Brand + Package Design Process Book
Spring 2014
Shayne Smith
BAND AID is the only emergency kit for bands that caters to each member: singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer and keyboardist. Each kit holds everything a band member will ever need and more. Band Aid’s job is to look out for their equipment while they’re on the road. Their job is to kill it on stage. Band Aid is a company that provides complete kits for bandmates to bring to shows with them. If there is a case when a band member needs a piece of equipment last minute before a show, Band Aid has their back. For example, if a drummer breaks a drumstick, they will have a back-up pair in their drummer kit. The reason why Band Aid has separate kits for each member is because typically band members purchase equipment for themselves rather than buying for the whole band. If the band has a kit for each member, then they can pack all of their kits on their tour bus or van as they travel and play shows. Band Aid strives to make their products as functional, complete and simple as possible. What makes this company special is it takes a common idea of an emergency kit but uses it in a way for bands to have a back-up supply of their equipment. The company title “Band Aid” connects to the concept of the product being a first aid kit for bands that play music. Note the name of the brand adhesive bandages BAND-AID® uses uppercase and a hyphen, while Band Aid does not.
TA R G E T D E M O G R A P H I C
DRUMMER KIT PRODUCTS
Through direct interaction with someone from my target audience, I was able to experience talking to them as if they are my client. In a general sense, my end-users are 15 to 40-year-old musicians who play either one or multiple instruments for a band that travels to play shows. Below is the person I imagined to be my client and a summary of what I learned from interviewing him. This is my primary research.
Although Band Aid has kits for each member, I chose to focus my design and prototype on the drummer kit. I researched what emergency equipment drummers need by asking Seth and also looking online at products on Amazon, zZounds and Guitar Center. Below are products I learned drummers need. This is my secondary research.
SE T H BOLIN Age: 24 Gender: Male Location: Seattle Main Instrument: Drums Experience: 16 Years Band: Go Periscope Band Size: 3 Members “As a professional performer who understands how much gear can cost on the road, Band Aid helps in a pinch when gear has been forgotten or stolen.� Seth is an experienced musician for both an independent project as well as a Seattle-based band Go Periscope. He has knowledge in producing, writing, recording, sound engineering and performing. He is the live drummer for Go Periscope and understands the hectic task of traveling from one show venue to another. When he tours, he wants to stay as focused as possible on the performance, and understands that his equipment is a very important part of that. He is very close to his bandmates who travel with him and despite how organized they may be, he and his bandmates want to be prepared for anything. Sometimes touring can make them reckless and forgetful, so having an emergency kit with them for their equipment takes the stress away from any last-minute problems. Band Aid caters to bands like Go Periscope who may be rebellious and careless at times.
CLICKPAD CYMBAL FELTS CYMBAL POLISH
CYMBAL WASHERS DRUM KEY DRUMSTICKS
LARGE FELT TENSION RODS SLEEVES
SMALL FELTS SNARE CORD
P R O D U C T D E TA I L S
GRAPHIC IDENTITY
After finding which equipment I need to include in the emergency drummer kit, I had to learn what each of the products were so that I could properly define them within my design. I want the final product to not only be purchased by experienced musicians, but also those who are just learning how to play an instrument or are new to touring. Below are basic summaries of what each product is used for, based on longer descriptions I found online. This is my tertiary research.
In order to develop the graphic identity for Band Aid, I needed to get at the root of what the brand represents. So I compiled a list of words that will be used to describe the brand of Band Aid.
C L I C KPA D
After developing the personality of the brand through a select list of words, I began creating the logo for Band Aid. The concept behind the design is reflective of the standard red plus symbol for first aid, but manipulated to reflect the personality of the brand and be cohesive with the type choice of “Band Aid�. A slogan was also created to more easily define the brand. Below is my ideation and the final graphic identity.
pedal pad that gives the bass drum a sharper attack and more punch.
CY M B A L F ELTS
keeps crash or small ride cymbals in place and protects their pole openings from damage.
CY M B A L P OLIS H
acid-free formula cuts dulling oxides to restore a brilliant finish.
CY M B A L WAS H ERS
metal cymbal stand cup washers used on 8mm cymbal tilters.
DRUM KEY
standard 1/4-inch socket drum key for tuning drums and adjusting hardware.
D R U MST I C K S
thick hickory wood-tip drum sticks that are durable and heavy.
L A R G E FE LT
keeps ride cymbals in place and protects their pole openings from damage.
TE N S I ON R O DS
58mm tension rods to secure drum heads and parts.
SLEEVES
8mm sleeves to protect cymbals from the threads of a cymbal mount.
S M A L L F E LTS
secures and protects hi-hat cymbals.
S N A R E C ORD
tightly-woven nylon cord with double laminated ends.
REBELLIOUS FORGETFUL CRAZY
RECKLESS TRAVELER MUSICIAN
EMERGENCY FIRST-AID HELPFUL
YOUTHFUL CULTISH EXCITING
EXPRESSIVE CREATIVE RYTHMIC
I N S P I R AT I O N Below is a collection of inspiration for Band Aid.
C O N TA I N E R I D E AT I O N
I N T E R I O R I D E AT I O N
In order to generate a solution to the physical product, I sketched some ideas of how I want the whole container to look. I kept in mind that the end-users will be storing this in their tour bus or van, so it must be sturdy as well as protect the equipment within the kit. I also had to keep in mind my budget for the prototype.
Now that I decided on a container, I needed to sketch how to inside would be laid out. Each piece of equipment would be put inside its own box and all of the boxes would fit perfectly inside the container. This ended up being a complex puzzle, but I finally ended up with correct dimensions for everything. The main challenge was fitting the drumsticks, but once I figured that out I had to calculate the dimensions for the rest of the boxes. Below are sketches of the overall interior (16.5” x 8” with a 2” height) and a sketch of the box dimensions for the click pad. I drew the same diagram for each box before I constructed them.
First I thought of making the whole container a box with a simple flap, but I want the equipment to feel secure and this idea was not appropriate for the functionality of the kit. My second idea was to have the container be a strong, metal briefcase. This was most ideal, but they ended up being very expensive and I couldn’t find one in the right size. My final idea was to have it in a strong box with a lid. This ended up being the most appropriate based on the resources I was able to buy, the size of the box and how sturdy it was. Below are those three ideas.
ICONOGRAPHY
GRAPHIC ELEMENTS
An important piece in designing the drummer kit was to create icons for each piece of equipment included in the kit. My strategy was to find an image online or take a photo of the item and, using Illustrator, create a simple icon that best represented how the item looked. This allowed for a very simple and clean design. Below are those icons.
In order to tie the logo, icons and design together, I created a few graphic elements that I used in multiple areas of my design. Those being a pattern created from the shapes in the Band Aid logo, tabs for each box and a cohesive color scheme. Below are those graphic elements.
Tabs (bottom right corner)
C = 75 M = 68 Y = 67 K = 90
C=0 M = 100 Y = 100 K=0
C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=0
DESIGN: LID Below is the design of the lid, which wraps around to the interior of the lid where Band Aid is explained.
DESIGN: CARD Below is the design of a 5”x7” card (front and back) that is first seen when opening the box.
DESIGN: BOTTLE & STICKER Below is the design of the cymbal polish bottle as well as the sticker design for the sleeves and tension rods that are in resealable bags.
D E S I G N : VA R I O U S B OX E S Below are the box designs for the click pad, drum key, sleeves, cymbal washers, large felt and drumsticks. These designs wrap around the flap opening of the boxes.
D E S I G N : VA R I O U S B OX E S Below are the box designs for the cymbal polish, cymbal felts, tension rods, small felts and snare cord. These designs wrap around the flap opening of the boxes.
PROTOTYPE CONSTRUCTION When constructing the prototype, I first laid out a basic visual of how the boxes will be arranged. I then constructed all of the boxes with black illustration board and lined them each with red fabric. This fabric acts as a part of the design but also functionally it protects the objects as they rattle around. After the small boxes were constructed, I placed them inside the main container. This container was originally a storage box for DVDs, but it worked perfectly for my prototype. The metal edges also reinforce the strength of the box. I then cut down the container to a 2� height and pasted my designs to each box. Below are images I took during construction.