Context of Practice 3- End of Module Evaluation

As we have finished the Context of Practice Module, I completed a Self- Evaluation of the whole Module to discuss how it went and to reflect on the work we have produced (see pictures).

Module Evaluation

I was considered when answering the answers, giving truthful and honest answers and I put emphasis on what I need to improve on regarding my skills and ability as a designer.

Context of Practice 3- Practical Synthesis

For my dissertation, I did an essay entitled 'How can psychology and psychoanalysis inform effective branding?' which revolved around the theories behind the human subconscious and how brands apply these theories so that there brand is much more effective. 

For the practical element of the module, I had decided that it was only natural to produce a brand of my own which would take some of the elements of the theories discussed within the essay and try and apply it to a product. However, I wasn't sure about what product to do it for.

Listing possible products for Brand

Design Sheet of Ideas

Talking to my tutor, it was felt like it would be suitable to pick products that were not directly sexualised or select a product which has its own sense of being un-neccessary. I brainstormed a range of ideas that I could do and picked the ones I favoured the most to come up with concept ideas. Personally, I liked the idea of doing a body range as purchase is mainly based on desire as soap does the same job but I also liked the idea of doing a juice brand because it would allow for me to add connotations to it.

At this point, I had a crit where we were able to discuss our ideas and intentions for the COP Practical (See COP3 Blog Post), which, as documented, left me in a really confusing place because chocolate had no relevance to my essay at all.

Listing possible concepts

Instead, I decided to take the initiative and to take some of the more successful possibilities that I had come up with and decided to brainstorm different words I could use as a brand name so that I could come up with a range of possibilities. Alongside this, I brainstormed what I would have to produce for the brand that I was going to make.

Overall, so that the product and brand that I would be producing would synthesise all the more with my essay, it was decided that I would do a brand for an e-cigerette brand as I had discussed the 'Torches of Freedom' campaign within my essay and this would be like a modern version.

Brand Identity:

Initial Concept for 'Luminate'

I started to expand the idea of a e-cigerette brand, selecting the name 'Luminate' to be the brand name. The reason behind the name was because to luminate means to enlighten someone in regards to knowledge as well as influence people as well as to psychically lighten up something. This reflects the intention behind the psychology of the brand. Someone who is described as a 'Luminary' is someone who attains luminesce which would give the brand a feeling of being a leader and this would be a great name for consumers of the brand, making them feel involved in the brand.

From this, I wanted a tag line for the brand that would link to the light visual of the name and 'ignite the light' was a great play on words, especially as it would link to the act of igniting actual cigarettes.

The first thing I did was come up with the premise of a product for the brand because, by coming up with a product, this would allow for the brand to be applied and come together. I decided to have 3 different flavours of e-cig which would be linked to the reasons why people use them instead of a flavour, with the cigarette helping them work towards this aim. The aim would be either helping them to give up, aiding them to socialise or just switching from cigarettes to vaporizers which would be names as Detox, Kin and Ambition.

What would connect the product to my essay, and thus my brand to the essay, would be how the desires of the consumer would be fulfilled through each of these products, for example, such as taking care of their own health giving a sense of well-being and power of taking ownership and responsibility of thier life, adding to the sense of immortality.

Fonts

To try and decide what font to use, I wrote out a range of fonts, specifically looking at those which were light sans serif as this gave the light imagery. Eventually, I selected the font 'Nexa Light' because the large amount of empty space surrounding the letterforms made the brand seem quite stark and bright. I decided to add the tag line underneath in a very light weight 'Blanch' as the thin line weight makes the font look like it is slowly showing though.

Development of Logo

From this, I started playing around with trying to produce a visual for the brand. I liked the idea of trying to show the actual lighting up of the brand, showing this via lines or using a drop shadow on the letterforms. After this, I tried to incorporate an actual vaporizer into the word but it looked too bulky and was much more of an eyesore then first intentioned.

Logo Development

Compared to the first developments of the brand, I decided that I preferred the image of the brand to be plain yet I soon realised that I could manipulate the 'I' in the brand name to look like a cigarette which would aid the contextual aspect of the brand. To emphasise the image, I played around with the placement of the tag line, even changing the font to 'Klinic Slab' to make it more readable.

Brand Logo

I decided to have the tag line to the right because the beginning of the slogan starts where the cigarette image is so that it was in the reading line. I felt that this logo was quite clinical, with a strong professional personality which is a different take on vaporizers, giving the brand a trustworthy aesthetic.

Building the Brand 

From the personality that is brought across from the logo, I started to work on coming up with a brand manifesto, deciding on aspects of the brand, with the main manifesto of the brand working towards helping others achieve their health goals.

Tutorial Notes

It was at this point that I had a tutorial, where I had a discussion about both my theoretical and practical elements.

When asked about my practical, I started to discuss what I had done so far for Luminance but it was said that the brand I had produced was too rational and thought-through. For the brand to work, I was told that I needed to come up with a new one where the brands psychological aspects needed to be more hidden so it is more unconscious. I had to focus on the brand being subtle and subconscious.

At this point, I was very lost and was finding it difficult to come up with a new brand when I felt like that last one was fulfilling the needs. It was recommended that I brainstorm all of the things that I could think of to do with Freud and all of the terms to do with vaping and trying to connect the two. Seen as I really needed a starting point, I decided that I would go along with that.

Freud/ Vaporizer Psychological Connections

From the brainstorm, I managed to find connections between Freud theories and vaping, which I decided to use as reasoning behind the purpose and intention of my brand.

The connections between vaping and Freud theories include:

• Death Drive- Slowing killing yourself knowing the hazards of vaping being untested
• Death Drive- Directing the repressed urges towards a rational and socially (more) acceptable thing
• Self Destruction- Using vaporizers despite no medical research or understanding- taking a reckless chance with health
• Primitive Instincts- Making fire goes back to the caveman era
• Penis Envy- Size compared to others who use them- showing off to others- primitive instinct
• Penis Envy (Female)- Having a penis of their own

Also, my brand needs to be: 

• Hinting at danger
• Hinting at being a hazard 
• Hinting at being socially acceptable
• Hinting at being slightly pleasurable

In a way, it was a really good idea to make this brainstorm because it meant that my brand would automatically have a psychological connection by referencing one of these areas. From this, I decided that it would be a good idea to follow on with coming up with a brand name.

Concept for Swell

The name needed to be open to interpretation to allow customers to make their own connection to the brand whilst having a loose connection to the reason behind the brand. Out of them, I came up with the name Dynamite which I felt referenced all aspects of the connections but was a bit too overpowering. The word 'Shaft' was a bit too overbearingly sexualised and the word 'Stick' was too obscure. Eventually, I came across the word 'Swell' which is a synonym for big and would fit very well with the penis envy theory. Not only is a synonym for big but it is also an american  colloquialism for something good which reiterates the pleasure element for the customer as well as reinforcing the ideal of vaping being a socially acceptable thing to do. This gives the consumer reassurance that using the brand's products is an acceptable risk to take to fulfil the repressed urges for danger. Plus, the word is obscure enough that the consumer can make thier own connection to the word and how they relate to the brand. I was very excited by this name because it felt like I was taking a step in the right direction.

Psychical Manipulation of Name

To start with, I decided to take the name of the brand and manipulate it, looking at making a vaporizer out of the shape of the letterforms but this didn't sit very well at all. I selected a typeface that was bolder and bigger and I began by expanding the name of the brand to show the psychical act of the name sake. By warping the text, something which I have never experimented with, this gave much more of a interesting dimension to the text.

Initial Development

Taking the font that I had originally chosen for the Luminate brand, I applied the initial designs that I had produced for that brand and tried them with Swell but it just didn't fit the visual needs for the brand. It was much too thin and didn't feel as though it had the personality that the name of the brand was trying to promote.

Brand Logo Experimentation

I decided to apply a slightly thicker font, Mensch, to the brand name so that it had much more of a body which links to the psychical act of the brand name. This font is much more favourable as the rounded ends of the font gives reference to the phallic aspect of the brand psychology. This, in turn, made the manipulation of the text format come across as much more imposing and bulky. I selected the upper warp tool to curve the text towards the top so that the letterforms were stretched and elongated. This vertically stretched appearance gives emphasis towards the penis envy theory in regards to length and size envy. This arch made a rounded semi-circle which gives the shape of a phallus, giving an unconscious connection to the sexual desire. To give the brand a bit more of a lift, I decided to add a line of colour within the tag line so as to differentiate it from the header. By using the colour blue, it referenced the light of the vaporizer which highlighted what the brand would sell and give the purpose and context of the brand.

Logo Experimentation

Following on from the initial development, I went onto experimenting with the logo, trying different colours and visual effects. I looked at having a semi circle border around the logo to emphasis the imagery of the phallus within the shaping. Following on, I liked the idea of trying to show a burn mark to refer to the danger aspect so I managed to make a colour burst for the background of the logo. I added the tag line to the bottom of the logo which made for a more cohesive brand. I decided to try using oranges, reds and yellows to try to reflect the danger and hazardous nature of the vaporizer use as well as the fact that it reflects the natural colours of light and fire.

At this point, I had got a little bit stuck. The reason for this is because, within my essay, I talk about how a brand is made up of two components, a symbol and an emotional connection. I really wanted to come up with a visual image that could be used in place for the logo or included as part of the logo so it was more synthesised with the points made in my essay.

I-Dent Imagery

As it so happened, because I was stuck, I started to play around with some shapes. I thought it would be a good idea to start lining up a row of rounded rectangles as a different way of representing the light and found that having a column of them in order from smallest to biggest looked like a subconsciously pleasured phallus. Not only this, but this also gave the impression of being a graph that had positive results thereby reinforcing the socially acceptable element of the synthesis. I flipped the image over on itself and decided to add a smaller bit so it came to look like a vaporizer which added context to the image. I went onto repeat this image both horizontally and vertically, with the column shape making more sense with the intention behind the brand, becoming a pattern.

Logo with Ident

I went onto applying the graph phallic shape to my logo so that it became much more of a integrated image, giving the brand more of a defined personality. I decided to see what the image would look like with colour so added a semi-circle to enclose it all and found that the logo looked better filled in. Along with this change, I added an extra border and changed the typeface to 'Geared Slab' which added much more body and depth, giving more of an imposing bulky image. 

Red Colour Variants

I was really happy with the logo up to this point, however, the colouration did not have any true relevance to the brands connections with the Freudian theories. I decided that the most successful of the previous colour attempts had been red, however, I did not want to use a typical bright red. Due to the emphasis I had put on subtlety so far, I knew that it would have to be a different, more sophisticated colour of red.

Chosen Burgundy Colour

I felt that this burgundy pink colour was a subtle way of having the colour red as the brand visual identity as it wasn't too alarming and this shade wasn't too directly linked to the connotations of danger.

Product and Packaging for Brand:

From this, I went onto producing the product for the brand, knowing that I would be looking to packaging some vaporizers.

Due to the importance of the synthesis between the brand and Freud which I had established at the beginning of this brand, I knew that the first thing I had to think of what would be the intention of the vaporisers. I felt like the brand would be more focused on the wants of the customer rather than being quite a moral brand which, because the customer would be able to see this, would align itself to a risk-taking personality that is just like them.

I wanted a name that would reflect the power that the consumer would feel when using the product, not just in regards to status due to the penis envy psychology but the feeling of empowerment by using the vaporizer so I felt that the word 'Surge' referred to the surge in power they would feel inside as well as the power of the brand, making the consumer feel like the ego-gratification they have gotten from the product is connected to the product. This vaporizer would be directed at non-smokers and those who already use vaporizers so by connecting the product to power, the universal desire which is in discriminatory, it gives a positive reinforcement of the product and the act of vaping.

For the second one, I wanted a vaporizer that would target people who use cigarettes so I felt it was right to name the product in connection with smoking but no directly. I liked the name 'Blaze' because  I wanted a name which gave a strong, powerful image of danger and self-destruction whilst giving a sense of roots by appealing to what these consumers feel safe with, which is smoking.

I went onto coming up with packaging for the product.

Measurements/ Net Sketched Layout for Packaging

I knew that, due to the size and shape of vaporizers, that the packaging would be quite small. Previously, I had drawn out a few possibilities, however, it soon dawned on me that I could make the packaging fit with the rest of the brand identity by having the packaging upright so it worked with the phallic undertones of the brand. To reflect the identity, I found that I could show the product through the packaging visually by constructing a three part packaging box that would look like a vaporizer. I drew out and measured the nets needed for it to work.

Different Sides and Fronts

I made a range of different front, backs and sides so that I had a choice of varying digital visuals. By producing this range, it meant that I had the chance of being able to compare how the fronts and sides would work together with each other. I preferred having a simple and plain type with a busy side so that they juxtaposed against each other.

Packaging Design

I felt that this design would be very chic, simple and complementary of the brand identity. The structure would be reflecting of the phallic connotations as well as contextualise the purpose and the product connected with the brand.  The way that the logo is at the bottom of the box and the I-dent at the top means that the consumers eye reads upwards, in particular with the brand pattern being on the side of the box so it gives a subconscious flow upwards.

Descriptions

So that the two different types would be distinguishable, each would be separated both by colour and by having a description of the aim of each one on the packaging. To fit in with the branding, I created headers for the names of the types by manipulating them to look similar to the logo and made the short description centred so it fitted with the column format of the brand.

I went onto digitally producing the net that I had originally drawn out for the packaging.

Constructing Main Containment

Constructing Packaging Lid

Constructing Middle Slip

I made rectangles corresponding to the sizes that I had measured and placed them in order before joining them altogether to make one shape. By doing this, I would have no lines on the packaging so it would not be unprofessional whilst also being precise in the measuring of the different sides.

Other Packaging Nets

I went onto producing the opposing packaging for the other type of vaporizer so that they were the same size and style, adding consistency and flow to the brand. 

Tester Mock Up

From making the first mock up, I found that my tester highlighted some issues in regards to the length and size of the tabs at the sides as well as the length of the lid tops. The actual shape and the design itself worked really well but it was the psychical aspects that needed tweaking in regards to the sizes. Not just that, but strangely, the actual packaging wouldn't stick together, however, I thought this would be because of the small size of the tabs.

Net Amendments

I went onto amending the net by making it bigger, especially in regards to the sticking tabs, but making the inside smaller so that it fit snuggly within the packaging. Also, I felt that the way that the column descriptions were very messy and unconsidered in how the information was displayed so I decided to justify the text which automatically made it much neater. Not only that, but it adhered to the phallic subconscious hints that are prevalent within the branding.

2nd Mock Ups

The second set of tester mock ups justified the need for changing the tag sizes as it stuck together much easier, however it was still struggling to stick together. I concluded that it must be the way that the packaging is being printed with it being double sided so I decided to get it re-printed single sided.

From the last set of nets, I decided to get the packaging printed so that it was single sided and it stuck together very easily.

Finished Product:

A small range of vaporizers with packaging reflective of the brand identity.

Finished Product

I feel like the product is representative of the brand and has a very strong and clear aesthetic. The psychological aspects of the packaging alongside the product are subtle and hidden which makes it all the more successful.

Brand Guidelines:

I had decided to produce a product for the brand first because that way I would be able to get a feel for the brand itself by applying it to a product. This, in turn, would help me when writing the brand guidelines for the brand and would help me think about the strategy elements of the brand.

I knew that I wanted to include within the guidelines, discussions on the logo, font and colour choices as well as the use of the pattern, I-dent and the way that information should be formatted and laid out when used for the brand. Alongside this, I wanted to discuss the strategy for the brand, talking about language choices and tone of voice when addressing consumers as well as how the brand should be promoted, helping this understanding by including a brand manifesto. 

Headings of the Manifesto Pages

For the guidelines themselves, I wanted to have the format of the book similar to that of the brand itself, with it being narrow in width like the visual column style identity of Swell. Alongside this, I knew that I wanted to have headings in the book that reflected the ones used for the vaporizer types so I did this throughout for each guideline page. I decided that I would carry this over to the design boards as well for cohesion on all aspects of the brand.

Finished Brand Guidelines/ Strategy:

The brand guidelines/ strategy that I have produced for Swell are the most comprehensive that I have ever produced. Usually, I would just do a page on the font and colour choice and the logo and leave it at that but this one I include a manifesto of the brand as well as how the brand would be promoted and product information. Not only this, but to emphasise the brands attempts to connect emotionally to the audience, there are notes on tone of voice and language choices connected to the brand. I tried to include all of my reasoning behind the design choices that I made in regards to the psychological attributes. This way, the brand would be in synthesis with the essay that I had produced.

Design Boards:

In order to be able to contextualise my brief and present my brief in a professional manner, I produced some design boards. 

I used the boards to be able to explain how my practical and theoretical components synthesise together. This is the most important aspect of the brief so I included that in my first page. Normally, I wouldn't want to include as much text as I had on these boards, however, due to the fact that I had used the boards to describe the synthesis, it is understandable why there is quite a bit of text.

Overall, I have found the module quite difficult to deal with as there has been a lot to juggle. I thought that I was going to enjoy this practical more than I did but I think it is because I found it difficult to connect with from the beginning due to the lack of feedback I was getting from crits and the setback with the original branding. Saying that, I feel like Swell is a much more well rounded brand than what I had originally started with and once I had found that footing, I really got into it. The thing I am most happy about with Swell is the I-dent for the brand and how the pattern for the brand identity came out as well as this worked so well with the subtlety theme. I felt that it was a simple yet incredibly clever and unconscious attack on the desires of the consumer. The thing that I felt went badly for me for this brief was trying to get the right brand at the beginning of the brief as it made me doubt my own abilities as I didn't want to get it wrong for a second time. However, getting it wrong first time made me come up with Swell which was better than the direction I was heading in and answers the synthesis to the essay much comprehensively.