Kenkä Case Study

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CASE STUDY Junior Design Studio Group Project Designed by Lina Than


GETTING STARTED

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Brainstorming Mind Mapping Given the task to create a company and brand it with a logo and stationary pack, this case study will explore the steps and process of how I came to the end product. Working in a group, we began by brainstorming possible companies. We started with broad and general ideas; What type of company are we interested in? What do they do? Who are their competitors? What are possible name ideas?

Before getting into the details of mocking up a proposal and brief, as a group we created a mind map to explore as many ideas as we could. Things we were interested in: 1. Shoes, gender neutral, low budget, affordable, college students, trendy 2. Charitable, good for the environment, casual, clean water funds 3. Converse, TOM’s, Vans, Sanuks, Sperry 4. Something catchy and fun, Kenkä - Finnish word for shoe, sounds like “cankles,” umlauts make the names’ aesthetic interesting


GETTING STARTED

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Moodboard Proposal Creative Brief To get a feel for the company we created a mood board that evokes the emotion we want. Separately, we went out and found images that we personally feel express that emotion. From there we compiled all the images and went through them together to decide whether or not it would be included. By doing this both separately and together, we could better understand what each of our idea and view of the company would be and then together we could really narrow it down.

After talking about and discussing the goals of Kenkä, we were able to write up the proposal and creative brief. In these documents we focused on the casual and laid back style of the brand. They are a company for the everyday college student; trendy but yet not a “try-hard.” They believe in doing good for the community as much as can be done and so they donate a quarter of their profits annually to Charity:Water. This information is later on used to further my research and development of the identity system.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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Rough Thumbnails Pt.1 For these rough thumbnails I focused on keeping the design gender neutral and trendy. I played around with symbols and the umlaut being a graphic element in itself. I tried to keep the design really realatable to college students and professionals at the same time.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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Rough Thumbnails Pt.2 Another aspect of the company that I focused on was the humanitarian part. Kenkä prides themselves in doing good for the world, or as much good as they possibly can. They care about raising money for not only their sales but for their donations to a cause they believe in. This was the part of the company that made them really stand out from any other fashion footwear brand and so I believe parts of their logo should be able to represent that.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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Tight Thumbnail Comps After deciding from the rough sketches which ideas I would like to pursue, the next step would be to create a tighter thumbnail composition. For the company I chose two hand lettered designs, two graphic logos, and then two simple typographic logos. This gives me a variety of styles that I could play around with and explore.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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Lettering Study Along with the tight thumbnail comps, I created a study of different brush lettering styles. For Kenkä I knew that if I were to go with a more hand lettered approach, it would be organic and loose. Hence the many variations using different brush pens.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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Rough Digital Sketches Finally making it to the computer, at this step I begin to play around with the digital sketches. These sketches are really rough but that’s the whole point of it. I want to create a general idea of how these designs look digital before diving into one whole heartedly. The transititon from thumbnail sketches to digital sketches can lose a lot of detail and feeling to the design so by playing around with multiple digital sketches, you can see what works best.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

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Tight Digital Comps Moving onto a more refined digital comp, right off the bat I knew I wasn’t happy with the simple typographic logos. They did not give off the feeling I wanted for the company, instead they felt corporate and stiff. I preferred my overlapping geometric icon over the “hipster” waves so right there I knew that wasn’t going to go much further. From the help of the professor and classmates, it was a fairly simple decision that it would be best for me to further the overlapping geometric icon.


DECISIONS DECISIONS

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Tighter Digital Comps Before making any final decisions, at this tighter digital comp stage I was trying to see how many variations I could make out of the logo and it still work. I found out there are many elements to this logo that I can take and use for design but the question was “how much is too much?�


DECISIONS DECISIONS

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Black & White Color Study Onto the color study stage, I fleshed out the black and white design. I played around with tinting the black so it wouldn’t be as harsh, changing stroke weight on the squares to give it dimension, and possibly coloring certain squares to create new shapes. In the end, I decided on a simple straight forward design.

For the colored logo, I wanted to create a color palette for the company that would be simple and straight forward. I’ve decided there is room to change the color for the logo depending on special occasion and events. Each shoe collection could be based on a color palette or whatever the company decides but the primary palette would be these shades of blue.


DECISIONS DECISIONS

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Type Study I knew I wanted a sans serif typeface for the wordmark of the logo. Something uniform, a good balance between the icon, and timeless. The company’s name is interesting in the way it looks, for that is the reason we chose it. It takes up a very rectangular shape and then the umlauts add a bit of funkyness to it. The original idea was to go with the type set in uppercase but after playing around with it, I actually found it more visually interesting in lowercase. Here I decided on ITC Avant Garde Gothic in lowercase.


DECISIONS DECISIONS

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Umlauts Water Droplets While I love the way the type is set for this font, I was not happy with the umlauts it came with. The squared umlauts were too harsh in conjunction with the logo and so I experimented with other shapes. I liked the circle because it juxtaposed with the logo nicely but it didn’t balance nicely with both the logo and wordmark. The square wasn’t balanced enough, and so the diamond was perfect. Just by tilting the squares, we have umlauts that compliment the logo perfectly.

Working through the water droplets was one of the more difficult parts. At one point I even decided to get rid of them completely. I then decided the final logo needed the water droplets because it reflects the company mission. I ended up going with the swirly water droplet because it creates a movement that the geometric shapes need. It brings the eye around all the points and relates back to the humanitarian part of the company.


2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com

A trendy yet affordable shoe company that cater towards the gender neutral college student who have plans to do good for the world, Kenkä, named after the Finnish word for “shoe” is a charitable footwear company that donates a quarter of their profits yearly to the “clean water funds.” Kenkä believes that everyone should have safe drinking water and as college students (their general audience), we may sometimes take for granted the idea that “yes we may be struggling” but others have it worse. Their goal to educate and provide safe drinking water is as strong as their love for shoes, because shoes say a lot about a person. Varying in styles, Kenkä is sure to have something that fits your personality. Competing with other global companies like Converse, TOMs, Vans, Sperry, and Sanuks just to name a few, Kenkä has a casual yet fun style that is sure to catch attention on campus. Not only is Kenkä good for the environment it is also good for your sole. Type of Company: Fashion forward shoes, gender neutral, low budget (affordable), college student, trendy What they do: Good for the environment, charitable, donates a quarter of their profits to clean water, new location every year, global issue Competitors: Converse, TOMs, Vans, Sperry, Sanuks Converse - Converse started originally as a rubber company set to make sneakers and boots, but then ended up designing shoes for playing basketball. They were the go-to basketball sneaker. They eventually branched to other sports and seemingly overnight, people started wearing these sneakers everywhere. Everyone started wearing them and they became huge. Now they still design basketball sneakers, but they mainly design for street and fashion wear.

2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com

A trendy yet affordable shoe company that cater towards the gender neutral college student who have plans to do good for the world, Kenkä, named after the Finnish word for “shoe” is a charitable footwear company that donates a quarter of their profits yearly to the “clean water funds.” Kenkä believes that everyone should have safe drinking water and as college students (their general audience), we may sometimes take for granted the idea that “yes we may be struggling” but others have it worse. Their goal to educate and provide safe drinking water is as strong as their love for shoes, because shoes say a lot about a person. Varying in styles, Kenkä is sure to have something that fits your personality. Competing with other global companies like Converse, TOMs, Vans, Sperry, and Sanuks just to name a few, Kenkä has a casual yet fun style that is sure to catch attention on campus. Not only is Kenkä good for the environment it is also good for your sole. Type of Company: Fashion forward shoes, gender neutral, low budget (affordable), college student, trendy What they do: Good for the environment, charitable, donates a quarter of their profits to clean water, new location every year, global issue Competitors: Converse, TOMs, Vans, Sperry, Sanuks Converse - Converse started originally as a rubber company set to make sneakers and boots, but then ended up designing shoes for playing basketball. They were the go-to basketball sneaker. They eventually branched to other sports and seemingly overnight, people started wearing these sneakers everywhere. Everyone started wearing them and they became huge. Now they still design basketball sneakers, but they mainly design for street and fashion wear.

2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com

A trendy yet affordable shoe company that cater towards the gender neutral college student who have plans to do good for the world, Kenkä, named after the Finnish word for “shoe” is a charitable footwear company that donates a quarter of their profits yearly to the “clean water funds.” Kenkä believes that everyone should have safe drinking water and as college students (their general audience), we may sometimes take for granted the idea that “yes we may be struggling” but others have it worse. Their goal to educate and provide safe drinking water is as strong as their love for shoes, because shoes say a lot about a person. Varying in styles, Kenkä is sure to have something that fits your personality. Competing with other global companies like Converse, TOMs, Vans, Sperry, and Sanuks just to name a few, Kenkä has a casual yet fun style that is sure to catch attention on campus. Not only is Kenkä good for the environment it is also good for your sole. Type of Company: Fashion forward shoes, gender neutral, low budget (affordable), college student, trendy What they do: Good for the environment, charitable, donates a quarter of their profits to clean water, new location every year, global issue Competitors: Converse, TOMs, Vans, Sperry, Sanuks Converse - Converse started originally as a rubber company set to make sneakers and boots, but then ended up designing shoes for playing basketball. They were the go-to basketball sneaker. They eventually branched to other sports and seemingly overnight, people started wearing these sneakers everywhere. Everyone started wearing them and they became huge. Now they still design basketball sneakers, but they mainly design for street and fashion wear.

DECISIONS DECISIONS

2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com

2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com

2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com

2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com

2130 7th St. | W. Philly, 39350 | 700.867.5309 www.kenka.com | shoes4water@kenka.com

2130 7th St. | W. Philly, 39350 | 700.867.5309 | www.kenka.com | shoes4water@kenka.com

A trendy yet affordable shoe company that cater towards the gender neutral college student who have plans to do good for the world, Kenkä, named after the Finnish word for “shoe” is a charitable footwear company that donates a quarter of their profits yearly to the “clean water funds.” Kenkä believes that everyone should have safe drinking water and as college students (their general audience), we may sometimes take for granted the idea that “yes we may be struggling” but others have it worse. Their goal to educate and provide safe drinking water is as strong as their love for shoes, because shoes say a lot about a person. Varying in styles, Kenkä is sure to have something that fits your personality. Competing with other global companies like Converse, TOMs, Vans, Sperry, and Sanuks just to name a few, Kenkä has a casual yet fun style that is sure to catch attention on campus. Not only is Kenkä good for the environment it is also good for your sole. Type of Company: Fashion forward shoes, gender neutral, low budget (affordable), college student, trendy What they do: Good for the environment, charitable, donates a quarter of their profits to clean water, new location every year, global issue Competitors: Converse, TOMs, Vans, Sperry, Sanuks Converse - Converse started originally as a rubber company set to make sneakers and boots, but then ended up designing shoes for playing basketball. They were the go-to basketball sneaker. They eventually branched to other sports and seemingly overnight, people started wearing these sneakers everywhere. Everyone started wearing them and they became huge. Now they still design basketball sneakers, but they mainly design for street and fashion wear.

2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com

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Business Card Letterhead Envelope Since there are many components to this logo, for the stationary pack I was able to really explore breaking up different pieces and playing around with that. I started with something fun because their target audience is college students. The orange was fun to play around with but it wasn’t apart of their primary palette. It played too much of a role in the stationary pack which wouldn’t work.

2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com

2130 7th St. W. Philly, 39350 700.867.5309 kenka.com shoes4water@kenka.com


KENKÄ BRAND IDENTITY

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Logo Stationary Pack This leads me to the stationary pack that I decided on; simple, clean and straightforward. I did not want a lot of fluff for their stationary pack. While I experimented with what that would look like, I felt like the company needs something clean and versatile. With this stationary pack they are able to send them out to both prospective buyers and other companies that could work with them. It has a professional feel yet is still fun. There is a lot of room to breath so it is not overwhelming either.

After going through the revisions for the logo, we finally have come to the final design. This is the vertical format of the logo that can be considered as their “official” logo. In the next few pages in this case study we will go through the variations and other formats of the logo that can be used in cetain applications.


Outline

Icon

Water Droplet Symbol Logo Umlaut Symbol

Wordmark

KENKĂ„ BRAND IDENTITY

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The Logo The Logo is the combination of the Icon and the Wordmark. The Logo may be used in a vertical or horizontal format. When using the logo keep in mind clear space. When scaling the logo, make sure everything scales together. When making variations to the logo keep in mind the rules of each assets.


1.

2.

3.

KENKÄ BRAND IDENTITY

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5.

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The Outline The Outline is the combination of all the squares and only the squares. The outline can be used alone or in conjunction with the wordmark in all formats or as an icon. Cannot be used with the umlaut symbol. The outline can be changed to be;

1. 1 - color/4 - color stroke with no fill with the strokes scaled to correct stroke weight 2. Each square filled a different color @ an opacity of 100% 3. One squared filled and the others are stroked with no fill with stroke all the same weight 4. Filled 1 - color with an overprint 5. Or filled by a combination of 4 colors with an overprint but one of the 4 colors must be solid


KENKĂ„ BRAND IDENTITY

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Water Droplet Symbol The Water Droplet Symbol is the combination of all the water droplets. The water droplet must work as a symbol, they are not allowed to separate or be used singularly. The Water Droplet Symbol can be used alone or in conjunction with the wordmark in all formats or as an icon. Cannot be used with the umlaut symbol. The Water Droplet Symbol can be changed to either black, white, primary gray, any other 1 - color combination, or reversed.


KENKĂ„ BRAND IDENTITY

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Icon The Icon is the combination of the outline and water droplet symbol. When using the icon, it must stay whole, no outlines or water droplets may be missing. When using the Icon, the water droplet symbol must be either black, white, or primary gray. When using the Icon, the outline rules still apply.


KENKÄ BRAND IDENTITY

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Umlaut Symbol The Umlaut symbol is the umlauts above the “a” in the wordmark. When using the umlaut symbol, they must stay proportionate to each other and spacing between then cannot change. The Umlaut symbol must be filled in with 1 color, they cannot be stroked or two different colors. The Umlaut symbol is meant to be used alone only. The Umlaut symbol is meant to be used when the wordmark is not able to be, it is a symbolized meaning for Kenkä.


KENKÄ BRAND IDENTITY

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Wordmark The Wordmark is the combination of the umlaut symbol and typeface. It is set in ITC Avant Garde Gothic Medium and is specially kerned so it may not be reproduced. The wordmark may be used alone, in conjunction with the water droplet symbol in all formats, or with the outline in all formats. The wordmark must be either black, white, or primary gray when being used either alone or in conjunction with other elements. The wordmark may not be used without the umlaut symbol. When using the wordmark alone, the umlaut symbol may be filled in with 1 color other than black, white, or primary gray.


KENKÄ BRAND IDENTITY

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Logo Components And now here we have it. The final logo that is ready to be used in a multitude of ways. I think what makes this really stand out is all the variations that can come out about it. At this point, the problem of “how much is too much” isn’t a problem anymore. Personally, I believe in less is more, simplicity is best, don’t overwhelm your clients with too much, but in this case there is no limit.

This gives the company room to expand and grow while still having a timeless and trendy logo they can use. Certain applications of the symbol can get them better recognized with different parts of their audience. By having these different elements, Kenkä has a better chance of growing their sales because each part can resonate with someone differently.


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