Study Task 01

Collaborative Branding - Day 5

Rebrand Critique

This morning our group pitched our rebrand efforts to four other groups. We all spoke on different parts of the design process and visual identity, our interpretation of the brief and why we believed it was a success. The feedback we received from our peers was all positive and encouraging.

Below are quotes taken from the feedback that reinforce the view that our pitch was a success:

"Great amount of research, lots of detail"

"Deep analysis into colour"

"Considered approach"

"Really easy to see how it would be used"

"Creative concept behind change in kerning"

"Great application to the website"

This afternoon we received further feedback from tutors Simon Harrison and John Watters who had previously made notes in earlier pitch. The rebrand task was somewhat a competition between our group and two others who had also been given Global as their rebrand subject. Our feedback on the visual language / design treatment produced was very positive. The effectiveness in the simplicity of our design was praised as well as our informed decisions and target research. They were also very impressed by the alteration to the finial of the letter "e" of the word one, which they considered "outstanding."

We did receive some negative feedback however, this being the amount of copy featured on our presentation itself - something I take full responsibility for as I produced the presentation. In the future I will approach presentations with a much more visually-driven process, delivering the information from prompt cards or other means of remembrance. As a group we were asked to remember to include alternate options when presenting future briefs.

Later in the session our rebrand resolution was selected as the most successful of the three "Global" rebrands. I was proud of our group and what we had achieved in such a short space of time and it was also really rewarding to have had our outcome acknowledged as one that had the "potential to be in industry." I thoroughly enjoyed this first task, and am excited at the prospect of responding to similar briefs in the future.

Final auto one visual identity.

Study Task 01

Collaborative Branding - Day Four

On the final day before pitching our rebrand, I dedicated my time to producing some extensions of the new auto one visual language. I wanted to put the new identity into context and also show its adaptability and diversity as a logo.

Featured below is the before and after of the Global to auto one rebrand, showcasing the success of the new identity on the existing web design:

Global web design featuring old identity prior to rebrand.

auto one identity featured on previously existing web layout.

I also produced a variation of the auto one logo featuring a separating line in between each word. By doing this, opportunity to extend the use of the visual language became available. This simple, subtle addition allowed for the identity to adapt to particular sectors of the company, showcasing the adaptability and versatile nature of the logo and success as a result. Below are the sector specific variations stylised with the separating line:

With the visual language and design treatment now completely resolved, the identity complete and the logo shown in clear context - I am confident that as a group we have come together to produce a successful outcome that has accomplished all the requirements of the brief and more.

Study Task 01

Collaborative Branding - Day Three

On arrival to today's session one of the group members presented a range of research they had done into colour, their connotations and colour choices used by sector competitors - all of which we could use to determine which would work best for the “auto one” identity in making it suitable for purpose and target. This research allowed us as a group to jump straight into exploring the findings and applying informed design decisions to the auto one type. 

Featured below is some of the colour research detailed above:

Red: Energy, Strength, Love, Dynamic, Sensual.

Blue: Calm, Confident, Authoritative, Dependable, Credible.

Silver / Grey: Sophisticated, Neutral, Prestigious, Elegant, Mechanical.

I also discovered a survey carried out in 2015 found that black, white, silver and grey were the most popular car colours, with blue and red close after - supporting the above research.

As a group we quickly established that grey was to be a key colour in communicating the “auto one” identity. This is because grey is colour we all felt was relevant to the business sector of cars in that it makes you think of car garages, the mechanics and is aesthetically stylish - enhancing the company’s established “premium” specialism. We also decided the addition of a vibrant, striking colour would enhance the logo further, and so I began to tonally explore grey, red and blue. This is evidenced below. 

Having explored the connotations of the colours relating to cars and experimenting tonally with them, we next decided to make an addition of vibrant red to the “one” type of the logo. This enhances the word visually, and in doing so further establishes the communication of the company as a “one stop” solution and also its strength and energy as a business. We chose red as the feature colour as we felt the blue was too cold and authoritative, whereas the red provided a striking warmth and better reflected the dynamic strength, energy and passion the company has in delivering their services. Also, red is considered stereotypically as a unisex colour, which unlike the blue and pink from the previous Global identity don't anchor the appeal to one sex nor the other. 

The red featured was then extended and refined to a gradient to further enhance the tonal energy of the visual, attracting more interest and a more stylish aesthetic supporting the company’s premium manufacturer specialism. This also suggests the body shape of a car.

At this stage we are all in agreement that this was the best resolution. We believed in all of our design decisions, knowing that they were all considered, informed and relevant to the market, target audience and auto sector. What we have produced is a dynamic, adaptable logo that is clear, efficient and visually simple, with a visual language that is appropriate in all aspects. Tomorrow we plan to explore extension of the visual language to other platforms and uses.

Study Task 01

Collaborative Branding - Day Two

As detailed at the end of yesterday's post, today the rest of the group and I started the session pitching our ideas to each other for how to approach the new visual identity for Global. We unanimously decided from the outset of the discussion that we felt a sans-serif type face would be most appropriate in communicating the brand identity, as the business sector is one that is constantly abundant with new models, "face lifts" and new technology being featured in the cars, especially in the company's specialism "premium" manufacturers cars'. We also felt a serif type would give a dated aesthetic, instead of the dynamic, sleek and contemporary visual language that would give a true representation of the market, target audience and context of the sector. 

Our preference for a sans-serif type supplied us with two options from Massimo Vignelli's basic 6 - these being Helvetica and Futura. Our initial look at both typefaces led us to an immediate favour towards Futura. It was the groups interpretation of this typeface as a  clean, sharp and contemporary aesthetic that is clear to read, and easily adaptable in terms of scale. It’s legibility will maintain regardless of scale, important in terms of logo design as it would have to be applied to a range of points of delivery in varying sizes - from large signage to letter heads. We preferred the look not only of the typeface as a whole, but felt the individual characters of the font featured cleaner straight lines which would more successfully portray and enhance the simple, contemporary visual we desired. 

Considering our findings from yesterday, we quickly agreed a complete rebrand, including a change in name, was crucial to the success of Global's new identity. Initially ideas for the new name were lacking, that was until I suggested an option that I had been contemplating the night prior to the session. It was my idea for the name of the company to become "auto one." I felt this new name was clear, succinct and provided an immediate implication of the companies sector of business (auto-mobiles) and range of services available (one place for all). Listed below are the supporting factors of why I believed “auto one” would make for a more successful, relevant and appropriate visual identity for Global:

• Sounds more current, relevant and sector-specific.

• Instantly establishes connection to business sector through semantic language.

• The name is memorable, directly identifiable with the company.

• “auto one” signifies the company’s available services for automobiles that can all be provided from their one base.

• a total visual overhaul would create more impact in the community -  potentially creating a more successful rebrand.

• The new name takes from and enhances the company's business sector and existing slogan: "Your one stop fleet solution."

The other members of the group were all in favour of the new name, and like myself believed in its potential and supporting factors. It was time to put all of our research and ideas into the process of producing the new "auto one" visual language.

The above image exhibits our initial exploration of the auto one Futura-set typeface's tracking.We decided a more tight, close together visual would be most successful in communicating the complete range of available services available from the company, enhancing the idea of wholeness and the business being a “one” stop location for auto solutions. Although we favoured the unified aesthetic of the logo at this point, we all felt individual kerning solutions were required to perfect the company's new typographic identity.

With the overall tracking established, we then further altered the logo via individual character kerning, adding extra space in between the u, t and o of auto. We also reduced the kerning of the word "one" to enhance the concept of the company still being a "one stop solution" and appropriately stylise the word to represent its meaning. Further refinement included the decision to alter the finial of the letter e to create a more rounded, whole character creating cohesion with the other visual information exhibited through the Futura type as well as enhancing the idea of the company as a well-rounded service provider. This process is depicted below:

As a group we now believed we had perfected the type-setting and visual language of the new logo, which so far successfully communicates the market, target audience and business sector. Tomorrow we plan to research and explore colour to take our design treatment to the next level. Below is the final type-setting for the auto one logo.

Study Task 01

Collaborative Branding - Day One

The study task set today provided instructions to collaboratively rebrand a given company using only type to effectively and successfully communicate the market, target audience and sector in a contemporary context. As a starting point, we as a group were required to decide on one of Massimo Vignelli's six basic typefaces - those which he believes are the only typefaces required by designers to produce successful works. These typefaces are Garamond, Bodoni, Century Expanded, Futura, Times Roman, and Helvetica. Before we decided on this, we first needed to research our given company in order to make informed, relevant and considered design choices that would more successfully communicate the brand.

Our given rebrand-subject was "Global." Established in 1997, Global Auto Care started as a vehicle maintenance centre. We found that the company quickly gained a reputation for it’s high quality and reliable service, resulting in opportunity for the business to expand and thus become a company providing a vast range of vehicle related services. These services included:

• UK wide vehicle movement
• Vehicle storage
• Daily rental
• De-fleet
• Maintenance Centre

Noted on their website - www.global-autocare.co.uk - Global feature the slogan “Your one stop fleet solution” as part of their brand identity. The group decided this was relevant to the company due to the range of available services to their clients in one place: This place being their new “impressive” facility “Global One.” 

We discovered the company primarily provides it’s range of services to “some of the UK’s largest PLC’s,” but also to other companies with smaller fleet sizes ranging from 1 vehicle to several thousand. Global provides mostly for businesses / organisations with larger fleets.

Further research allowed us to establish the company's target market. Our findings and discussion led us to the conclusion that Global's specialism in “premium” manufacturers, including Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, jaguar and Land Rover, in conjunction with the “high quality and reliable” services they provide at “competitive prices” meant the target for the company would be working middle to upper class persons. This is supported by the fact the competitive rates of service will be accessible to those in financially stable circumstances, whilst the specialism in “premium,” more expensive manufacturers suggests a target of the affluent and persons in possession of high disposable income. 

Leeds United FC Sponsorship.

Each of the given rebrand-subjects, of course including Global, are a LUFC sponsor. The group identified Global are also the official motor vehicle partner of the club for the 2015/16 season. The company are offering free M.o.T tests to season ticket holders and club members of the football club. We discussed as a group how the affiliation will gain new custom for Global through the incentive of the free M.o.T’s, whilst LUFC will also attract new club members and season ticket holders. This partnership works favourably for both in question, and the mutual support for Leeds based companies / clubs is what makes the partnership successful.

Having carried out our initial research, talk soon turned to how each of us in the group felt about the existing visual identity and what our thoughts were in moving forward with the rebrand. We unanimously concluded that Global's current branding was irrelevant, unconsidered and unsuccessful in its communication of the market, target audience and sector context. Below are our considerations and supporting thoughts on why the company's communicating visual language needs to be completely changed:

• Global Auto Care is a national UK company. They have been based only in the UK (Leeds) since their establishment in 1997. This fact alone makes the company’s name irrelevant, misleading, and questionable. Their services are not “global,” but exclusive to the UK, with them quoted as having “some of the UK’s largest PLC’s” as their customers. 

• The identity’s type features a capital “G” followed by lowercase letters. This is not a relevant design decision, nor is it suitable for purpose in that it does not enhance or enforce the feeling of scale, as “global” implies.

• The globe featured within the visual makes the logo hard to understand visually. It takes time to process due to its complexity, and is border-line illegible.

• The logo as is depicts pink type - inappropriate in for the use of “global” as it is a feminine colour, irrelevant in the communication of what some may consider a male dominated business sector/interest. The colour does not provoke visual connection to cars. 

• The word “global” alone (as featured on their website) does not prompt thought about cars, it has so semantic connection to the companies services or business sector.

• The visual identity of the company, including its web presence, is in cohesive, forgettable and un-clear.

• The identity is not forthcoming in communicating what the company provides service-wise. It is hard to establish a connection  between the company and the sector of their business. This is unsuccessful when considering Globals sponsorship of LUFC, as Global’s services are not clear from their name and therefore LUFC fans may find it hard to gage the business. 

As a group we then decided to go away tonight and consider some ideas for the rebrand, taking in to account today's findings, with the intention to decide on one of Vignelli's typefaces and begin our process in creating a new design treatment for Global tomorrow. 

Below are our in-studio workings from today's session.