Topic Development

At the beginning of the semester, I had no idea what I wanted my senior project to be on. I was struggling coming up with a topic because I wanted my topic to showcase my design skills, have an abundant amount of material, and have interesting content. All of the ideas I was coming up with were either not very exciting or were not substantial enough.

CHOOSING THE TOPIC

I ultimately chose to create and brand a cruise line. I chose this topic because I had gone on a cruise several months ago and couldn’t help but notice the abundant amount of branding. There were elements like the daily activity brochure, individualized ID badge, motion graphics on screens, posters to advertise performances, and so much more. When I thought of this idea, I knew it had great potential because it could produce exciting material and it was a fun topic. Even though I have branded companies in previous classes, this project felt different because of the approach I was taking. I chose and designed all of the cruise line elements based on how actual passengers would use them. I wanted to create realistic material that could actually be used in a real-life situation so that when people view my project, they can easily imagine being on a ship from Stargazer Cruises and experience what it’s like to be aboard the frontier of adventure.

The mission of Stargazer Cruises is to elevate the vacation experience by providing unforgettable entertainment and great service at affordable prices to pioneer a once in a lifetime adventure.

This semester has definitely been anything but ordinary. The current pandemic affected my project in many ways. Going on cruises was becoming frowned upon because of the health concerns. I was thinking about changing my topic, but decided not to because there will be a time when cruise lines will be relying on their designers to create visually intriguing designs to entice people to vacation with them again, and I believe this topic was the perfect opportunity to show how my designs are capable of doing just that.

SEMESTER OVERVIEW

When spring break happened and the virus started to accelerate, my class was just beginning to conceptualize our projects. Between the extended spring break and the uncertainty of the future of the semester, my progress on my project was severely delayed. I did not let this delay in progress affect my project and worked tirelessly for weeks leading up to the due date to make my project the best it can be. I hope you enjoy learning about the process for creating Stargazer Cruises. Welcome aboard!

Overview I will be developing and branding a cruise line. After experiencing a cruise a few months ago, I couldn’t help but notice how much branding was throughout the ship. When I was coming up with ideas for this project, creating a cruise line was the only idea I had that would allow me to not only have several components to the project, but also take my branding, typography, editorial, and advertising skills to the next level.

CREATIVE BRIEF

Objective The objective for this cruise line will be to encourage people 18 and older to book a cruise. I will do this by promoting that it will be adults only, easy registration, games that adults would enjoy, and sustainability.

Target Audience Everyone older than 18. For example, a family with grown kids, a group of friends, couples, etc.

Competition The two main competitors are Carnival and Royal Caribbean. These two companies have a great reputation that draws people back to them to book another vacation. Their advertising consists of images that show people on one of their boats, or just the boat in general. On their website, they advertise the price of the different deals they are having to entice the viewer to click on it to learn more. Another competitor is Virgin Voyages. Virgin America created this cruise line very recently that coincides with what I would like my cruise line to be like. They also have a no kids policy, and talk directly to the viewer with sayings like “imagine what you could do the Virgin way.”

Key Message/Call to Action The key message will be encouraging and fun, enticing people to cruise our way. The call to action will be to have people book a vacation with the cruise line.

Voice and Tone The voice and tone will be fun, playful, and encouraging. The language will also be persuasive to encourage people to check out the cruise line.

Outcome/Expectations The outcome and expectations are that people will book a trip with the cruise line and be confident that they will enjoy it.

Deliverables Name, logo, indoor signage, outdoor signage, activity brochure, stationary (business card, letterhead, envelope), employee uniforms, ID card, lanyard, two logos for restaurants on the ship, two logos for attractions on the ship (pools, shows, etc.), website landing page, and social media ads.