Visual Strategy Guide
Motown Unites.
Introduction 6 Re -branding Motown
Smokey Robinson After an extraordinary career fronting the Miracles, creating hits for the group and many others, he steps onto a solo path in 1972 and forges a new body of work. CREDI T/ B O OK : MOTOW N: T HE SO UND OF YO UNG AMERICA BY BARNE Y AL ES & ANDRE W LO O G OL DHAM & ADAM W HI T E
7
—Smokey Robinson, Singer & Songwriter.
Introduction
“One thing I can say about the Motown acts is that we were a family. That’s not a myth.”
Visual Strategy Guide
01 SOUND OF THE PAST Timeline
10
Berry Gordy
12
History Of Motown
16
Civil Rights Movement
20
02
03
SOUND OF THE FUTURE
THE NEW DIRECTION
Previous Visual Grid
30
Target Audience
54
New Motown
45
Competition
64
Revived Visual Grid
54
01
SOUND OF
Previous Visual Grid
30
New Motown
45
Revived Visual Grid
54
Visual Strategy Guide
1961 The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Primettes sign with Motown, 1st Motown song on Billboard Top 100 Songs, “Please Mr. Postman”.
1963
1959 Gordy borrows an $800 loan from the Gordy family’s savings fund and started a recorder company.
MLK’s Detroit March is Recorded with Motown Records.
1960
1964
Motown’s first hit: “Money by Barrett Strong, written by Berry Gordy.
Beatles perform in the US, while Motown performs in London.
1962 Motown leaves to tour the South for the first time, artists include: The Miracles, Stevie Wonder, and more.
1967 MLK records “Why I oppose the Vietnam War” on Motown’s Black Forum Record Label.
1965
1980s
Motown launches its foreign label in London and The Temptations’ “My Girl” reaches #1 on Billboard’s.
Motown had started losing money, and Berry Gordy sold his ownership in Motown to MCA Records, Boston Ventures in June 1988 for $61 million.
1966
2017+ Motown is going to empower all minorities in America through performance and literary arts.
Motown grosses $20 Million; Noman Whitefield begins working with The Temptations.
1972 Motown moves from its home in Detroit to the new Hollywood.
Berry Gordy Sound of the past
He is the founder of Motown, known as the most successful black owned music company and label in the history of the United States. Early Life Berry Gordy Jr. was born on November 28, 1929, in Detroit, Michigan. He was the seventh of eight children in a close-knit, hardworking family. Berry Gordy Jr. borrows loan from family to start Tamla/Motown Records�. 14
Gordy struggled in school. He loved music, Gordy was interested in song writing at age 7, but when he was kicked out of his high school music class, he dropped out of school in order to pursue a boxing career. By the time he was twenty, Gordy had triumphed in 13 of 19 professional fights. However, the realization that boxing would age him much faster than music prompted Gordy to return to song writing. These plans were interrupted when he was drafted into the army in 1951. After two years in the army, during which he earned his GED, Gordy opened a record store with a friend, but unfortunately, the store focused on jazz while customers wanted R&B; Gordy realized this too late to keep the business from folding.
Re -branding Motown
Music and Money Gordy had gotten married in 1953; with a family to support, he took a job on a Lincoln-Mercury plant assembly line in 1955. The monotony of putting upholstery in cars all day had one benefit: He could compose songs in his head while working. At the age of 27, Gordy decided to hand in his notice and dedicate himself to music once more. (His wife didn’t approve and they ended up separating.) and through family
Standing proud Taken in front of the old Motown Label building, holding a record album of The Supermes, 1964.
15
connections, Gordy encountered singer Jackie Wilson’s manager; he ended up co-writing the Wilson hit “Reet Petite,” which came out in 1957. Gordy also wrote Wilson’s “Lonely Teardrops” and “To Be Loved.”
CREDI T/ PHOTO GR APH Y: TON Y SPINA , 19 6 4.
Gordy soon started his own music publishing company, which he called Jobete, a combination of letters from his three children’s names. The business wasn’t as lucrative as he’d hoped, and he therefore decided to open his own record company. Beginnings of Motown Using $800 his family had loaned him, Gordy formed Tamla Records on January 12, 1959. When Gordy set up shop in a house on Detroit’s West Grand Boulevard, Gordy chose the aspirational name Hitsville for his headquarters. One of Tamla’s labels was called Motown, the name that came to embody the company; the Motown Record Corporation was incorporated in 1960. Visual Strategy Guide
Sound of the past 16
Motown During the riots. Above: Rehearsing in the studio, Right: Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street riot, 1967. CREDI T/ B O OK : MOTOWN: T HE SO UND OF YO UNG AMERICA BY BARNE Y AL ES & ANDRE W LO O G OL DHAM & ADAM WHI T E .
Re -branding Motown
Section of the page
17
Sound of the past
History Of Motown Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music.
18
Who is Motown? Motown is an American record company founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. his main ambition was to produce the ‘Sound of Young America’, no matter what color, which made Motown play an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American owned record label that achieved significant crossover success. Motown wanted to be a positive force, to break prejudice and come together through music. Above the front windows of Motown Records’ Detroit headquarters was a sign that read “Hitsville U.S.A.” Placed there by Motown founder Berry Gordy soon after his company moved into the modest home at 2648 W, detroit. The Beginnings. Founded on January 12, 1959, Motown quickly became another Detroit factory; where the Big Three produced automobiles, Motown assembled the soul and pop that changed America. There’s no hyperbole in that statement. Arriving at the height of the civil rights movement, Motown was a black owned, black centered business that gave white America something they just could not get enough of joyous, sad, romantic, mad, groovin’, music.
Re -branding Motown
Sound of the past 19 Visual Strategy Guide
City of Detroit, The 2648 West Grand boulvard house, Gordy with Little Stevie Wonder. CREDI T/ B O OK : MOTOWN: T HE SO UND OF YO UNG AMERICA BY BARNE Y AL ES & ANDRE W LO O G OL DHAM & ADAM WHI T E .
Sound of the past
What was the Motown Sound? Great melodies, lots of tambourines and hand clapping, blaring horns, interplay between the lead singer and his or her backup vocalists, driving bass lines and foot-slapping drum parts. In his still essential Motown history Where Did Our Love Go? Nelson George writes, “Motown engineer Mike McClain built a sounding radio designed to approximate the sound of a car radio. They knew people would be listening on their car stereos and on their transistor sets and they were going to do what it took to make their songs sound good and memorable. Even if you couldn’t put your finger on it, when a Motown song came on, you knew it. Love songs Throughout the Sixties Motown produced a catalog of songs that cannot be rivaled. They were simple love songs that told simple stories, in happy or heartbreakingly sad ways. And all the while Motown was the pride of Detroit city and the pride of black America.
Around the time of the ‘67 Detroit riots However, things changed, as they eventually had to Gordy looked west, towards Los Angeles (how could such a large entertainment company as his not be involved in movies and television?). Dissatisfied with the increasing disconnect between the success of their work and the level of their pay, Holland-Dozier Holland broke off from Motown, and while the Jackson 5 was on the rise, most of the rock steady Motown acts of the early ‘60s were on the wane. In 1971, the label released Marvin Gaye’s song What’s Going On, a thoughtful, socially conscious album whose title track. However, a year later, Motown deserted Detroit for Hollywood, California Burst of Motown creativity. It was arguably the last great burst of Motown creativity. Gordy, released two films starring Diana Ross—Mahogany and the Billie Holiday biopic Lady Sings the Blues. The 80s brought Rick James and Lionel Richie and The Big Chill—a white, yuppie film with an amazing Motown sound track, “Aint Too Proud To Beg” was reduced to dish washing music. By 1988, Gordy sold the company to MCA, which in turn sold it to Polygram, which in turn was bought by Universal.
20 Re -branding Motown
Sound of the past 21 Visual Strategy Guide
Motown Stars Above: Jackson Five Below: The Supremes CREDI T/ B O OK : MOTOWN: T HE SO UND OF YO UNG AMERICA BY BARNE Y AL ES & ANDRE W LO O G OL DHAM & ADAM WHI T E
Sound of the past
Civil Rights Movement The Sixties reputation represented quite a turnaround for Detroit.
22
In the early twentieth century There was a mass migration of African-Americans and European immigrants to the Motor City and each ethnic group lived in their unofficially communities; living separately and competing for the same jobs, both ethnic groups felt tensions increase and in 1943 the Detroit race riots occurred. For several days, whites and blacks fought in the streets, ultimately leaving 34 dead, hundreds injured and millions in property damages. Twenty years later with no riots and black entrepreneurship underway with businesses like Motown, it is understandable why people thought Detroit was past racial tensions and violence. Martin Luther King’s March To further praise Detroit’s “peaceful co-existence,” Martin Luther King Jr. decided to lead a march and speak in Detroit. In, 1963, Detroit’s Great March to Freedom commenced in which and both black and white marched peacefully, displayed an inspirational unity.
Re -branding Motown
Motown’s success as an African American owned and run business also bolstered the idea of Detroit’s harmonious atmosphere in that Motown was an evidence of African American success and black economic independence. Economic independence was one of the main themes preached by the Civil Rights Movement.
During the rally Blacks and white holding hands during the civil rights movement rally.
23
Cross over artists The Supremes, The Temptations and The Four Tops were well trained to exemplify the Motown look and sound; the sound was specific for each group and contained light, non-controversial messages about love, fun, heartbreak, dancing and even money.
CREDI T/ PHOTO GR APH Y: TON Y SPINA , 19 6 4.
1962 marked an increase in the activism of the Civil Rights Movement with protests, which, in turn, increased racial tensions and violence in the South. When Motown artists went to the South, they and their bus, which resembled a Freedom Riders bus, were sadly harassed and attacked. Despite these attacks Motown embodied the spirit of racial integration and cooperation that was a common theme in the Civil Rights Movement. In this sense, what Motown symbolized was more in compliance with Martin Luther King Jr.’s movement than the radical black empowerment movement of Malcolm X or the Black Panthers. Visual Strategy Guide
Motown contributed to the Civil Rights Movement without deviating from its founder’s main goal: to make music that most Americans wanted to listen to. By producing hit music, the youth of America came together and implemented the Civil Rights principles of integration and cooperation.
Sound of the past 24
Balck and White segregation Above: An African-American man drinking at a “colored” drinking fountain in a streetcar terminal in Oklahoma City, 1939. Left: Photos from the Civil Rights Movement rally. CREDI T/ WEB: ENCYCLOPEDIA B RI TANNICA
Re -branding Motown
Section of the page
25
Sound of the past 26 Re -branding Motown
Martha Reeves, Dusty Springfield and the Vandellas. The Sound of Motown TV special recorded in London on March, 1965. CREDI T/ B O OK : MOTOW N: T HE SO UND OF YO UNG AMERICA BY BARNE Y AL ES & ANDRE W LO O G OL DHAM & ADAM W HI T E
Sound of the past 27
“Motown was about music for all people. White and black, blue and green, cops and the robbers. I was reluctant to have our music alienate anyone.” —Berry Gordy Jr.,Founder of Motown
Visual Strategy Guide
02
SOUND OF
Previous Visual Grid
30
New Motown
45
Revived Visual Grid
54
Sound of the future
Previous Motown Motown wanted to make music, songs about love that America can listen to.
32
Motown stood for music With Motown, Gordy wanted to make music that would cross the racial divide. From his tiny studio, a sound as inimitable as a thumbprint began to emerge: rhythms, reinforced by hand-claps and tambourines, overlaid with sweet, uplifting, simple, nice and perfect melodies. It was a sound with its roots in the churches and tenements of the ghetto but keeping the relentless optimism; a clear combination of emotional excitement, romanticism and elegance was to redefine not only black music, but all pop music from then on. Gordy, with characteristic bravado, dubbed it “the sound of young America”. He once said, “I wanted to have a kid off the street walk in one door unknown and come out another door a star, like an assembly line; that was my dream.”
Re -branding Motown
Sound of the future
Unite and bring people together through music. 33
—PREVIOUS MISSION STATEMENT.
Visual Strategy Guide
Sound of the future 34 Re -branding Motown
The Supremes Motown music brought black and white people together on the dance floor. CREDI T/ B O OK : MOTOW N: T HE SO UND OF YO UNG AMERICA BY BARNE Y AL ES & ANDRE W LO O G OL DHAM & ADAM W HI T E
OLD MOTOWN’S STRATEGY A chart looking at Motown’s previous strategy, where they wanted to make pop music for a wide audience but sang by a talented group of African-Americans. Sound of the future
Audience
Performing Arts
Music
Dance
35
U.S.A and the world. Theater
African Americans
Poetry
The rest of the U.S.A
Sang by
Novel Short stories
Literary Arts
Visual Strategy Guide
Sound of the future
Previous Visual Grid Comparing the differences between the old and new Motown in a visual grid. Fame, Money, and Music Using a visual grid to create a common visual language to translate ideas and concepts. We looked at Motown’s old visuals through photographs, record album covers, posters, and even tickets, therefore we found the connections and visuals that fit with the old soul.
36
At the beginning stages, a mood board was created, that included anything and everything, later we refined the mood board into a visual grid and design direction after we’ve added enough content. A visual grid is meant to be a space where images were added according to camps, and different categories such as, animal, house, object, people, and activity. Therefore, the new visual grid was created to visualize Motown’s reinvented soul. In conclusion, previous Motown was about music, fame, and cross culture between African Americans and the rest of the United States.
Re -branding Motown
Sound of the future 37 Visual Strategy Guide
Tamla, Motown UK Tour Motown goes British with Tamla -Motown Tour in 1965. CREDI T/ W EB: CL ASSIC MOTOW N .
MOTOWN’S OLD SOUL Fame, Money, and African Americans singing pop music for everybody.
Sound of the future 38
MOTOWN
Re -branding Motown
Sound of the future
New Motown We’re bringing back Motown, in a new redefined look and new goals while keeping its soul. Re-branding Objectives American empowerment and pride, however back in the day, the major minority group was the African-American man or woman, but today the demographic expanded, it include a wider range.
40
Studies show that Theatrical, Literary, and Performing arts are declining between the minorities, for many reasons such as low income status and the fact that not many of them get hired later on in life because of their racial background. Therefore, Motown will encourage them to take on the stage by including, all Performing Arts, especially the Stage Arts. Therefore, that’s what Motown aims to do, empower all minorities by giving them chances and encourage them to elevate their artistic abilities on stage and use their voices and talent. Future Expansion Motown is going to give, create, and support. Including a partnership with The William H. Johnson foundation for the arts and the National Endowment for the Arts to give grants to minorities in the performing arts fields and bringing back the Black Forum by a copartnership with the Minority Organization Group.
Re -branding Motown
Sound of the future 41
Breaking racial barriers through empowering and uniting minorities in the performing arts community.
—NEW MISSION STATEMENT.
Visual Strategy Guide
Sound of the future
42
Re -branding Motown
NEW MOTOWN’S STRATEGY. The new Motown targets the minorities in U.S.A., in the Performing Arts field, especially on stage.
Sound of the future
Minorities
Audience
Performing Arts
Music
U.S.A
Dance
43
and the world. Theater
Minorities in the U.S.A
Poetry
Rest of the U.S.A
Performed by
Novel Short stories
Literary Arts
Visual Strategy Guide
KEYWORDS WE LIVE BY The new Motown believes in three essential words, through them we can clearly identify what we stand for.
Sound of the future
Empower We aim to encourage all minorities to pursure their dreams in a positive form of artistic self-expression.
Unite 44
Encourage collboration and supporting each other by creating a strong netwrok in the perfoming arts industry.
Redefine Breaking the racial sterotype by using their artistic talents.
Re -branding Motown
Sound of the future
Revived Visual Grid New Motown in a visual grid.
Empowerment and Unity. Previously, we have used a mood board to analyze Motown’s previous visual aesthetics and soul through images that we later translated into a visual grid.
46
Therefore, we were able to turn the new visual grid into a meaningful images to communicate Motown’s new soul and mission; Breaking racial barriers, empowerment, unity and artistic self-expression.
Re -branding Motown
Sound of the future
47
Visual Strategy Guide
MOTOWN’S NEW SOUL Breaking racial barriers, empowerment, unity and self-expression.
Sound of the future 48
MOTOWN
Re -branding Motown
49
Sound of the future 50 Re -branding Motown
Diana Ross Iconic image of Diana Ross taken by Harry Langdon, 1970s. CREDI T/ W EB: CL ASSIC MOTOW N .
Sound of the future
“If I have someone who believes in me, I can move mountains.” —Diana Ross, Singer, Actress, and Producer.
51 Visual Strategy Guide
03
THE NEW
Target Audience
54
Competition
64
The new direction
Target Audience Analyzing the target audience including their traits and their phases in life. Target Audience The target audience is the demographic of people who are most likely to show interest in our product or services. Thus, our target audience has expanded to a bigger and wider demographic. Motown aims to create a bond, a strong system in the performing arts industry.
56
Why does it matter? The tone of our advertising message should reflect the type of people we are trying to reach. In order to get people to join Motown, we need to strike a chord with something that’s meaningful to them. Finding the target audience We have selected our audience based on two types of needs that our service fulfills; we looked at people from different ages and comes from different phases in the Arts field, but have one thing in common, equality.
Re -branding Motown
Not the audience
Can be an asset to Motown/ Teacher
Major Audience / Ex-theater performer
Major Audience / Loves poetry
Can be an asset to Motown/ Motivator
Major Audience / Love to dance
Can be an asset to Motown/ Business owner
Not the audience
Visual Strategy Guide
Audience Scheme next page The filled in circle indicates the range of each audience, while the dotted line shows the target audience Motown is aiming for.
01 Book Worm Enthusiast The new direction
Bao Nguyen Freelance Architect 32 Years old Shunyi, China
Bao spends most of his time at home, working on many different designs for major global companies.
58
He doesn’t like to write but prefers to read novels during his free time, because its accessible and a way for him to escape the design world. Bao usually hosts a few of his friends to eat little snacks while discussing and exchanging novels. That’s his favorite way of interacting with people. He does not like to interact with strangers face-to-face and prefers to be on his own most of the time because he finds solitude int that.
Bao strongly believes that art and design are different, he always likes to say that “art is just a little hobby, but design is functional and pays”
Re -branding Motown
He watched his dad work two jobs and barely got to spend time with him. Joshua appreciates what his dad did to give him a better education. However, he wishes that his dad had enough time to be with him and so he made sure to get paid well so that if he has kids someday. He’s going to be around them. Bao only gets out of the house for groceries or to meet his family and close friends because he’s an introvert.
02 The Self-Empowered Student The new direction
Skye Tariku College Freshman 19 Years old Jacksonville, Florida
Skye’s father is an Ethiopian-American while her mother is a Caucasian-American. Her parents drifted apart when her father got a job in Canada and soon got a divorce which was hard on her because she loved spending time with her father, especially when he used to take her for long walks and tell her all about his childhood in Ethiopia. 59
She loves listening to Ethiopian music because it reminds her of her late grandfather, she loved the way he used it to express his feelings.
Growing up in a white dominated community, she got teased for looking different. Which led her to write poetry for the school’s news paper about self empowerment.
Therefore, She loved Maya Angelou poem Still I Rise, “ou may kill me with your hatefulness,But still, like air, I’ll rise” Skye wants to be an literary artist because she wants to express her thoughts and raise awareness about “Racism and bullying”
She also volunteers in the African-American museum of the Arts in Florida, hoping to learn more about where comes from and ways to pass her knowledge to others.
Visual Strategy Guide
Skye is friendly and tries to be kind to others because she wants to set a good example for people her age.
03 The Visual Communicator The new direction
Ahmed Abdulla Photographer & Performer 30 Years old Atlanta, Georgia
Ahmed loves to capture people’s movements in different environments because he believes that by studying humans body gestures in comparison to where they are, then we could learn more about each other’s cultures. 60
He loves traveling the world because he is passionate about different cultures and their roots. Ahmed identify as a gay man, which was not easy for him growing up, as he lived in an environment that was not LGBT friendly. To him, Kalup Linzy is the best artist a because he made the LGBT part of performance arts.
Ahmed knows what it feels like to be from a small rural community and so he tries to give back by donating money. Even though he really wants to make a bigger impact towards minorities.
He is a social butterfly, loves to meet new people and go to many different events. Because to him, that’s the perfect way to be involved in the arts scene and a way to use it as a platform to encourage more performance and literary artists from minority backgrounds to set up to the scene. Re -branding Motown
Ahmed is a performer in the Theater Scene in Atlanta, he takes on many roles. However, he loves to take on AfricanAmerican roles the most because he wants to show off his talents.
04 The Young Giver The new direction
Dante Lee Highschool Student 16 Years old Oakland, CA
Dante was diagnosed with a hearing impairment at a very young age and so he used body movements to communicate with others and socializing. 61
He comes from a big family, however, they’ve struggled to make ends meet. And that makes him feel like he should find ways to help out. Therefore, Dante also loves to show up on the streets to give performance and dancing shows. Dante likes to call himself Hybrid, because of his ethnicity to give it a cool sounding title. Hoping it might help other biracial teens feel awesome. He always tries to help his friends learn new dance moves and makes sure they have their own groove. Dante is not really doing well in school, because most kids seem to be more advanced than him even though he really tries to study. He just finds is hard to understand certain subjects like sciences and mathematics. Even though he comes from a low income household, He volunteers to the homeless shelter every christmas eve to give back to the community.
Visual Strategy Guide
He hopes to one day be great at moving his body to use it to communicate with the whole world.
05 The Free-Spirited Activist The new direction
Martha Miller Author and Activist 60 Years old San Francisco, CA
Martha lived most of her life being an activist, she fought for African-American rights and was part of the Hippie Culture Movement. That’s when many took part in the growing Civil Rights Movement because it fit well with their beliefs in equality, unity, peace, love and brotherhood 62
She often writes articles about her encounter with racism through out her life time; especially that she was a Caucasian supporter. She hopes that people of today are going to change, be united and treat each other equally. At the age of 35, Martha became a millionaire by selling her autobiography and that’s when she decided to adopt two homeless children to give them a better future. Martha does not believe that she should retire at the age of 65, because a person can stay young in their mind and she wants to empower the minorities for as long as she is alive
She donates money to many different foundations to help those in need and to encourage others to find creative ways to empower the minorities.
Re -branding Motown
As a caucasian woman, she strongly believes that being an alley can help end prejudice. She strongly believes in a diverse environment where people know about their ethnicity to encourage self pride.
06 The Dreamer & Ex-Performer The new direction
Sofía Lopez An Ex-theater performer 26 Years old Manhattan, New York
Sofia grew up in Texas and was always passionate about theater but her family never supported her dream and so she moved to Manhattan, New York to pursue her Theatrical Ambition. 63
Because she was an excellent student, she got a scholarship to join the Theatre Arts: Marymount Manhattan College.
After graduation Sofia struggled with finding roles in theater, a casting agent once told her to drop her dream because being on Broadway isn’t for Latinas.
She ended up getting a job as a secretary because she needed to get a reliable salary. Sofia is a supportive woman, she always encourages people to pursue their dreams even though she gave up on hers, hoping she’d be encouraged too. She can see the love of theater in her nephew’s eyes and so she encourages his passion hoping that one day his ethnicity wont dictate the future he wants. Visual Strategy Guide
She did not quit the theater, but still waiting for that grand opportunity to come her way.
07 The Successful Entrepreneur The new direction
Makayla Walker UI/UX Designer 38 Years old Mountian View, California
64
Makayla is a single mother of one, she had her daughter at 17; her parents couldn’t help her financially, as they were struggling themselves. She got a job at McDonald’s and thought her life for a better future was over. However, she started seeing how people were into the digital world and that’s when she decided to take on two jobs and go to night classes at a community college to learn more about entrepreneurship. Makayla is hard working, she graduated from the community college fast, went to a lot of seminars and that’s where she met a few programmers and soon launched her own app.
Currently, she owns her own company on weekdays, and gives seminars on entrepreneurship on weekends to those who maybe have lost their way in life, She also gives free workshops to those who cannot afford to pay. Her company takes an important role when it comes to giving back a percentage from profit to charities.
Re -branding Motown
She lives by her favorite quote “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them. – Madam C.J. Walker, Hair-Care Business. Which describes her motivation perfectly. Makayla always makes sure that her daughter works hard in school, in all fields. She wants to ensure that her daughter is going to have a bright future. She is strong and opinionated, which she knows it may not always sit well with people. But Makayla strongly believes in being assertive to get what you want in life.
08 The Luxurious Fashionista The new direction
Marie O’Neil Wealthy and Unemployed 22 Years old Los Angeles, California
Marie grew up in a wealthy household, where things were given to her without having to work hard for it. Because of her family’s fame, she makes money by making a few club appearances every 6 months. 65
Marie is a friendly and social woman, however many might think she is a stuck up. Deep down she loves making people smile but she is not really into helping poor communities thrive because she believes that people should not ask for other people’s help and instead, get up and do it themselves. She loves to go shopping, to her everything that isn’t expensive is going to get ruined fast. She only selects items that are luxurious and high end. That’s how she trusts a brand.
Marie dreams to own her own blog someday but hasn’t had the motivation to start one and finds instgram easier. So she uses it to post pictures about her favorites brands, friends, and her travels.
Marie loves being around her family, and that’s the reason why she hasn’t moved out yet. She and her sisters spend most of their time playing tennis on weekends, and never ever miss a spa session.
Visual Strategy Guide
Her circle of friends are diverse, but they all come from wealthy families and spend their time eating fine dinning, shopping, and traveling the world together.
Competition The new direction
Analyzing the competition around us when it comes to music labels and arts.
66
Why does it matter? In order to grow, Motown created three categories, Music, Arts, and non-profit organizations competitors, and we found that our competition ranges from music labels, recordings, media industries, performing arts, grants and scholarships as well as organizations that are considered activists, those who raise awareness and takes a big role in the community to make a difference and help people.
Re -branding Motown
CURRENT COMPETITION Famously known to produce music whether its digitally or in a studio. They all have the ‘musical’ feel, repetitive and rhythmical graphical elements. The new direction
Sony/ATV A Music Publishing company, Music and ownership is what ties it to Motown.
Sound Cloud Upload, record,& promote original digital music.
Epic Records A jazz music label in 1953. Expanded to include a more diverse range of musical genres, including pop, R&B.
Universal Group Is the world leader in entertainment.
A music company That is interested in recorded music, publishing and all musician services.
Def Jam Recording focused on urban music, something that is hip and new.
67
Atlantic Records Major American Label that features many AfricanAmerican Musicians.
Columbia The second major record company to produce records.
Good Getting Out Our Dreams. Founded by Kanye West, an artist and record producer.
Visual Strategy Guide
ADJACENT COMPETITION Pride and Fighting for social justice, as for the design most of them used strong words and typefaces with strong characters.
The new direction
Black Lives Matter A movement by activists by the African American community to end all violence.
National Association of Black Journalists Their is mission to strengthen ties among African American journalists but like Motown it promotes diversity in a certain field and strives for excellence in the industry.
Bet Network Being famously known for an all Black Entertainment.
MRGI Raising awareness of minority rights by providing better information to the public around us.
Museum of the African Dispora Connecting all people through the culture, history, and art.
Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit A responsive center for the field of both Literary and performance arts.
Ebony Magazine Ebony features people from the African American Industry and celebrates their successes.
Code 2040 Creates access, awareness, and opportunities for top Black and Latinos to ensure their own leadership.
Institute for urban & minority education. Improve the quality of life chances through education in the communities of urban minorities.
68
Color of Change Campaigning to end practices that unfairly hold Black people back.
Re -branding Motown
FUTURE COMPETITION Grants, education, and Support for the minorities, they seem to combine both symbols and words, expressive yet intelligent.
The new direction
ISPA Brings together performing arts leaders to discover the next great idea, and rejuvenate their passion for the arts.
AFTA It is a nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America, making it important.
Artistic Freedom Initiative Advancing and promoting artistic freedom and peaceful dialogue through art.
NEA Funds, promotes, and strengthens the creativity of all talented Americans.
Mellon Foundation Grants to institutions in higher education, in cultural affairs and the performing arts.
Artslandia Magazine Connecting people with their city’s music, dance, and theater and to grow their existing appreciation for the arts.
Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. Grant programs for all artists to explore and create, support and to assist in career development.
Performing Arts Workshop Educational organization dedicated to help children develop critical thinking, creative expression through performing.
The William H. Johnson Foundation For The Arts A foundation that funds “early career” for African-American artists.
69
Inner City Arts Enrich the lives of minorities, esp who come from poor neighborhoods.
Visual Strategy Guide
The new direction 70
Gordy and Jackson Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr. and pop icon Michael Jackson celebrate success. CREDI T/ B O OK : MOTOW N: T HE SO UND OF YO UNG AMERICA BY BARNE Y AL ES & ANDRE W LO O G OL DHAM & ADAM W HI T E
Re -branding Motown
The new direction 71
“I have discovered that Motown and Broadway have a lot in common. A family of wonderfully talented, passionate, hardworking people.” —Berry Gordy Jr., Founder of Motown
Visual Strategy Guide
The new direction 74
Climbing the ladder to reach new measures.
Re -branding Motown
Sources
Motown: The sound of young America By Adam White and Barney Ales
The new direction
Body Copy:
Motown Museum motownmuseum.org Motown Records motownrecords.com The Motown Effect Short Documentary
75
Photography: Istock photos Pintrest Tumblr Getty Images
Visual Strategy Guide
Colophon
Printed and bound with Blurb Designed by Hamda AL Naimi Typefaces Atlas Grotesk Publico Hurme Geometric No.1 Paper used Eggshell textured uncoated finish Manufactured by Mohawk Fine Papers. A project created for Academy of Art university Instructor Hunter Wimmer Nature of identity Spring 2017