Creative Brand Strategy - Task 2A & 2B

22 April 2024 - 27 May 2024 / Week 1 - Week 6
Sim Jia Min 0349784
Creative Brand Strategy / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Task 2A & 2B: Ideation & Design Direction

INSTRUCTIONS (MIB)

Task 2A: Ideation

For this task, I need to develop ideas for campaign name, tagline, communication goals, key message, online and offline touchpoints, and visual references of the touchpoints, all based on the haw sweets brand, Hawsome that I had proposed on Task 1B.

I initially list some brief ideas for the campaign and touchpoints, referring to the customer journey map from Task 1B. 

Figure 1.1: Rough ideas about the campaign

Figure 1.2: Rough ideas about brand touchpoints

As we need at least 4 online and 4 offline touchpoints, I was unsure about the last online touchpoint for my brand, until Miss Lilian suggested having a special newsletter via email, which is suitable to utilise the brand mascot character as the email sender of weekly brand information updates.

Online touchpoints: 

• website 
• social media
• promotional video 
• newsletter

Offline touchpoints:

• product packaging
• pop-ups
• environmental graphics
• merchandise (brand and mascot)

Figure 1.3: Initial visual references for touchpoints

My initial idea of the visual was vague, I was unsure about which direction was suitable for a new globally launched brand and felt unable to find any suitable references, it is because my ideation idea was still rough and messy.

Miss Lilian suggested solidifying the touchpoints first with proper planning for website pages, social media posts and promotional video style.

Figure 1.4: More detailed touchpoint ideas for website, social media and promotional video

With these ideas, I also found some more suitable visual references for them. Then as the task progressed with weekly feedback, I was able to come out with more solid ideas. 

Task 2B: Design direction

For design direction, I first came out with a mood board to have a certain direction to work on before I proceed with others.

I was thinking of a direction of retro Chinese visual style, which can represent the old heritage of Chinese haw sweets. When I was browsing, I learned that a Chinese milk tea brand "Hey Tea", utilise this kind of retro style in some of their promotional posters, so I thought they are a good reference.

Figure 1.5: Initial mood board

As the task progressed, I realised that this kind of visual style might not be suitable to apply to a globally launched brand like Hawsome, as people from other cultural backgrounds might feel not so related to this style, plus it doesn't really suit the idea of attracting new and young consumers. 

Figure 1.6: Refined mood board

Then I changed it to another direction which focused on the geometrical shapes of the haw sweets, and contrasting colours that bring out the brand personality of energetic youthfulness that can fit into the trendy branding in this modern world. 

With this solid visual direction, I was able to develop more visual ideas for the other parts of Task 2B.

Figure 1.7: Initial logo references

As I was following the initial mood board of retro Chinese style, I picked these logos as references. 

Figure 1.8: Final logo references

After changing the mood board to a more modern direction, I also switched the logo references to a modern approach, but the key ideas remain the same, text (wordmark) with mascot icon (brandmark), and a combination of English and Chinese letters.

Figure 1.9: Initial mascot references

The initial idea for Hawsome mascot references was simple because I kept thinking about incorporating it in the brand logo but neglected the other possible parts that the mascot could incorporate as well, such as the website, newsletter, merchandise, etc. I realised that the idea of a minimal mascot design was too play-safe and limiting, and it was not exciting enough to bring out the brand personality of wholesomeness.

Figure 2.1: Final mascot references

After reflecting on the initial idea, I developed an idea to make a cartoonist mascot that looks rounded and chonky like a hawthorn fruit, which can represent the wholesomeness brand personality.

FINAL TASK 2 SUBMISSION

Figure 2.2: Task 2 by Jia Min

FEEDBACK

Task 2A

Week 3

- refer to the customer journey map for all touchpoints

- can create a background story for the mascot

- refer to Japanese brand global marketing

- create mystery for the landing page, only showing the products when reaching the product page

- can have window on packaging

Week 4

- give context on where the brand comes from

- expand touchpoints

- promotional video can include both mascot and products

- newsletter can be a touchpoint (PDF, email): include mascot story, brand information updates

- banner ads online: think about where it would appear (but it's not really visible and eye-catching)

- pop-ups: refer to how brands do their pop-ups in real life

Week 5

- website: non-scrolling or scrolling

- can use Figma to do the website motion, and then make a website showcase video

- write the interesting point of each reference of the promotional video

- pop-ups: a booth in mall, event or store-based

- write notes to explain

Task 2B

Week 4

- visual style: photography style and illustration style

- mood board and art direction: a bit too chinese for global market

Week 5

- colour palette: change the tone of yellow and blue 

- write notes to explain

- photography style: types of shoot

- type exploration: put headline, subheadline and body typefaces together 

REFLECTION

Reflecting on the ideation and design direction process for Hawsome, I made significant improvements in my approach. Initially, my ideas for the campaign and touchpoints were scattered and unclear. With weekly feedback, I was able to refine my direction. By solidifying these touchpoints with proper planning and incorporating more specific elements, such as the style of website pages and social media posts, my ideas became more concrete. For the design direction, I first considered a retro Chinese style inspired by brands like Hey Tea. However, I realised this might not appeal globally or to younger audiences. So, I changed the direction to a more modern direction to highlight the brand's energetic and youthful vibe. In the whole process of doing these tasks, I spent quite some time looking for more references due to the change of direction, luckily I ended up finding some gold references that suited my direction a lot. Overall, this process taught me the importance of being flexible and constantly improving my ideas, finding the right balance between cultural themes and global appeal. 

FURTHER READING

Book: "SEARCH: Discovering Southeast Asia's Graphic Design Studios"

Published by Studio LIE

I discovered the book in a bookstore in Penang, the content is a visual documentation that featured the works of designers and studios based in Southeast Asia countries.

As I read through the pages, I was immediately captivated by the visual content. I was introduced to 40 design studios from across Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, each offering a glimpse into their creative processes. I gained valuable insights from the interviews that showcase detailed views of the designers' thoughts, showing their passion and commitment. It was really motivating and eye-opening to see their creation based on the thoughts behind it. Reading this book made me feel inspired and eager to explore my own creativity, and also a motivation to develop my task 3.