Mood boards to develop design concepts for branding
30 thumbnail sketches done based on the 3 mood boards
Sketches of different logo ideas
Added different materials that a company would need; business cards, letter heads, envelopes as well as created a clothing tag, gift cards, shopping bag and a magazine flip book, then placed it onto a poster
App created for AMY XOXO
Project title: Amy XOXO
Client: Amy XOXO
Duration: 5 months
Objective: Create a brand identity for an up and coming clothing company in San Francisco. Along with branding, I designed business pieces as well as 3D designs for the company. During the duration of the semester, I collaborated in a group to design a wireframe for a mobile app for Amy XOXO. After the collaboration, we then drifted off and designed a mobile app that suited for the branding direction I created for the company.
Background: Amy XOXO is a up and coming clothing company that strives to reach the audience of mid teenagers to young women. Being based in San Francisco, the importance of Amy XOXO being adaptable as well as trendy with the clientele.
Research: I researched inspiration for colors, styles and ideas to create a brand. I typed in key words that related to the location as well as the audience. I looked through the image domain Pexels to get my visual inspiration. I typed in words such as “San Francisco” and “millennial” even “trending” to help the research in the brand identify. Once I have found the different brand identities, I then created mood boards with different brand directions.
Another topic researched was competing brands, such as American Eagle and Forever 21, who are marketed towards the target audience. Through this research, I collaborated with a group looking at the interactiveness of the app, as well as the ease of use and layout.
Strategy: Part of my strategy was to play around with the different ideas found while researching different key words. Then I created logos that incorporated the different mood boards that were created for each angle of design. Creating the mood boards helped me set a platform for designing the logos as well as creating a brand overall. The different mood boards consisted of 3 different paths that the brand could take, (everyday teenager, simple, and fun & bold). I played around with the different aspects that San Francisco has; the “hip” environment, brick and industrial buildings and what the vibe is when people visit there. After playing around with the different ideas, I sought out for the design incorporating the San Francisco bay bridge, which is notable landmark for the area.
Design Solution: Once my brand identity was figured out, I then refined 1 logo (which is the name Amy XOXO, San Fransisco) and an illustration of the bay bridge. San Francisco is often a sought out location for fashion and for the latest trends, using the bay bridge helps illustrate that. The logo is also interchangeable, it can be applied to just a white background and it can incorporate a colored box, which can be changed based on the latest trends or seasons.
After the logo was finalized, I started to create professional business materials; letterhead, business card and an envelope. Which all revolve around my logos style and incorporation of a dark blue and the bay bridge.
With the finalized logo, I then created 2D items that a clothing store would have to market their company. I designed a magazine flip book with the “latest trends” using images from the public domain on Pexels. After designing the flip book I created gift cards, rewards cards, clothing tags and a shopping bag. With all the business materials as well as the 2D items, I organized them on a poster, which was displayed for students to see.
The branding for Amy XOXO is starting to come together, the next and final step was create a wire frame for a mobile app. The was to create an interactive and functioning app for Amy XOXO that showcases what they have to offer. Surprisingly this part of this project was collaborative, all the students who wanted to continue with Amy XOXO worked on the wireframe together.
After creating the wireframe for the mobile app, my self and my group members (Derek Last Name, Kendra Clark, John Shlouther, and Mackenzie Barry) researched different clothing companies and the layouts of their websites. To get a better idea of the competition but also how their customers cruise through the app. As a team we got a better idea of what our customers need but what will also set us aside from competitors.
When the wireframe was created as a group, we then separated and perfected the app to fit our own branding for the company. I then made changes to the wireframes, to have the app best suit for my branding style. I also added public domain pictures of different products that the company has from Pexels. I also added interactive buttons and functions for the user to do.
Challenges: One of the challenges I faced was creating a brand identity for a company that sells clothing to mid teenage to early adult women. It helped looking at the competitors and how they are targeting their audience, along with their different styles.
Pictures used from Pexels.com (Public Domain)