Project 1 - Graphic Design 1
ARTS 352 - Fall 2021
ARTS 352 - Fall 2021
This project is an exploration into the world of brand identity and what it really means to create a brand for a business. It was my job as a graphic designer to first choose a type of business and subsequently create an awesome and memorable brand for it. (While avoiding cliches)
I chose to create the burger joint Adventurer’s Guild! It features a brand that stands for fresh burgers and exciting fantasy elements. The process of creating this business began with a brand strategy. From there I created all the elements of this brand beginning with the logo. With logos, icons, colors, typefaces, and patterns all designed, I crafted an identity package. Finally, I created a style guide to official state the company’s chosen feel and style.
As one reads through this, I will be going into depth about my decisions and why I did what I did. By the end of this, it will be easy to see why Adventurer’s Guild would be proud to call this branding their own.
I hope you enjoy.
Theme / Name / Concept
Theme: Burger Joint
Name of Business: Adventurer’s Guild
Concept of Business: The idea is to provide fantasy themed meals and activities. For Example: Every month there will be a specialty item on the menu (like a spicy burger called the Dragon’s Breath) and “‘quests’”customers can go on to gain rewards (like purchases equaling up to a free meal).
Name of Business: Adventurer’s Guild
Concept of Business: The idea is to provide fantasy themed meals and activities. For Example: Every month there will be a specialty item on the menu (like a spicy burger called the Dragon’s Breath) and “‘quests’”customers can go on to gain rewards (like purchases equaling up to a free meal).
Location
Location: Virginia, Lynchburg Area
A Defense: College students are an unstable client base because they are not in town under half the year,so it can be risky to use them as a main target audience. However, stores like Meeples! and Dragon Fire Games are particularly aimed at a similar target audience as my brand is. In contrast, my brand has the distinct advantage of covering fantasy in general instead of the specific genre of TTRPG and board games that Meeples! and Dragon Fire Games market to. If those stores can subsist off the small audience they target, my broader audience for fantasy and burgers should support the store. (It will also matter how involved in the community my brand becomes - more is better)
A Defense: College students are an unstable client base because they are not in town under half the year,so it can be risky to use them as a main target audience. However, stores like Meeples! and Dragon Fire Games are particularly aimed at a similar target audience as my brand is. In contrast, my brand has the distinct advantage of covering fantasy in general instead of the specific genre of TTRPG and board games that Meeples! and Dragon Fire Games market to. If those stores can subsist off the small audience they target, my broader audience for fantasy and burgers should support the store. (It will also matter how involved in the community my brand becomes - more is better)
Selling Point / Brand Personality
Unique Selling Point: A themed burger joint with fresh ingredients
Personality: EXCITEMENT - Daring, Spirited, Imaginative, Up to Date
Personality: EXCITEMENT - Daring, Spirited, Imaginative, Up to Date
Market Position
Quality to Price: Mid-ranged / affordable quality
Type of Product: Burgers and fries as the main product
Type of Product: Burgers and fries as the main product
Target Audience
Age: 18 - 35
Media preferences: College Students prefer getting information through social media (most likely Instagram) and the internet rather than through books, newspapers, TV.
Martial status: [7% - 40% Average: 23%] Young Adults have been getting married less over the past 10 years
Children or no children: Child Friendly
Location of where they live: Virginia, Lynchburg area
Education: Highschool education or higher [Info is for Age 25 and over by Educational]
- Less than Highschool – 9.1%
- High School, or some college – 53.4%
- Bachelors or higher – 37.5%
Social Activities/ Hobbies: Among movie watchers in this age group, Fantasy is favorable and Adventure is extremely favorable. Therefore, A fantasy themed burger joint isn’t entirely a bad idea.
Media preferences: College Students prefer getting information through social media (most likely Instagram) and the internet rather than through books, newspapers, TV.
Martial status: [7% - 40% Average: 23%] Young Adults have been getting married less over the past 10 years
Children or no children: Child Friendly
Location of where they live: Virginia, Lynchburg area
Education: Highschool education or higher [Info is for Age 25 and over by Educational]
- Less than Highschool – 9.1%
- High School, or some college – 53.4%
- Bachelors or higher – 37.5%
Social Activities/ Hobbies: Among movie watchers in this age group, Fantasy is favorable and Adventure is extremely favorable. Therefore, A fantasy themed burger joint isn’t entirely a bad idea.
Citations
(Media Habits)
https://oncampusadvertising.com/college-student-media-habits/
(Marital status)
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/11/cohabitation-is-up-marriage-is-down-for-young-adults.html
(Educational Status)
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/time-series/demo/fig_2.png
(Hobbies and movie watching habits)
https://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/181150_crosstabs_HOLLYWOOD_REPORTER_FINAL_120418.pdf
(Hobbies and movie watching habits)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/264127/favorite-movie-genre-in-the-us/
(Location Defense Research)
https://www.usmeeples.com/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/dragon-fire-games-lynchburg
https://oncampusadvertising.com/college-student-media-habits/
(Marital status)
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/11/cohabitation-is-up-marriage-is-down-for-young-adults.html
(Educational Status)
https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/visualizations/time-series/demo/fig_2.png
(Hobbies and movie watching habits)
https://morningconsult.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/181150_crosstabs_HOLLYWOOD_REPORTER_FINAL_120418.pdf
(Hobbies and movie watching habits)
https://www.statista.com/statistics/264127/favorite-movie-genre-in-the-us/
(Location Defense Research)
https://www.usmeeples.com/
https://www.yelp.com/biz/dragon-fire-games-lynchburg
Target Audience Story
Markus Von Helsing is a college student attending his 4th year at Liberty University. He is 22 years old and loves to watch movies with his friends and family. Recently, Markus Von Helsing saw something appear on his Instagram feed. There he found out a new burger joint had opened up nearby, and his friends from the game club were all going to check it out. Above you can see Mark heading out to go meet his friends for dinner.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor: FIVE GUYS
Who art they: A burger joint that sells burgers
Who is their audience: Casual customers looking for a quality burger with fresh ingredients. They are not high-end but neither are they a lower-end fast food restaurant.
Market Positioning: Mid-range/Affordable quality
Unique selling point: They only sell freshly cooked ingredients nothing frozen
Tone of Voice: Bold /// “To the Point” /// What you see is what you get
Look and feel: Classic /// Timeless (old fashion but still fresh) /// Simple
Typefaces: Helvetica and Tekton
Color: White and Red Primary /// Brown (paper bag) Secondary
Who art they: A burger joint that sells burgers
Who is their audience: Casual customers looking for a quality burger with fresh ingredients. They are not high-end but neither are they a lower-end fast food restaurant.
Market Positioning: Mid-range/Affordable quality
Unique selling point: They only sell freshly cooked ingredients nothing frozen
Tone of Voice: Bold /// “To the Point” /// What you see is what you get
Look and feel: Classic /// Timeless (old fashion but still fresh) /// Simple
Typefaces: Helvetica and Tekton
Color: White and Red Primary /// Brown (paper bag) Secondary
Mood Board
Pinterest Board Link
https://pin.it/1vc8diM
https://pin.it/1vc8diM
Mood Board Thoughts:
When I began this project I wanted to make sure that I had a clear ascetic in mind. For this purpose, I gathered many photos together and sorted through them to decide which ones matched my ascetic. My goal was to find pictures that exuded a sense of that classic medieval fantasy vibe with tasty, savory food. In addition, I wanted to find some black letter fonts, as I had decided the black letter style was the best mix between bold and exciting.
When I began this project I wanted to make sure that I had a clear ascetic in mind. For this purpose, I gathered many photos together and sorted through them to decide which ones matched my ascetic. My goal was to find pictures that exuded a sense of that classic medieval fantasy vibe with tasty, savory food. In addition, I wanted to find some black letter fonts, as I had decided the black letter style was the best mix between bold and exciting.
Thumbnail Thoughts:
My process for the rough sketching was to keep it loose and free. Let no idea go sketched and no thought unexplored. This is important to my process as it allows me to think out side the box. The purpose of this step was to narrow down thousands of ideas into a few good ideas that can be refined.
Refined Sketches Thoughts:
Where before I was only concerned with production of ideas, here I am concerned only with the refinement. This is the stage in process where I begin to apply a more critical look at my designs and I decide what I should keep and what I should leave behind. From this stage, I refine the sketch and add more detail while I decide on the three final logos I will bring in to a digital format.
Digital Refinement Thoughts:
This stage is where all my ideas that I created and refined in my sketchbook and all my research information from my brand strategy come together to create three distinct main logos. Each of these logos are there own figure head of three different brand identities. After multiple iterations I decided upon these final designs because of their shape language and overall readability.
Final Logo Decision and Variation Thoughts:
Here it is! The final design of the logo. This brand was inspired by knight crests. The shield and it’s textured edge are a symbol of trust, stability, and foundation. The flairs on either side of the shield show the excitement and quality of the brand. Lastly, the banner, text, and letter-mark further the excitement and fantasy feel. All in all this logo design beat out the rest of the competition by its use of shapes, font placement, and complexity.
Color Thoughts:
Color is never to be neglected when making the best brand. Entire brands have sometimes been identified by their color scheme alone, and this brand will be no different. I put a lot of thought into what colors would be used for a fantasy themed burger joint, and I landed on four distinct hues/values.
The golden-yellow colors is for that sense of value and quality while the reddish-orange works in tandem as a tertiary color to project excitement and savoriness. The white acts as a neutral tone in the palette as I wanted a color that brings attention to itself and the colors around it. The deep-brown is by far the most important choice. I did not want a simple black color that was cold and depressing. So, I picked a dark color that invites the eye to look longer.
Pattern and Icons Thoughts:
The patterns and icons are specifically designed to call back to the theme and product of the business. Having the fantasy elements of the logo placed next to a classic burger and fries connects the ideas together in the mind of the audience. Each icon is designed to stand on its own and be usable in the patterns.
Typography Choice Thoughts:
The brand required a selection of fonts that are bold yet simply. Below you can see the four separate fonts that I ended up with and each one has a reason for being here. The main “Adventurer’s Guild” font is a custom hand lettered font style that I only allowed to be used in the main logo and its variations. This is because I do not want the brand logo becoming over used in the rest of the brand.
The Bahnschrift font was an excellent choice because it perfectly matches my goal of being bold yet simple. The Averia Serif bold/regular act as the supporting cast. Being interesting to look at but not distracting or hard to read.
Collateral Thoughts:
These items accentuate the theme and style of the brand. The pins are a fun item to be handed out and collected by customers. The style of the paper packaging is bold, just like the brand is. The shirt, though simple, is a good example of letting the logo shine without any distractions.
Style Guide:
The Style Guide was created near the end of the project as a guide to those who would use this fake companies branding. It was a good mile stone in the project and It put together more rules beyond what the elements are and describes how to use them.
The Style guide has been turned into a basic flip book here:
The Style guide has been turned into a basic flip book here:
https://www.flipsnack.com/85ACDACC5A8/style-guide-final-v1.html
Below there is photos of the style guides pages.
Below there is photos of the style guides pages.
Highs:
This branding has come with its triumphs and challenges. The ideation part of the project has always been the most entertaining. It is a time for me to explore every thought unhindered. The final printing and composing of the brand was the next highest point as I finally got to see everything in context and put together well.
Lows:
It is hard to judge where the low part of the branding campaign was. Generally, the low part came when I was doing rework after rework on the main three logos. I had to push past my worries and finalize a design that would work.
What I would do differently:
I would have completed the custom typeface all the way through. In the future if someone ever needs to create a title with that font for the company (for some reason not yet known) they could.
What I learned:
This project has taught me a lot about recording your ideation process and doing a lot of the creative work on the front end of the project. I found that as I approached the end of my brand creation process it became a lot harder to make large changes to the project. As I continue my journey as an artist I am going to strive at increasing the quality of my ideation process.
It Was Successful:
My brand matched all the requirements set forth by the project. I set out to create a unique, powerful, and bold brand idea for a unique and niche company. The main logo has great readability and a strong shape that can be identified from many sizes. The colors were considered thoughtfully and used with intention. I took the simple and amorphous concept of a burger joint and turned it into a business idea that at face value should not work. Attempting to combine fantasy with a themed burger joint was not easy, but it was effective for the brand.
Ultimately, I am extremely satisfied with my work and diligence through this process and I hope as other people look at it, they agree with my conclusion.
Thank you for following along with me on my journey. Hope to see you again in the future.
