by Fiona Humberstone on March 11, 2010 · 0 comments
It’s been a busy week in the Flourish studio this week, and today was no exception, with no less than two client brainstorming sessions (and a corporate photoshoot downstairs to add to the fun run by Matt Pereira!). And so aided with a couple of mugs of strong coffee and my homemade cakes (carrot; and lemon and poppy seed) we set to work.
First up was Greens Cafe, Crazy Golf and Grass Putting based in Padstow, Cornwall. We first started working with Sharon when I met her at a Business Link “Ask the Expert” panel I was presenting on for women starting their own businesses. Sharon was in the process of buying a going concern in Padstow (or should that be Padstein?) and asked us to help her come up with a brand for the business.
That was three years ago, and whilst much of the brand identity remains as relevant today as it was back then, Sharon’s business has moved on, and she was keen that we refresh and develop the brand. Her husband (and business partner) Ian had envisaged a character that instantly communicated Crazy Golf (perhaps a bit Where’s Wally-esque?). The couple were also very conscious that they had this stunning grass putting range with views over the estuary and very close to nature, that they simply weren’t taking advantage of, so that area of the business needed development.
The first step was to identify the key messages each of the areas of the business needed to communicate. The cafe: chilled out, wholesome food and spectacular views. The crazy golf: traditional family fun, intergenerational and active. The grass putting: close to nature, spectacular views, relaxing. So some common themes but also very distinct identities.
Once we’d identified the feel we were going for, it was chopping time! And so we chopped our way through a stash of magazines and catalogues as well as images that Sharon had collated before the session.
A taxing “cull” followed. If the cutting is the most fun, this is the bit where clients usually get the most value. This is where we take a jumble of ideas and turn them into something quite cohesive. It’s also where the dialogue between client and creative director and designer can be really compelling. Taking a mood board to your brand designers is really useful: creating one with them is invaluable!
Finally the sticking, mounting and plan for moving forwards; which involves illustrating the character (of course I’ll keep you up to date!) and designing signs (including fabulous cutout signs that visitors will be able to put their heads through and have photos taken in a cheeky seaside sort of a way!).
in Branding, Briefs, Case Studies, Colour Psychology, Graphic Design, In The Studio This Week, Mood Boards
Caroline, the Flourish Studio Manager and I had a fabulously productive Friday afternoon brainstorming session with super-stylish social photographer Matt Pereira. Alongside large slices of homemade mocha cake, Matt’s trademark heart cookies and plenty of cups of tea we managed to make a lot of progress on the Matt Pereira Baby and Family brands.
There’s a lot of love for the work we’ve been doing on Matt’s Wedding photography brand but as resident photographer on Baby Surrey magazine it was time to pick up the pace with the family and baby brands (as well as working out just how they all fit together).
Step one was to define exactly what impression we wanted to create with each brand. We selected three keywords for each (baby: innocent, natural, uninhibited; family: fun, connection, energy) which guided us throughout the session.
We then got to work cutting. We’d all brought in inspirational books, magazines, paper and fabric swatches and ribbons. We also had our Pantone books in the office for colour planning. At this point we weren’t editing too heavily: just cutting images, objects and words that represented each brand best.
Step Three was the debate. Editing out choices down into a cohesive look and feel. Thankfully it didn’t get too heated! You can see the full cut on the left – baby to the foreground, family at the back. We pretty much took every image and discussed how it fitted with the brand keywords. Those that fitted got to stay, those that didn’t were binned.
What the finished result gave us was a really clear picture of how we’d like the finished collateral to look and feel. It’s not a template for design, more a spark for creativity and inspiration.
And here’s the finished baby board, complete with colour swatches. The colours most certainly took the longest as once we’ve found the right summer colours we then needed to make sure that they all worked together. I think Matt was a little surprised at quite how long we spend perfecting a particular hue of purple!
Our final step, once we’d completed each mood board, was to come up with a wish list of collateral, finishes, textures and ideas to promote each brand. Of course not all will be implemented straight away, but at least we have some clear direction for the year ahead.
And here’s the finished family mood board (complete with a family you right recognise bottom left!).
I know Caroline and I found the session invaluable in short-cutting and enriching the process of building a visual identity for Matt’s baby and family brands. Of course there’s a lot more work to do: we now need to start artworking the logos, brochure and websites. But importantly, both the Creative Directors and client are in agreement about the overall direction of the brand, and we both have an incredibly clear understanding of where we want to take the image.
in Branding, Briefs, Case Studies, Flourish Stuff, Graphic Design, In The Studio This Week, Logo Design, Mood Boards
