#03
Name_ Ross Francis Student ID_ 102181 Level_ 06 Module Code_ OUG603
Brief Title Type Of Brief Skills Collaborators Nature of Collaboration
BLADE
Brief
Live branding proposal for a barbers
Create a new identity scheme for an established Barber shop in Wakefield. Create a promotional campaign for the new identity and re-establish the barbers as the best in Wakefield.
Brand and Identity, Concept Generation, Copy Writing, Layout, Web Design Joel Burden Joel and I worked very minimally together on this brief, we did our own independent research and concept generation. I approached Joel with a concept, and we took both developed it independently and took it in two different directions.
Background
Considerations
With 10 years of business, and over 60 years of collective experience, Blades is one of the most respected and and successful barbershops in Wakefield. The brand looks old and weathered and needs a new lease of life. Numerous newer, younger and less experienced barbers have been opening up boutique shops straight from hair cutting college. While they look ‘cool’, they lack the experience and professionalism of a practiced batber. Consider how the existing clients regard the brand. If it is changed too much will it still be recognised? Will older clientele be effected by the work you do to re-brand? How will the brand re-establish itself against newer, more ‘hip’, but less experienced competition.
Solution
The direction I took independently from Joel was to create a simple visual mark that would be used as a wider branding tool. I used a combination of black and orange to create a sharp contrast and visual buzz. I created the type basing it on modern and established sans serif Avenir. The copy ‘Stay Sharp’ is used as a tagline in order to reference the name of the brand and provide a call to action for the existing and potentially new clientele. While the brand needs to remain strong and open to a range of applications, the brand needs to have room to grow to compliment a growing and evolving business.
Evaluation
This brief has been very satisfying to see through to completion. This is the first brief of the yar that I feel very confident about. The brief has allowed me to understand and apply my interest in copy writing to create a stronger brand and identity scheme. I have worked very efficiently on the brief and I have felt that I could take the brief even further if I manage to secure it as a live brief after college. I would like to improve it in a couple of ways, that have been out of my power to complete on my own. I would like to collaborate with a photographer to get some promotional photography for the brand deliverables so that I do not fall into the trap of duo-toning everything. On reflection this looks rather amateur, however my own photographs would have definitely looked worse. I enjoyed working to an agenda and solving the problem of the brief through a range of different creative processes, from creating a more modern and adaptive brand identity, to creating bold and high impact calls to action. The fact that the barbers is in direct competition with others in the area pushed me toward a more tenacious response, which I have felt is a real turning point for me. Having this type of confidence in louder design is something that I would like to follow on with post university. I have a tendency to let my design fade into the background and become uninspiring through a fear to commit. Having a more audacious approach and the confidence to be bold and loud is definitely something I have taken from this brief. I personally quite liked the context of the brief and although I am not particularly into packaging, I respect that a brand must work across these deliverables in some circumstances. While I do not think I will be making a habit of designing for barbers, I like that, in some ways, the brief had elements of fashion, and could potentially invite a more cultural context. In order to extend the brief I would like the brand to be applied to a more 3D context, in terms of the shop interior. This is something that I think may play more of a role in my practice post university and will be something that I will look into. It is either my obsessive personality or my overall outlook on design that would want to carry the brand identity through to this context also.
Research
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
What did I do?
Why did I do it?
What more could I have done?
For this, appropriate research was key. I spent a lot of time looking at visual research from existing brands and designers. Some where far a field, and some were in the more immediate area. I collected all sorts of examples, good examples, bad examples, high end, cool and hip. I also spent time in the barbers to feel the in store experience and acquaint myself with the overall atmosphere. Further research came from discussions with the owner and reviews of the barbershop online.
I looked at varying pieces of visual research in order to understand the over all spectrum of work that was being created in the sector. I wanted to document what I wanted to avoid, so I felt it was important to be conscious of these from the outset. Experiencing the in store of the barbers through multiple site visits was a fundamental part of a brief like this. Creating a visual identity and brand that would synergise with the overall store, and personality of the employees is absolutely essential.
I believe that I did an appropriate and extensive amount of research for this brief. After conducting primary and secondary research engagements I think that I was well informed to take an authorative design approach and direction. To do more, I would have gained more visual input from the client and I would have liked to have looked outside of the profession to get a broader visual understanding. I was conscious of looking at other barbers in the area to gauge competition, but I feel I should have formalised these in a report.
BLADE Brief #03
Design Direction
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
What direction did I take?
Why did I take this direction?
What influenced me?
The direction I chose for this brief was to stay true and simple to the name and purpose of the brand. I took a direction that favoured the sharp properties of shapes and bright colours that had a cutting contrast.
I took this direction to steer away from the banality and standard maxim that barber branding seems to take. I wanted to direct the brief toward a refreshing take on the barbers. Not centered around a mans moustache, or some pseudo-American aesthetic, but something more honest, contemporary and with a greater longevity.
A variety of things influenced me for the brief. I was very inspired by copy and using copy as a starting point. I came up with the concept of the corner, that would be used to create and represent a blade. I was very interested in the forms that could be created with this type of triangle and how, coupled with a strong colour contrast, could represent a barbers without having to take the route of using cliche imagery. I took precedent from a barbers in Sheffield I found in my research who also employ a similar approach.
BLADE Brief #03
Development
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
How did I develop the brief?
What problems did I have?
Was it successful?
I developed the brief using the corner and shape as a starting point. I then used my leading precedent to help direct me to produce the aesthetic. I started with type design, and then moved toward a scheme that would keep the branding consistent. I wanted a more dynamic application for the triangle logo that would change every time but remain seeminly constant through. I found that as I developed the brief I became more engaged with branding and understood how to apply it.
The problem that I encountered was with understanding how to keep the branding consistent. I found that the English National Ballet branding by The Beautiful Meme employs a logo dynamically in a similar way to what I wanted to acheive. I took influence from this and it helped me solve the confusion I was having and allowed me to set rules within the branding. I used found photogrpahy for mockups and I ended up duotoning. I did not use photography I art directed and this was a huge problem.
On the whole I really happy with the brief and I think that the sceme I developed was successful. I wish I had gone to the effort to get some photo’s with my own art direction. I feel that the scheme would have benefited from some lovely full colour or monochrome photography rather than the duotone look. The duotone makes it look cheap and I think it ruins the overall presentation. I hope to get this work comissioned and then I can work this with more time and resources in a professional capacity.
BLADE Brief #03
Presentation
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Identity and Logo
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Visual Motif
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Business Cards
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Letterhead
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Flyer
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
T/Shirt
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Style Guide
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Mugs
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Lorem Mirror Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Lorem WebsiteIpsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Lorem WebsiteIpsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Lorem MobsiteIpsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03
Academy logo
Ross Francis 102181
Extended Practice OUGD603
BLADE Brief #03