Vivalux by josiedegler

Brand Narrative & Applications

Designed and written by Josie Degler ART 574 Identity Systems Fall 2014

Table of Contents BRAND INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 AUDIENCE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 LOGO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 BRAND ELEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 PRINT & WEB APPLICATIONS. . . . . . . 35 CONCLUDING THOUGHTS. . . . . . . . . 50

In a world constantly buzzing with innovative technology, loud advertisements, and bright screens, it’s easy to get caught up in this whirlwind of pandemonium. We find ourselves constantly desiring the newest devices with the newest features that require increasingly deeper pockets. But what if we took a step back and looked at what mattered? No matter how many flashy screens or buttons are added to an appliance, it’s no good if it doesn’t perform its basic function. Here at Vivalux, we are constantly striving to use simplicity and beauty to create the most functional appliances. We want our appliance to be easy to use, practical, and affordable.

HELLO! My name is

25–40 years old

AFFORDABLE EURO STYLE

MILLENIAL

INSTANT SKILLS

N. AMERICA

S. AMERICA

WESTERN HEMISPHERE

MIDDLE SHELF

LOW-MIDDLE INCOME

BUDGET CONSCIOUS

APARTMENT OR SMALL HOME

ELEGANT & SIMPLE DECOR

Vivalux is a child brand of Electrolux, a Swedish appliance brand.

We reach this audience through social media and imagery featuring people this age.

Our designs and advertising imply a user-friendly experience, which welcomes beginners.

AFFORDABLE EURO STYLE

MILLENIAL

INSTANT SKILLS

Web and print materials should be made available in English and Spanish (at minimum).

Our audience most likely has disposable income but not to the point of luxury.

Although we have high design standards, we want to be affordable.

WESTERN HEMISPHERE

MIDDLE SHELF

LOW-MIDDLE INCOME

Over 90% of our targeted audience considers themselves a frugal buyer. They most likely use resources like CR.

To save on cost and fit smaller spaces, our appliances are designed for compact spaces.

Our audience has champagne taste on a beer budget. Elegant brand elements help give a "champagne" vibe.

BUDGET CONSCIOUS

APARTMENT OR SMALL HOME

ELEGANT & SIMPLE DECOR

THE

Logo

AT LAST. As you can see, my mind goes in five million directions when sketching. Initially, I was set on doing a monogram, but later started toying with a wordmark. I wasn't really loving anything I was doing at first because it felt like I was just crafting abstract marks without purpose. By the end of the second page, I had a eureka moment as I asked myself, "Function. What is function?" This brought back waves (pun slightly intended) of memories from high school calculus class and math functions. I remembered the graceful wave patterns of sine and cosine functions. Coincidentally, this is the same pattern an oven follows while keeping a consistent temperature while baking. The resulting form represents balance, simplicity, and engineering, all of which I incorporated into the brand image and its elements.

Gotham Surveyor

the functional life

VIVA LA COLORS. For the Vivalux logo, I wanted to pick a color that captured the spirit of the world "viva." I sorted out different appliance logos by color and added the Vivalux logo to different categories to see how it stood up to the competition. I narrowed the colors down to red and purple. Although I personally love the color purple, people in my target audience told me it looked like a feminine product logo. I decided to go with "LUX" and the tag line in gray because it softened the look and didn't steal the show from the bright "VIVA". Although there are several other companies that use red, Vivalux's red has more orange than other companies. The mark itself also stands out because most companies use a wordmark and few use a circle shape. LG looks the most similar but their red is more of a deep pink or crimson and their mark is very geometric, while Vivalux's is organic.

RED

ORANGE

YELLOW

GREEN

BLUE

PURPLE

WHITE

GREY

BLACK

BRO

THE

Brand

WHITE // T 100% CMYK 0 87 85 0 RGB 224 60 49 HEX #E03C31

PMS 179 CP // T 100% CMYK 0 87 85 0 RGB 224 60 49 HEX #E03C31

*If possible, always use 100% red. Use the tints only if 100% red is already on the page and you need to create visual hierarchy.

BLACK // T 30% CMYK 0 87 85 0 RGB 224 60 49 HEX #E03C31

PMS 179 CP // T 80% CMYK 0 87 85 0 RGB 224 60 49 HEX #E03C31

*Various shades of gray are allowed (80% and below) but 80% and 30% are preferred.

BLACK // T 80% CMYK 0 87 85 0 RGB 224 60 49 HEX #E03C31

PMS 179 CP // T 30% CMYK 0 87 85 0 RGB 224 60 49 HEX #E03C31

Proxima Nova

LIGHT

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789?!.&

Attitude Friendly, clean, geometric, and modern

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

REGULAR

Used for

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789?!.&

Body copy, subtitles, and headings

Available at myfonts.com fontshop.com typekit.com

BOLD

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789?!.&

BLACK

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789?!.&

*Use the normal but not the condensed or extracondensed.

Surveyor

TEXT LIGHT

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789?!.&

Attitude Elegant, vintage, magazine

Used for Subtitles and headings

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

TEXT BOOK ITALIC

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789?!.&

(Can be for body but avoid if possible)

Available at typography.com

DISPLAY BOLD

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789?!.&

DISPLAY BLACK

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 0123456789?!.&

*Use the Text and Display families. Use Fine only for very large headings.

WAVE PATTERN

The wave pattern should be used subtly and monochromatically with shades of gray.

INPUT

FUNCTION INPUT

X=3

FUNCTIONMULTIPLIES BY 2 X=3

OUTPUT FUNCTION

DIRTY CLOTHES

X=3

MULTIPLIES BY 2

OUTPUT F(X)=6 MULTIPLIES BY 2

F(X)=6

DIRTY CLOTHES

OUTPUT WASHES & DRIES WASHES & DRIES DIRTY CLOTHES

CLEAN CLOTHES WASHES & DRIES

CLEAN CLOTHES

F(X)=6 I took the idea of a function from the logo and broadened it further as a brand strategy. The top left shows a function in its most basic form. Top right is a function applied to math and bottom left is an appliance function. For our targeted audience, we want to focus on the output part of a function because our audience desires instant skills and is intimidated by the work required (function). By promising function, we give confidence. This strategy is most evident in the print ad and oven showroom stickers.

THE

Applications

BUSINESS UP FRONT, PARTY IN THE BACK. A business card can be quite a statement, if you want it to be. The first thing I designed for Vivalux outside of the mark was the business card holder. I love it's subtle, sophisticated nature with a di-cut and slight embossed logo. Then you pull the card out and BAM! flashy gray concentric circles. I incorporated the embossed logo on the cover of the folder, and once again, subtle up front with a party on the inside. The inside of the folder is a subtle wave patternâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which would be even more fantastic if the waves were printed with a metallic inkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and bright quarter-circle flaps. The letterhead is the most straight-laced of all the pieces because it has sassy siblings to complement it. To keep with the embossing theme, having the logo and red bar at the bottom embossed would be an excellent touch.

NARRATING THE EXPERIENCE. Since I'm interested in packaging, I went to Lowe's to research appliance packaging. Much to my surprise, there wasn't a refrigerator box to be seen. The only appliances in boxes were smaller appliances (e.g. coffee makers, microwave ovens). Luckily, I found a dryer box because it was on clearance. Black ink on cardboard with purely instructional design. As I walked through the appliance showroom, my eye was drawn to appliances that had big stickers explaining their advantages. Instead of letting the customer image what they would do with it, they fuel their imaginations. Not only was this more eye catching, but it was also more enlightening. The product facts on the little Lowe's price tag seemed boring, but seeing them paired with flashy colors and photos made them come to life.

RECIPE FOR GREATNESS. This print ad was inspired by the function formula (p. 34) and the desire to make appliances and their functions less intimidating. It takes the basic idea of cooking, simplifies it, and makes it seem like the oven does all the work. I chose to use a chalkboard background and hand-drawn arrows to make a formula seem more human and friendly. It also loosely references a current design trend of hand-lettering that mostly appeals to millennials.

THE

Website The website is intended to be subtle and sophisticated. Several appliance websites I went to were overwhelming because they were trying to do too much. In the main photograph, the user can hover oven an appliance and the price appears. If they click the arrow, the can see product highlights and are then prompted to go to the product's page.

For the van, I wanted to create something catchy but sleek. It's mostly gray to bring more attention to the logo. I tried making it all Vivalux Red (which would make it look similar to the cover of this book and the business card) but the color was overwhelming.

CONCLUDING

Thoughts

BRANDING IS A 1,000 PIECE PUZZLE. I began this project thinking branding was an easy task. Create a logo, pick some typefaces and colors, make all the applications look like they belong together, and create a book about the brand. I was wrong. Really wrong. Branding is about creating a personality for a brand, and when you think about a person, think about how many tiny pieces make up their personality. Yes, branding is about picking colors and type, but it's ultimately about cultivating a feeling a consumer has whenever they see your product. Throughout this process, I discovered that I enjoy logo development, typeface pairing, and creating brand books. I struggled with narrowing down a color palette and creating a pattern for the brand. In terms of the applications, I found the business materials to be tough but equally fun to create. They require a lot of restraint. This book was super fun to makeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;I had a lot of fun with all of the layouts. Viva la Vivalux!

Josie Degler Identity Systems Fall 2014