K-Planet About the Business K-Planet is a small, agile start-up that aims to revolutionize Kpop album production with sustainable materials, customization options, and a digital experience while promoting eco-consciousness among fans. Although the K-Planet team is small, they are led by experienced creatives in the Kpop industry, including former head of Product Design at ABC123 Entertainment. Based in Seoul, South Korea, they are also a subsidiary of a wealthy parent company, and therefore have a healthy investment of funds and the connections to bring the company’s vision to life.
K-Planet’s Challenge and Opportunity •
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More than 80 million Kpop albums were sold worldwide in 2022. Many were purchased by fans who buy multiples of the same album in order to collect all available merchandise, and many of these albums end up in landfills. K-Planet can reduce waste by allowing customer-selected album packages and using an ecofriendly production process. With the global rise of Kpop and growing need for climate action, K-Planet fills a vital role in the market.
Goals
Measuring Results
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To launch and establish K-Planet as a sustainable and customizable Kpop album brand. To disrupt traditional Kpop album consumption. To engage Kpop fans worldwide in sustainable and personalized album experiences.
Outcomes •
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Sustainable album components made from bamboo-based materials, recycled cardboard, and eco-friendly inks. A user-friendly online platform for fans to customize their album packages. A strong brand identity and recognition within the Kpop industry. A global fan community engaged in sustainable and personalized Kpop experiences.
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The success of the project will be measured by the recognition and resonance of the brand within the target audience. We will track website engagement, user feedback, and social media interactions to gauge audience response. We will set periodic, concrete sales and retention goals by which to continually measure company growth and achievement.
Brand Style •
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The brand style will fuse modern and eco-conscious elements with futuristic, bright, elegant, aesthetics. It will feature dark backgrounds and bright colors, gradients, chrome-like elements, and sleek fonts. Inspirations are ARTMS, aespa, XG, and other sci-fi girl groups.
Tone • •
The tone of the branding should be modern, engaging, and approachable. It should also communicate eco-consciousness and individuality.
Target Audience: Eco-conscious Kpop Fans Age 21-30 The Customer K-Planet’s customers are educated, eco-conscious Kpop enthusiasts with disposable income for related expenses. They value community involvement, sustainable living, and unique Kpop experiences. These customers actively engage in streaming music, attending fan events, and purchasing merchandise. This target audience is primarily female, although the K-Planet audience is inclusive of all genders.
How to Engage Them K-Planet’s customers engage in Kpop-related online spaces such as Youtube, TikTok, Instagram, and Kpop subreddits like r/Kpop. K-Planet can reach this audience through a combination of outreach, content creation, and advertising. Regarding physical spaces, special events such as Kpop concerts and conventions provide an excellent opportunity to engage with Kpop fans. The company can sponsor panels or events and have a booth at conferences. A subset of Kpop fans also value local Kpop stores that carry their favorite albums. K-Planet should reach out to Kpop album and merchandise retailers that sell online and in person. The company should seek to become the primary supplier for these retailers, emphasizing that K-Planet’s eco-conscious process is a win for store brands seeking to be eco-friendly.
Buyer Persona
Style Scape The first board draws inspiration from Modhaus’s girl group ARTMS. ARTMS have their own lore that blends science fiction and fantasy, wrapped in an elegant aesthetic. They also have their own app in which fans can purchase digital photo cards called Objekts. K-Planet’s “Digital Twin” system that provides fans with a digital copy of their physical merchandise, thus giving them more for their money, draws inspiration from this system. The second style scape reflects the futuristic and youthful aestethic of SM Entertainment girl group aespa. aespa have a virtual reality concept, switching between the virtual world and real world. The duality of this concept means that aespa’s style often blends opposing, yet complementary visuals such as bright and cool colors or Y2K aesthetics and sleek futurism.
K-Planet’s aesthetic combines a futuristic elegance with bright and youthful tones, capturing the duality of Kpop and its own brand identity.
The Colors
The Customer
K-Planet uses a black and white base for a clean, classic look, with pops of bright pink offset by cool purples reminiscent of the Kpop girl group aespa, who merges the real and digital worlds.
K-Planet’s customers are mostly adult Kpop fans ranging in age from 21 to 30. These fans are eco-conscious, avid collectors, with disposable income to support their favorite Kpop idols in an eco-friendly way.
The Materials K-Planet uses eco-friendly materials including bamboo woods and bioplastics, recyclable and biodegradable components, and plant-based inks.
The Products K-Planet uses sustainable materials to create beautiful, durable products.. Ethically and sustainably sourced metal and wood create personalized album cases that will far outlast plastic jewel cases.
Logo The K-Planet logo consists of a black half-circle on the left, representing planet Earth, and a black-outlined arrow on the right. The the spacing and placement of these elements forms the image of a “K.” The tag line uses the font “Play” in bold, in keeping with the typography of the brand.
Typography K-Planet uses the Play typography for a clean and contemporary look. The secondary typography, Poppins, is one used by several tech companies, and allows for an appealing, readable font.
Album Mockup This album mockup reflects the aesthetic of K-Planet while conveying the beauty and elegance that sustainable packaging can produce. The CD case is made from recycled cardboard, colored with vibrant plant-based inks, and the CD-rom is comprised of bioplastics, which are sustainably made and 100% recyclable.
Photo Cards Say goodbye to the days of buying two, three, seven (you know who you are) CDs just to collect your favorite photo cards. With K-Planet, you choose the exact cards you want. K-Planet’s “per card” pricing lets you can add multiple cards to a single album package, from a single card to the full collection. These beautiful photo cards are made using FSC-certified and recycled paper and can be ordered matte, shiny, or holographic. If you want to keep the mystery of a traditional photo card, you can opt to have a random trading card included in your package. This mystery card is concealed in biodegradable packaging.
Digital Counterparts Take your photo cards, your music, and more with you wherever you go with K-Planet’s “digital twin” system. Every purchase comes with a free digital copy of your merchandise.
Digital Album Card Want to maximize the eco-friendliness of your album? Opt for a digital album card in place of the CD-rom. Just scan the QR code to access your songs on the music platform of your choice. You have lifetime access to your songs and unlimited downloads through your registered K-Planet account.
Custom-made Lightstick No Kpop concert is complete without a sea of lightsticks. K-Planet lets fans create lightsticks that are both cohesive and individualized. K-Planet’s partnerships with Kpop companies allows fans to combine official lightstick components and customizable elements to build a unique item while maintaining harmony with offical lightstick design. This image is a Dall-E 3 rendering of an ecofriendly Kpop lightstick made from a sturdy bamboo handle, recycled plastics and bioplastics, and other eco-friendly materials. The lightstick can be charged using the solar-power component or through a standard USB cable.
The Website The following pages show the desktop view of the K-Planet home page. The website is designed using Squarespace. This website uses a black background with white text and neon colors/flowers that reflect the brand aesthetic and convey harmony between nature and technology. This website is built using Squarespace’s reflowable design components so it is optimized and adjusts for various devices and screen sizes. A preview of the mobile version of this home page is included later in this portfolio.
Mobile Website The mobile version of the K-Planet website responds to different phone screen sizes and stacks content in a mobile-friendly way. The use of Squarespace allows the Web Designer to use a mobile-specific website editor to arrange and preview content. This ensures good UX and UI design across desktop and mobile devices.
About the Designer Lauren Snider is an Author, Marketer, and Designer based in her hometown of Nashville, TN. She helps clients bring their stories to life with customized marketing and design plans tailored to their goals. Learn more about her services at LaurenSnider.com.