Professional Trajectories - Idea Development
I started to try and get inspiration for my next project to design and create. I like to take inspiration from everywhere and the other day I spotted these cans of beers whilst shopping. They really caught my eye. I thought could I create something like this for a cider brand as I'm not much of a beer fan. I looked into different cider brands to see which brand could work well with my idea of rebranding or creating a campaign for it.
Through this research I found a couple of campaigns I really liked the look and the narrative constructed within them. They were produced by different agencies such as Havas Group, Adam and Eve and 18 feet and climbing. I really liked the stories they told. I also researched into the agencies at the same time, because by doing this I was able to research where I potentially wanted to work and develop an idea of what work I would like to be doing. You can sometimes tell an agency by the work that they produce.
The second graphic is my favourite from the campaign, I think it is fun and creates the festival/ circus vibe, through the use of colour and construction of the font used. I am not so fond of the paint graphics as personally I do not see the correlation between the two graphics they feel like separate campaigns, however the colour is consistent throughout, which is what ties it together.
Other cider campaigns I researched included Rekorderlig's - Welcome to Rekorder-Land by Havas London. I loved the botanical angle they used and the visual 3d graphics constructed in relevance to the herbs infused in the cider. The motion stings were fresh and intriguing. The insight was based on the collaboration and fusing of ideas together using the aesthetically pleasing Scandinavian aesthetic and design.
The final campaign I found was for Koppargerg - 'Outside is Ours', by 18 feet and climbing. This one was my favourite out of the three, as the promotional video really created a narrative. You felt like you could have been at burning man or Coachella with the kites flying in the sky. The thought about the details of the brand and know that they can position themselves in the market of 18 -25 year olds, promoting the brand of choice for festivals and the brand that can provide that experience promoted in the video.
I then showed my idea to Xavi and he said just doing branding isnt enough really, he wanted to push me further, what could I create ...
This idea was then abandoned, and the next idea was started. On this same day a new idea was created - IYB. Me and Adila decided to work together on a new project. We developed a concept for new creatives to get their work noticed as a monthly competition answering a brief. Their design would then be sold for one week only with a run of only 50 - 100 prints, once they were gone, then there would no more printed.
I had some initial ideas already surrounding t-shirts and possibly sending them to studios as a physical business card idea. With the idea of putting creatives names on the t-shirts ie. (name) is Awesome. We sat down and brainstormed what where we could take these initial ideas.
I researched more into brand strategy and understanding about brand positioning. What was the best way for us to approach this. The problem we were solving was the exposure and struggle new creatives have to get on the career ladder and finding their first break. This project would enable us to kickstart our careers. It was a way of creating separate outcomes for a joint project together. With my research we began to develop the idea and really iron it out to simplify it as much as possible.
We started looking for inspiration into the what direction we wanted to go and how to promote the concept.
Essentially the idea was:
Creating a launch-pad for new creatives to get noticed.
- There would be a competition element where recent graduates or students would enter the brief set for that month.
- 4 winners would be chosen for that month. (1 designer per week of the month)
- Their design in response would be available for 1 week only. (this creates the hype culture surrounding the ‘limited sales’ and plays on the fear of being left behind)
With this we set about exploring brief concepts, ideas and executions. We experimented with name ideas and then I experimented with logo design and development. The concept would be great because we could reach out to other creatives in studios that we wanted to work in and get them to take part in the challenge set by us. I would give us a way in and to form industry connections.
However, through relevant research and extensive ideation, to then explaining the concept with Brian that we realised, the idea already exists. There is a company which operates in Brighton called the illustrated mind. It was well and truly a face palm moment. After the extensive research and development to find out the idea already exists was well and truly irritating.
It was at this point me and Adila decided to part ways and to work on our own projects. So I was back at the drawing board once again! This project was really a rollercoaster, I felt like I wanted to do so many ideas and could not settle on one.