Brand Story Book
01
Research and Strategy
HISTORY Saturn was the product of an extraordinary effort within GM to create a company from scratch, without any preconceived notions and combining the most advanced techniques and ideas in all areas. At the same time, however, critics note that its accomplishments have been achieved slowly and at great expense. The company began in January 1985 but did not produce a car until 1990. It’s first four-door sedan became a surprise hit in America through the 90’s and even earned some pretty loyal customers. It was unlike other GM cars. It was made with polymer (plastic) exterior pieces, a unique powertrain and a revolutionary retail sales approach. Demand often
exceeded supply for many years. As time went on, Saturn expanded it’s offerings to include an SUV and minivan. The new sports coupe, the Saturn Skye saw minimal success near the end of it’s tenure. The customer satisfaction ratings and loyalty was unprecendented in a car company. Saturn held an annual owners’ picnic with over 100,000 in attendance. Good customers and decent cars couldn’t sustain it’s profitability though. Saturn saw some pretty tough times in the late 90’s and 2000’s. General Motors and the labor unions could not compete with up and coming foreign car companies nor could they agree on a direction for the company. Saturn produced its last car in October 2009.
June 1982
Jan. 1985
July 1990
1999
Alex C. Mair began a “revolutionary new”, secret small car building project codenamed Saturn, after the rocket that carried an American to the moon.
Saturn Corporation is incorporated as a GM subsidiary and Spring Hill, TN, is chosen for its new $1.9 billion plant.
The first Saturn was built. It was a red 1991 Saturn SL2. The first Saturn dealership had opened in Memphis, TN.
The 2-millionth Saturn is sold. The second (and last) Homecoming is held at Spring Hill.
2002
2009
2010
The new Vue compact SUV is the last Saturn to feature molded-plastic body panels. The S-Series cars are cancelled.
Negotiations between GM and motor mogul Roger Penske collapse when Renault– Nissan decides against supplying cars and trucks to 357 Saturn dealers after the GM pipeline is closed.
Following the withdrawal of a bid by Penske Automotive to acquire Saturn in September 2009, General Motors discontinued the Saturn brand and ended its outstanding franchises on October 31, 2010.
THE NEW SATURN BRAND SOUL
BRAND MISSION
You don’t just own it, you love it because it is made just for you.
To get you where you are going by making quality, Americanmade products and services tailored to your needs.
THE NEW SATURN
saturn
02
Logo Development
CONCEPT SKETCHES
I began the logo design process with some concept sketches. The chosen emblem began as a sketch of a road cutting through mountains. The road is an homage to the Saturn rings found in the original logo.
DIGITAL SKETCHES
Once the sketch is digitally illustrated, I begin to explore colors. I brainstorm some of the possible product offerings of the new Saturn and decide that red, white and blue is going to be the best colors to represent Saturn’s new American-made focus.
ITERATION
Once the conept was decided upon, and hues were decided I finalized some design elements to really polish it up. Little things like the mountain range and the title ratio were experimented with. Overall, a hundred or so iterations were needed to finalize the logo.
FINAL WORD MARK
The Saturn logo is a visual representation of everything our company stands for. Our new company logo enhances potential customers and partners’ crucial first impression of our business. Our new logo builds loyalty between our business and our customers and establishes a brand identity.
03
Brand Guidelines
SPACING Provide an area of clear space surrounding the wordmark or lettermark to allow visual impact and maintain legibility. No other graphic elements, such as typography, rules, pictures, etc., or even the edge of the document, should infringe upon this space. Avoid having text or competing graphics to the immediate left or right of the Saturn mark.
SIGNATURES Smart brands build their reputations on their uniqueness and distinctiveness. The name “Saturn� sets us apart as we have such a broad, loyal customer base. It must appear on every communication.
COLOR VARIATIONS The Saturn icon and type must always appear in our Freedom Blue (PMS 653) and Patriotic Red (PMS 1797). The only exception is with one color executions where the Saturn Blue or Saturn Red is solely used or situations in which the marks must appear in black or white.
LOGO COLORS Our primary colors are Freedom Blue and Patriotic Red. In our communications, the color we use is primarily our Freedom Blue. However, we proudly own ‘Patriotic Red’ too and can display it boldly in our work. Any additional colors you use must complement our Freedom Blue and Patriotic Red and be subordinate to our brand colors.
PMS 653C
PMS 1797C
Freedom Blue
Patriotic Red
RGB: 3, 80, 143
RGB: 193, 40, 45
CMYK: 100, 77, 15, 3
CMYK: 17, 98, 93, 7
HEX: #03508F
HEX: #C1282D
TYPOGRAPHY Saturn has a brand font,Avenir Next. For those who may not have this font available to them, you may use Arial to stand in place of Avenir Next. These are both serif fonts, which are seen as more traditional and formal by the majority of the public. A good usage example for Avenir Next is when our communication or a part of our communication needs to be perceived as the voice of the company, such as in a headline for an advertisement for a job posting or in the body copy of a printed publication. These fonts were the starting point for designers who worked to develop the company’s lettermark and wordmark.
UNAPPROVED LOGO USAGE Do not rotate, stretch, rearrange or alter the mark in any way other than proportional scaling and appropriate use of color. No other items may touch or be superimposed on the Saturn logos, and the Saturn logos may not have an opacity less than 100%.
S A T U R N
SATURN
UNIFORMS
#34432
Leticia Cavazos
Employee
BUSINESS SYSTEM Letterhead 8.5" x 11"
getcustomtraveling.com • 1-800-Get-Goin • P.O. Box 123, McKinney, TX 75070
Envelope No. 10
123 Main St. Ste 100 Dallas, TX 75202
Hector Cavazos President/CEO
getcustomtraveling.com hcavazos@saturn.com 210.555.7977
Business Card 3.5" x 2" Hector Cavazos President/CEO
getcustomtraveling.com hcavazos@saturn.com 210.555.7977 123 Main St. Ste 100 • Dallas, TX 75202
123 Main St. Ste 100 • Dallas, TX 75202