Designs 1- Geography, Tradition, Culture
Final Designs- Geography, Tradition, Culture
Problem Solving—What was the problem faced by this brand? How was this problem solved?
The problem faced by this brand was that more people needed to know about the city of Marrakesh in which tourism needed to be increased which would increase the revenue from tourism for the city. In order to get the audience excited about who Marrakesh is, fresh new logos were to be designed for three different areas to help in the new branding direction. The problem was solved by connecting research of Marrakesh to the right colors and typography.
Geography
According to (Marrakech - valley, ourika, national park Toubkal, flora | Moroccan National Tourist Office, 2019), the city of Marrakesh is backed up to the Atlas mountains. Throughout the city, you can see palm trees everywhere, so the outlining of the mountains with the palm tree in the middle was created to give this sense of geographical area of the city. However, with feedback from peers helped to see that the lines were not a great representation of mountains and that all of the lines throughout the logo needed to be cleaned up, more research on the use of Illustrator was done to see how this logo could be improved and give a better representation of Marrakesh.
With more practice with the Illustrator software, it was decided that the mountains were a great representation of the geography of Marrakesh but just needed to be reworked. In reworking the design logo the palm tree was taken out and the sun was added to give the logo a more vibrant feel and the typography was designed to be the city at the bottom of the mountains. The blue was used for the typography to give the feel of tranquility in which is an emotion felt upon visiting Marrakesh, a feeling of peace.
Culture
Part of its influences around the world has come through its unique architecture that can be seen throughout the city according to (Culture and Tradition in Marrakech | Villanovo, 2019). This first design was aimed at showing some of that unique architecture to give the audience a sense of the city. However, with feedback from peers, that the color pattern was throwing that logo and taking away from the design and to think about doing something that is not in a circle, and through doing more research it was determined that this logo needed to be redone and more thought should be put into the design.
An important thing to remember is to be able to think outside the box when looking to create unique designs. Yurt (2019), says thinking outside the box means daring to be different. With the final logo design, it needed to show something that would be eye-catching and be memorable for the audience to intrigue them about Marrakesh. This logo design is eye-catching and when seen the audience will think of Marrakesh which will intrigue them to want to visit the city. The final colors chosen were a shade of yellow, which was chosen to represent the warmth of the city, and red, which was chosen to represent the excitement of the city, these colors focus on the emotional side of the audience, getting them excited about the warmth of the city.
Tradition
With the many traditions of Marrakesh, the direction that was chosen was to represent a type of food that is unique to the city. Through research, it was learned that the sheepshead is a very popular delicacy on the streets of Marrakesh, according to (Wilkinson, 2019). However, with great feedback from peers, it was concluded that most people probably wouldn't recognize the symbol and would not be able to connect this logo to Marrakesh.
More research was done to look for a different direction to go in. through that research, it was learned that there are different festivals which are held each year and there is one which is quite popular. According to Chang, (2016), The Marrakesh International Film Festival is held every year and you different celebrities join in on the festivities each year. This direction was chosen to entice the part of the audience that loves films and looks for opportunities to be a part of different experiences. The color of blue and orange was chosen with blue representing trustworthiness and orange being an attention grabber. These colors presented together represent the city of Marrakesh.
Research—What research informed the development of this project?
The research that informed the development of this project was done on the colors that represent Marrakesh. The colors that will give the audience a sense of the city and allow them to connect the logos to the city as well. Research was done on the city itself to see what directions could be explored that would directly reflect the city and connect it to the audience. Typography was also researched as to match the perfect fonts to the logos that would elaborate even more the atmosphere of the city. Walking through the markets of Marrakesh you can see all kinds of colors of spices and various merchandise. “La medina is a beautiful chaos full of colors” (A thousand and one colors in Marrakech (Morocco) - La petite valise d'Aurélie, 2019). The colors chosen of brown, yellow, blue, and orange each represent Marrakesh in a different way. The brown represents the earthy emotion that creates warmth to the audience; yellow represents opportunity and stimulates the minds of the audience; blue represents relaxation and creates a calmness to the audience; while orange draws attention and creates an optimistic feeling towards the audience (Color Meaning and Psychology – graf1x.com, 2019). For the final design for the geography, the mountains were chosen to give the audience a sense of the warmth atmosphere the mountains of Marrakesh presents. For the design for the culture, the outline of the camel gives a unique feel that represents the uniqueness of the cultures of Marrakesh and also give the audience a sense of exploration which is what the city of Marrakesh desires that you do while visiting. For the tradition, the design of the clapperboard represents the International Film Festival that is very popular in Marrakesh. For those of the audience that love movies and had no idea that this event took place there, it will intrigue them to want to visit and be a part of this event. Font Family Page, states that the luminari font is an amalgam of high middle age writings (2019). This font was used for the tradition design and it is a very rememberable font that grabs the attention of the audience and intrigues them to find out more about the International Film Festival of Marrakesh. The impact font for the culture design, represents a bold stance, it is easy to read and its boldness demands the attention of the audience. The Beautiful Mountains font for geography was the perfect fit for the design, the meaning is in the name of the font.
Innovation—How does this project compare to competitors? In what ways is it superior?
This project is unique in that there were three logos that needed to be designed for three different areas of a city, where compared to competitors, they normally will be looking for one particular logo the entire city verse three different areas. McKinney states that, when you have a true and deep understanding of your customers it creates a competitive advantage (2017). The advantage that this project has over its competitors is that by having three different logos it will appeal to a wider range of audience. Thus opening the door for the branding to be able to introduce vital information for these three areas that will intrigue the audience, pulling them into the city of Marrakesh. What makes this project superior is that not one but three campaigns can be ran at once, one for each area of the city instead of trying to combine everything into one campaign. Running one campaign may grab the attention of some but there will be those that may be uninterested thus by passing some information that would otherwise intrigue them if it had been shown first. These three different areas will allow the focus to be placed directly on that area of interest. By having these areas of interest it allows for a lot of information to be presented without losing the audience in one long drawn out campaign.
References
A thousand and one colors in Marrakech (Morocco) - La petite valise d'Aurélie. (2019). Retrieved 23 February 2019, from http://lapetitevalisedaurelie.com/en/a-thousand-and-one-colors-in-marrakech-morocco/
Chang, R. (2016). 25 Things You Should Know About Marrakech. Retrieved 21 February 2019, from http://mentalfloss.com/article/75164/25-things-you-should-know-about-marrakech
Color Meaning and Psychology – graf1x.com. (2019). Retrieved 22 February 2019, from https://graf1x.com/color-psychology-emotion-meaning-poster/
Culture and Tradition in Marrakech | Villanovo. (2019). Retrieved 22 February 2019, from https://www.villanovo.com/guides/morocco/marrakech/culture-traditions
Font Family Page. (2019). Retrieved 22 February 2019, from https://www.myfonts.com/fonts/canadatype/luminari/
Importance of Logos in Business. (2019). Retrieved 2 August 2019, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-logos-business-577.html
Leonard, K. (2019). Importance of Logos in Business. Retrieved 22 February 2019, from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-logos-business-577.html
Marrakech - valley, ourika, national park Toubkal, flora | Moroccan National Tourist Office. (2019). Retrieved 22 February 2019, from
McKinney, P. (2017, March 30). Innovation by Design: What Is It & Why Does It Matter? Retrieved from https://philmckinney.com/innovation-by-design-what-is-it-why-does-it-matter/
Taylor, B. (2018). The Importance of Choosing the Right Font | M3.Agency. Retrieved 22 February 2019, from https://www.m3.agency/news-insights/the-importance-of-choosing-the-right-font
Wilkinson, R. (2019). The Best Street Food You Must Try In Marrakech, Morocco. Retrieved 21 February 2019, from https://theculturetrip.com/africa/morocco/articles/the-best-street-food-in-marrakech/
Yurt, W. (2019). 10 Essential Things to Keep in Mind When Designing a Logo. Retrieved 21 February 2019, from http://www.webyurt.com/things-to-keep-in-mind-when-designing-a-logo
