After a lot of investigation, I focused on "branding" as a design strategy relative to the rhetoric of authenticity. I was fascinated by the contrasting variables that need to stay under consideration (e.g., consistency while being relevant and fresh) in order to ensure a long-term sustainable value. Since a misstep at any touchpoint could easily weaken a consumer's brand confidence, there are endless amounts of resources used to try and piece together the perfect branding strategy. My intent with this project was to visualize the difficulty/misalignment brands have communicating their objectives. This disconnect is physically shown with seven 8.5 x 14" one sheets. They are spaced out to imply groupings whose content you are supposed to investigate as a dialogue.
After reading the name of the piece you are confronted with the first set of posters. There is a blank sheet of paper juxtaposed with an image of a heart bleep - signifying the "birth" of a brand. I made this a part of the dialogue to give my narrative a beginning full of possibilities, in contrast to the end of the series.
A brand's effort to meticulously align with a person's perceptions, beliefs and attitude is the focus of the second set. I chose to extend the line from the previous poster and use rigid geometric shapes, coming from one source, to symbolize the branding effort, while the fickle emotional state of humans took shape as unpredictable organic waves (I sound like an alien from another planet, haha). These two elements are reaching out to each other, but their physical differences hinder the possibility of a good connection. Measuring the positive resonance of a brand or even ensuring loyalty is extremely difficult - now that consumers have the whole world to shop from with the internet - and the lack of contact shown here is partially speaking to that. But, it is also difficult to connect the brand's objectives with the people who are doing the branding...
The last set of posters is a commentary on differentiation as a main branding purpose. I extended a hand from the previous poster to represent an individual's belief that what they are outputting is going to make them stand out, even though most of the time they are just falling into a river of trendy sameness.
Interestingly enough, the gaps in dialogue between my three sets is where I think the designer's role is most pivotal (trying to connect the brand to people, etc.) and I am considering making this a visible addition. Thinking about the context of this symposium, I was unsure about how direct my point of view had to be. Without any annotations I know that these visuals could easily be read differently than I inteded, but I kind of like the idea of leaving the posters open for interpretation. I am curious to know if you think it is still too vague. I definitely tried to run with my most wild and crazy idea, so if you think I need to pull it in or jump farther, please let me know. Thank you in advance for all of your input!
Subscribe Feed (RSS)
10 comments:
This is very cool! I'm excited about this new direction.
However, I think you could still push it further. It sounds like you intend to have more posters in the series, so the ways in which that will play out remain to be seen.
(But I love the idea of starting with the blip/birth, and progressing to something more chaotic.)
I think the notion of a conversation is getting a little lost. Right now some of the posters are white, and some are black, but they aren't reading as 2 voices really (if having 2 voices in conversation is still your intention). I'm not saying you should make them alternating black and white, just that it's reading inconsistently right now.
And the placement of the pairs is a little confusing. If they are indeed meant to be pairs, these pairs are placed so close to each other that right now it's still just reading as a series (and not a series of pairs). Hope that makes sense.
Keep going!
Wow. You have a lot going on in this series.
Your choice for presentation is very much speaking "book" to mean. It feels like a cover and three spreads, which gives the impression that this was repurposed for this space.
I think there are too many ideas in the space.
The image of the rigid connecting with the organic is strong. I think that this is a place you can develop. What are brands. What is the strategy? To sell an idea, a concept rather than a thing. A visualization of this alignment of a persons wants/needs/values versus what a brand is offering is interesting.
So I guess I am saying simplification on the concept end and complication on the visual end might be good.
Also maybe a tangent, it makes me think about wanting to do a simple task like recycle a thing, but having to wade through all kinds of flotsam and jetsam about brands and buzz words.
I think you have chosen an interesting direction to explore. I have to agree with David, this series does read a little "bookish". You have a lot of ideas that you're trying to cover within your concept, perhaps it could be simplified a bit to make your message clearer to the viewer.
I think these are visually interesting as a series, and the building sequence indicates you're trying to tell a story. But as-is, it's not really clear what the story is about. And the only real message to take away is about Eco Line — it almost seems to be an ad for that company.
How do you see the rhetoric of authenticity impact branding decisions? Could you take these moments and use them to interrogate how brands employ the rhetoric to try and convince users/consumers of their "realness"? Is there an opportunity to educate consumers about branding strategies (to help them make better, more critical choices)? Could the posters explore what happens between brands and communities in the best possible scenarios for each?
"if you think I need to pull it in or jump farther, please let me know."
My answer is, yes and yes. I feel like there is so much room for interpretation here, which is not always bad, but when you are trying to fore-front a point of view it may be lost. There needs to be a clear connection to your thoughts. Pull it in! But also I think that you can take this even farther in your visual explorations. Jump!
You say that what lies between these pairings is the most interesting aspect of the role of a designer. I want to see what that is and how you could visualize it.
I'm interested in a couple of your evaluations on this work so far. Of the components of the branding process that you mentioned, I think your discussion of differentiation is most interesting--designers trying to make something that will allow them to stand out, yet falling into sameness. I think there is a lot of potential for exploration there--what causes the fall into trendy sameness? What is the drive for differentiation all about in the first place, if it's not going to be followed through on? This could also be a focus that allows you to express a stronger point of view (which I'd encourage).
I think there could also be some potential for exploration of the gaps in dialogue, as you mentioned. That could be another avenue for narrowing this subject matter down, like it was suggested in a few other comments.
A concept of dialogue between two posters is interesting. A series of 3 sets seems extended dialogue. So far, I feel your series are teaser of mataconcept.
I wonder in what ways some aspects of branding can be truly persuasive? Conceptualizing image of beginning, seeking communication channel and Giving good impression “make them stand out.” I would like to imagine floating “sameness” in the river. What it looks like riverside wave, or a creature underneath river, or reflection of world on water surface.
Sam
I will not concur on it. I regard as warm-hearted post. Especially the title-deed attracted me to be familiar with the whole story.
Amiable fill someone in on and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Gratefulness you seeking your information.
Good fill someone in on and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you for your information.
Post a Comment