 12
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
1
2
3
4
16 14
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
5
6
BACK IN 1910 OVERVIEW Fred Lundahl started the Moline Pressed Steel Co., located in East Moline, in 1910. He made automobile fenders, truck and farm-implement parts. About 10 years after opening the business, he made a vow to his only child, 5-year-old Arthur. Having noticed the shoddy workmanship of the boy’s toys, Lundahl fashioned his own version of a miniature dump truck, using scrap metal from his company. The truck was a big hit in the 15th Street neighborhood. In 1921, he converted part of his machine shop into a toy making shop. He made miniature trucks, cars, tugboats, trains and other toys out of metal. And he named the line after his boy, nicknamed “Buddy.” Because little Arthur wasn’t the only boy in the neighborhood with the nickname, he was referred to as “Buddy L,” for Lundahl, and so was the toy line.
18 16
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
BRAND HISTORY
Arthur Lundahl, son of the father of the Buddy L company, Fred Lundahl, pictured in 1922 outside his home. Arthur’s nickname was Buddy L. This is a reproduction of a photo in the collection of the Rock Island County Historical Society Museum in Moline.
mission statement
From olden ‘TOYS FOR BOYS’
to golden ‘BRINGING GENERATIONS CLOSER BY BRINGING BACK TIMELESS TOYS.’
now for girls too!
20 18
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
rebranding objective Buddy L toys were originally marketed simply as “toys for boys”. A re-envisioned Buddy L brand will Bring generations closer by bringing back timeless toys. It’ll now create life sized play areas for kids, using sustainable materials. The brand will serve boys and now even girls, with educational, creative and eco-friendly play areas and toys that involve physical activity. The success of the brand will be built from the quality and durability of these new range of toys and will discourage the use of plastic by competeting with the plastic toys. Buddy L will leverage the nostalgic vintage value to bring generations closer by bringing back older toys with a refurbished look and redefined fun.
After making automobile fenders, truck and farm implement parts, Buddy L. converted to a toy-making shop in 1921 and made miniature trucks, cars, tugboats, trains and other toys out of metal... It will now be associated with sustainable and ecofriendly transformations of toys and play time. 22
BUDDY L. BR AND GUIDELINES
24 22
OBJECT
ARCHITECHTURE
TEXTURE
PERSON
TYPEFACE & COLOR
ANIMAL
ACTIVITY
CHAIR
FOOD/DRINK
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
brand grid
comparison
As each brand can be described in a distinct way, the brand grid is a perfect tool to help describe the brand at a glance. The before is the brand as it exists today (or it’s current positioning). The after grid is how we intend to reposition the brand. Specific terms and correlating images should guide the viewer to the essence of the brand itself and demonstrate clearly how the brand has changed.
BEFORE
Buddy L.
26 24
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
The before and after brand grids capture the shift in personification from the old to the new brand image. If were once about steel toys, it’s now about wooden, eco-friendly toys and play areas.
AFTER
buddy l.
audience profiling
people
The key to the success of any brand is getting the emotional appeal right. In the audience research, we’ve captured the heart of the people by describing audiences’ past experiences, current life stages, by what’s most important to them, and by how the brand can help them live better. The Buddy L rebrand should continue to appeal to changing times for customers as well as collectors, but should specifically branch out to all ages and phases of lives. These profiles help outline customers wanting to rediscover connecting to the younger minds and be part of a noble, nostalgic tradition.
28 26
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
a aron
AGE
AUDIENCE CATEGORY
6 Years
User
OVERVIEW Aaron is a 1st grader from Chicago, IL. He likes to collect toy cars and trucks and displays them proudly in his room. He also likes to play math games on the iPad and challenges his friends with high scores. His parents are Indians who moved to the U.S. for education and career. They grew up playing with traditional toys and spent most of their childhood outdoors. Valuing outdoor playtime, they discourage their son to only spend time playing games on the iPad and on the playstation. Aaron is growing to like spending time outside of home. Buddy L. offers play areas that encourage physical activities and help kids to learn something from every hour they spend playing.
SHERRY
AGE
AUDIENCE CATEGORY
13 Years
User
OVERVIEW Sherry is an 8th grader from Pittsburg, PA. She’s a straight A student and the most modest sister from her 5 siblings. She’s well matured for her age and is easily everyone’s favorite. She hates to play with Barbie dolls, prefers to play with his elder brother’s toys. Her favorite time of the year is Christmas, much like other kids, when she can look forward to getting gifts and meet her extended family. She likes to spend time with her grandpa in his garage where they sometimes construct small furniture for home. She loves to listen to stories from him and tells him some of her own. She’s fascinated by his collection of vintage trucks and engine models which he has promised to pass it on to her when she’s older.
30 28
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
L AUREN L AUREN
AGE
AUDIENCE CATEGORY
34 Years
Primary Buyer
OVERVIEW Lauren is a single mother of a 5 year old boy and 3 year old girl. She’s a nurse in San Francisco and drives Uber on weekends to make extra income. Her boy spends half a day pre-school and rest half in the day care at her workplace. She takes her daughter everywhere she goes—to work or to run errands. She’s constantly on a lookout for inexpensive daycare. She likes to plan camping and hiking trips with friends and tries her best to take her kids out in the nature. Buddy L. realizes the need for affordable services for kids, that single mothers like Lauren would benefit from. The play areas offered by Buddy L. can substitute for day care, in fact, it proves to be more educative and interactive than regular day care.
olivia
AGE
AUDIENCE CATEGORY
42 Years
Primary Buyer
OVERVIEW Olivia is a mother of 4 and lives with her husband in Brooklyn Park, MN. She leads a busy lifestyle as a Financial Analyst. They prefer to stay indoors on evenings and weekends to spend time playing board games with their children. They host parties to spend time playing board games and socializing with other families so that their children can make new friends. They are impressed with Buddy L.’s line of sustainable products and their values in encouraging play time that is educational. They believe in healthy competition for young minds that can help the kids of this generation to appreciate human interaction over technological influence.
32 30
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
L AUREN paul
AGE
AUDIENCE CATEGORY
45 Years
Secondary Influencer
OVERVIEW Paul is an Automotive Engineer in Austin, Texas. He never met his mother as she passed away before he was born and thus, he grew up with a single father. His father was a mechanic and ran a bike repair shop in their basement. From an early age, Paul knew a lot about motors and engines. He decided to turn that passion into a career and today finds a lot of peace thinking about his father and how he helped him realize his dream at a ripe age during childhood. He’s single and has adopted a foster kid and wants to teach him all the values that he learnt from his dad. He chooses Buddy L. because he’s inspired by the company’s history and wants to be associated with the revived brand.
L AUREN alfred
AGE
AUDIENCE CATEGORY
68 Years
Secondary Influencer
OVERVIEW Alfred is retired and lives in Jacksonville, FL. He was a mail handler in Virginia for 30 years before moving to Florida. He wanted to move to a new place to leave behind painful memories of his wife suffering from terminal cancer. Together they raised a beautiful family and today he’s a grandfather to 7 grandchildren. He lives to spend more and more time with them and tries to visit them often. He never fails to bring them toys and presents and writes letters for them to read on their birthdays. He also enjoys taking them out without their parents. He loves that the Buddy L. brand, whose toys he once played with, is bringing back nostalgic memories and now after so many years, he can see his grandkids playing with them as well.
34 32
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND INVESTIGATION GUIDELINES
branding guidelines
logo development
1921
ORIGINAL MARK The original Buddy L logo was modern for it’s time. It’s a successful mark for a toy company due it’s simple red, white and black treatment. The chosen typeface added a personality of strength that the materials of choice of the era included tin, pressed metal and cast iron. The outer shape represented sharp steel pressed toys.
36 34
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
2016
NEW MARK The new logo is derived from the shapes of sustainable materials that the new Buddy L uses to build their toys and play areas, like wood. The letters are made by stacking wooden blocks to spell out the brand name. The colors represent it’s reach to all ages, bringing generations closer by bringing back timeless toys.
38 36
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
Sketches and computer refinements that were considered for the new logo lock up.
logo anatomy
9x 3x
9x
40 38
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
3x
x
9x
9x
9x
9x
9x
clearspace
9x
SAFE AREA To retain maximum legibility of this multi-colored Buddy L. logo, it is advisable to leave a clearspace of the size equivalent to the square in the letter ‘b’. MINIMUM SIZE To logo is designed to be a vector and should always be scaled proportionally. The single ‘b’ is an acceptable version of the logo, appropriate as a watermark.
logo dos
yays
Besides the color version, the black or white version should be used on color photographs, color backgrounds, any background that would compromise the legibility of the color logo. The icon on the left is encouraged to be used in tight square spaces like for favicons.
42 40
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
yays
The logo can also be reversed on one of the brand colors as black or white. This can be done in a box equivalent to above having 9x (or more) space around the logo inside the color box. This treatment should be used sparingly and never with colors outside of these six brand colors.
logo don’ts 1
2
3
4
nays
44 42
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
1 & 2. DO NOT use outlines
8. DO NOT fill color in letters
3 & 4. DO NOT alter colors
9. DO NOT alter proportions
5. DO NOT alter/replace font
10. DO NOT add drop shadow
6. DO NOT use only one color
11. DO NOT add counters
7. DO NOT alter outline weight
12. DO NOT alter shape
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
typography
A
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWX YZ . ,; :’”!@# $ %^&*( ) - = +?/ \
G
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV WX YZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz . , ; : ’ ” ! @ # $ %^ &* ( ) - = +?/ \
fonts
Archive is our highlighter and carrier of the cheer in the face of its letters. It’s beautiful and intelligently designed typeface, very modern yet playful, making it perfect for our audience. Archive should be used for display purposes. Gotham is our corporate font, to be used for running text purposes. It has a fresh and playful geometric quality to it that instantly realizes the cheer Buddy L aims to spread.
46 44
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
The superscript dot on the question mark clevely imitate wooden blocks found in Buddy L play areas.
L
R
C
G
A
B
K
/
33
/1 10 9F 5/ 2 6 66 1/ A 8 #4 4 A 4 /0 0 K X /0 F 7 0 Y E 0 2B 0 B2 M H 0 C /1 # / 1 #7 0 | / | /0 X X 0 0 9 E 6 6 HE E 15 H K K | LU / | Y Y B 98 M 1 M K 1/ C C 69 7 R 17 | 2/ A 1/ | D GB 9 11 /1 N R LE / E 15 P 78 1 E 1 R R U B B G P G G 0 R R 5/ /6 5 0 0 4 9 40 8 C / 2 D 0 EF 4 0 B # K 5/ 4A 0 46 Y X 5/ # /9 F M # 0 C HE /2 2 EX /4 X | 2 E | 5/ H H 6 K D | Y | E 80 K M R / Y 6 . C 41 9 M L /6 4 / C /1 | Y 4 6 D 39 | 189 2 D W /1 U B E 7 1/ O 44 B G LL 2 LU B R E B B G Y /4 G R R /2 A /2 E 2 A K BE 0 Y E /9 M # 0 C X /4 | E 0 H /4 Y | 0 A 4 R G 34 K Y T 2 F M 5/ O C 1B S 23 | 11B / / E 6 3 Y #2 IT 2 A H R X W B E G G H E R S | N E 7 T I N 8/2 /2 B
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
48 46
color spread the cheer
Buddy L. is a multi-colored brand known for it’s playful and cheerful personality. The brand stands for spreading cheer and learning during and around play time. With the expanse of technology, younger minds are more and more prone to be geared with devices and stationary childhood. Buddy L. strives to get kids out of their couches and move around to play with real toys while developing cognitive skills. Moreover, adults are more than encouraged to accompany them and get playing from time to time.
PRIMARY PALETTE The primary colors Red, Blue and Yellow form the primary palette of Buddy L. They’re modified to be more playful and thus, owned by the brand. SECONDARY PALETTE Users can obtain printed swatch books from the Buddy L Brand Management Director. Contact Leslie
Green, Purple and Dark Blue add to the cheer by being the supporting color palette, also owned by Buddy L.
Charles at—434-225-7001,
BLACK & WHITE
or the brand team at—
The black and whites are also modified for the
questions@buddyl.com.
brand. White is a very soft gray, while black is an intense dark gray. By not being pure black and white, they fit in better with the rest of the cheer squad and provide extreme contrast without really standing out odd.
grids
structure
Buddy L. follows a simple symmetrical grid for single page or a spread. The generous margin space allows a rush of brand colors to be spread across the background, forcing to have minimum content per page. It is advisable to leave the layouts clean and airy paired with the graphical treatment or photographic layouts. Let the layout(s) exhale color.
SPECS, AS SHOWN HERE Base size considered here—8.5” x 11” (Letter size). For any layout, page sizes should be proportional to letter size, there’s no maximum or minimum. Margins are measured based on the width of the spread—1/10th of width on three sides, double that (1/5th) on top. Use a 4x4 grid with gutter size—1/50th of width and fit guides to margins.
50 48
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
GRIDS CONTINUED...
HEADING
subhe ad
The main body copy of the page goes here, giving it a hierarchical importance. Minimal writing or modified length of content is advised, so as to keep the layout short and concise. This way there’s no ‘info heavy’ spread and the structure remains easy to follow. The box around the body copy allows for inspired read through small text, while the clear heading and subhead helps navigate through the layout from a browsing perspective.
SECTION HEADERS This space is for the secondary body copy. Use this space to further explain the contents of the page and/or to list the highlights. The section marks the last in hierarchy, right after photo captions.
52 50
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
Use this type setting for quotes or callouts.
Caption space. Above: Buddy L was the leader of manufactured pressed-steel toys until the 1940’s. Later, with the availability of steel gone, Buddy L went into the wooden-toy business out of necessity.
graphic style
elements
The Buddy L. logo is not a modified font and thus are the base of all graphic elements. The letter shapes are leveraged in many ways to create a line of graphics that can be used in many ways and allows room to stray away from photography. Buddy L. is essentially has a graphical visual presence.
54 52
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
photo style
b/ w
With our colorful brand, we pair black and white photographs. It allows the use of a lot of color in graphical representation with ease and eliminates photographic colors to disrupt the brand color scheme. Use the photos with soft exposures and deep contrast. The greys in the photographs must be leveraged to stand out on the intense grey and rest of the brand’s color pallette.
56 54
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND GUIDELINES
58 56
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND EXTENSIONS GUIDELINES
brand extensions
stationery
Stationery set, not shown at 100%. The blue pattern with diagonal lines is the back of business card and letterhead.
60 58
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND EXTENSIONS GUIDELINES
62
BUDDY L. BR AND GUIDELINES
64 62
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND EXTENSIONS GUIDELINES
brand packaging
boxes
Buddy L has a cheerful personality that needs to be presented in as many ways as possible. Everything that the brand does, needs to stay on it’s brand personality track. Here, with the packaging boxes, the form factor, material, size, weight and feel, all participate in bringing out the liveliness of this brand. The brand colors are leveraged towards a colorful and cheerful experience for the users.
As a re-launched toy brand, Buddy L aims to bring back the good ol’ days that grandparents and parents of this day spent playing during their childhood. Pictured here are Buddy L shopping bags. One-of-a-kind and filled with plenty of cheer to liven up a toy shopping day.
66 64
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND EXTENSIONS GUIDELINES
workshop brochure
Buddy L brochure was designed to promote its workshops and classes taught at the Buddy L store section, where students learn to create toys and other interesting pieces of small furniture using machinery from a young age. It helps strengthen unique skills from an early age and makes them sharp and aware of the correct way to use tools. These workshops are always guided by talented instructors who are trained in teaching kids from 5-15 ages.
68 66
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND EXTENSIONS GUIDELINES
The brochure is available at the Buddy L stores and at a few retail outlets. It can also be subscribed for to receive a paperless version through email. It’s a monthly subscription, available for free with Buddy workshop membership.
70 68
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND EXTENSIONS GUIDELINES
72 70
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND EXTENSIONS GUIDELINES
We look forward to a new chapter in Buddy L’s brand history, and many successes ahead.
74 72
BUDDY L. BRAND BR AND EXTENSIONS GUIDELINES
looking forward ...
76
BUDDY L. BR AND GUIDELINES
78
BUDDY L. BR AND GUIDELINES