Thesis Proposal/abstract

My thesis will be, “Contemporary Re-branding of Traditional Markets.” This paper intends to explore the challenges of rebranding traditional products to expanded demographics. It hopes to determine strategies to expand demographics without alienating a base market. It will also look at multipurpose campaigns that seek micro demographics and non traditional approaches to this challenge.

To illustrate this point I will focus on both successful and failed re-branding efforts as my case studies. Furthermore I will look into the recent phenomena of the “generous” brand and the effect that it has on the market in general. This includes the goodwill and sense of pride it creates in its consumers, to the less talked about, potential socioeconomic pitfalls the world may face if too many brands focus on the “generous” marketing approach.  By looking at recent rebranding strategies and the basic intention of marketing to new demographics (and keeping brands current) the paper also hopes to ascertain how a brand may be launched from scratch in the same saturated market.

Cook, Kevin. The Golf Book. New York, NY: Sports Illustrated, 2009. Print.

"JCPenney Rebrand Begs for Mercy." DAAKE. N.p., 22 May 2013. Web. 31 July 2013.

Kapferer, Jean-Noël. The New Strategic Brand Management: Advanced Insights and Strategic Thinking. London: Kogan Page, 2012. Print.

Linden, David J. "The Compass of Pleasure." This Is Your Brain on Charitable Giving. N.p., 31 Aug. 2011. Web. 31 July 2013.

Marhamat, Bobby. "Dos Equis – Great Branding Ideas." Bobby Marhamat. N.p., 23 Feb. 2013. Web. 31 July 2013.

Mitchell, Alan. "Have Marketers Missed the Point of Marketing." Marketing Jobs & Marketing News. N.p., 27 Sept. 2001. Web. 31 July 2013.

Mullman, Jeremy. "Dos Equis' 'Most Interesting Man' Is an Even Greater Beer Salesman." Advertising Age News RSS. N.p., 15 July 2009. Web. 31 July 2013.

Poulos, James. "How Names And Dreams Can Rebrand And Revitalize Moribund Companies, From Radio Shack To JC Penney." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 16 July 2013. Web. 31 July 2013.

Pro Audio Visual Rentals. "JCP - JCPenny Rebrand Launch - Full Presentation." YouTube. YouTube, 05 June 2012. Web. 31 July 2013.

Rowley, Greg. Golf, Naked: The Bare Essentials Revealed. Coeur D'Alene, ID: Pick It up Pub., 2009. Print.

Wheeler, Alina. Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2013. Print.

Unit 5: How people focus their attention

A quote my speech and debate teacher in high school was fond of saying was " The brain can only learn what the ass can endure." Meaning, you can only reach someone as long as they are comfortable and the information you are giving them is interesting. For the purposes of speech and debate we were told that every speech we gave needed to be under the 10 minute mark or we were gonna lose our audience. Dr. Weinschenk upped that anti a bit saying that at most you get 7 minutes to get your message across before your audience loses interest.

This is key when you sit down to design something that may go passed the 10 minute mark. In that instance the secret is to gather similar information together and parse it out in sections. Between the sections give the brain places to relax. Through imagery, stories whatever.

Along with that comes the realization that the ability to multi-task is a complete falicy.

Unit 4

This unit breaks down how we think and process information. These mental loads include cognitive, visual and motor. Anything we can do to reduce or ease the burden of these loads will help our user comprehend our work much easier. Therefor as designers we should always be looking to reduce mental loads by supplementing the visual and motor loads. 

The other point is something that has stuck with me since I was a kid but was never better demonstrated then throughout the Kevin Smith movie "Dogma." What I'm referring to is the difference between beliefs and ideas, and how steadfast people are in their beliefs. Dr. Weinschenk hits on this as well in this unit. While trying to change someone's beliefs can lead to confrontation, if you can find a way to condition your message to go along with elements of their beliefs you may be able to sway their current way of thinking. 

The last thing I wanted to call out was the understanding of the mental model. The basic notion is that every user comes into an experience with certain expectations and understanding based on their past experiences how your design should work. They know where to look for the on button, they understand the function of the enter key, a headline is at the top of the page etc. Designing with this in mind will allow for a lot easier load on your users as it is part of what their are pre conditioned to understand and accept.

Unit 3 How we Remember

Unit 3 was a breakdown of how memory works. The chapter covered various types of memory and how we make use of both our short and long-term memories. The biggest thing I took away from the chapter was the notion that, no matter how hard we try, we will always only remember a small portion of what we try ti input into our long term memory. That's where being a good designer is crucial, since it is our job to manipulate the process of memory in order to make sure a consumer takes away what we need them to from out work.

Possible Thesis Idea

As of right now I'm feeling pretty passionately about doing a complete rebrand for the Seattle Supersonics for their return to Seattle for my senior project. This includes everything from the logo and jerseys, to the ad campaigns  merch, cheerleader uniforms, etc. With that in mind this is what I'm thinking for my thesis:

"The connection and impact sports branding has on a community. This includes people's cultural association with a logo, the comradery  felt, and how changes in logos effect those groups. "

Theses Responses Round 2

The first thesis I looked at belonged to Adam Argyle and was titled "Hand and Finger Gesture Interfaces: An Exploration of Global Practicality and Plausibility. " My first thought after reading this thesis is that it's hands down the best thesis I've read by an AI student. It was interesting, incredibly well thought out and organized, thoroughly researched and written in a very professional tone. More than all of that, I learned a great deal about something that you would think would be common sense; that being, we gesture while we talk. And while obviously sign language proves it can be a valid form of communication, it was the translation of that to technological devices that I found interesting. The possibilities of gestural interfaces allowing you to live and function in foreign countries as well as the natives who live there is a fascinating concept.

If I had to say anything against the paper it's that I would have loved to seen some illustrations or a visual guide to accompany it. So much of the piece was spent describing various gestures and swipes and with each one it pulled me away momentarily from what he was saying as my brain was trying to construct the movement he was describing. Quick, clean illustrations would have helped me avoid that.

Project Proposal #2

What I'm doing:
For the second project in this class I will be rebranding the Seattle Supersonics for their return to Seattle (which could be as soon as next year.) This will include a new logo, as well as jersey design and possibly other merch as well.

Who will be paying for this?
The Seattle Sonics themselves are the obvious answer, but if you want me to be more specific it would be members of the Chris Hansen group that would pay for a rebrand.

The Solution:
I want to create a design that reflects both the history of the franchise prior to it's move to Seattle but also demonstrate something that will usher in the new era of Seattle basketball.

Project Proposal #1 (For Reals This Time)

What is it?

This project will allow me to explore my passion for Victorian era typography and signage. I will be designing a museum program cover for a Wells Fargo exhibit using the design principles that were prevalent at that time. I will be doing the project by hand and hopefully filming the process as well.

Whose paying for it?

Wells Fargo

The problem:

I see two problems moving forward. The first being that most people associate Wells Fargo with the crimson and gold serif font. Something as elaborate (and in it's current state black and white) as what I am proposing is a direct contrast to the very strong brand recognition that the general public has with WF.
The second problem I see moving forward is that the general public only knows Wells Fargo as a bank when in actuality there were much more than that during their inception. In fact (and this is weird to say about the company that owns my student loans) they were kinda badasses in the wild west. From their key role in the railway system, to the pony express mail coaches, the gold boom, saving the west coast from bankruptcy (namely San Francisco) there's a lot of cool history there that most people don't have the slightest idea about.


My Solution:

The solution to the first project I hope, is to simply execute the type design well enough that people look past any previous association they have with WF as it stands down.
For the second problem, I will bring in strong graphical elements of their history that are strong beacons of Americana during that era. Things that the public will instantly know and many find interesting. These items may include, stage coaches, gold scales, steer skulls, the California bear, perhaps flowers along that coastline as well, etc. 
These are all items that I hope will be visual interesting both on a graphic design scale as well as a gateway to create enough intrigue that people visit the exhibit.

Project Proposal #1... sorta

So this post is gonna be pretty informal as I am still trying to mull some things over as far as my first project goes. I know that I want to use this opportunity to try my hand at a gorgeous art field that I've been timid to try, and that's hand drawn, Victorian era signage. I know it is a difficult medium that takes patience and a skilled hand and I'm hoping my cartooning backgroud will help in that process some. I am currently toying with the idea of doing my thesis on the topic so I think this is a good way to test that water and possible change/refine it before it is too late.

For a client I know I want to stay away from the traditional Beer/Liquor label as I would say that today, that is the only real commonplace realm where this kind of typography still lives. I want to apply it to a company with an interesting history but a branding that is very different. That way I can demonstrate the different tone and feel this beautiful, traditional way of working can have on a otherwise sterile or simple logo. I'm leaning towards a company like say Wells Fargo, Pillsbury or JP Morgan.

I want to bounce around potential clients with a few peers before I narrow it down since this is going to be a very time consuming, labor intensive project. In the mean time, here's some examples of what I'm after.

Thesis Discussion

The first thesis I decided to look at belongs to Leah Ettenhofer. It can be found by following THIS LINK. Leah's thesis entitled, "Good Design: Graphic Design for Nonprofit Success" examines the amount of influence we have as designers when it comes to patrons choosing which charity support.

Leah begins my demonstrating that even in a large recession, like our country is still trying to rebound from, people still want to donate. In fact a study she cited showed that the amount of money raised between last year and the year prior had actually risen during a time of finical hardship.

A majority of her thesis was spent explaining how, clean corporate design styles can instill trust and faith in the market at large. Nothing she said came off as a fallacy to me, but I would have loved to see her push it a bit more. Knowing Leah personally, I know that her style is very much what she is advocating for here in her thesis, and while I do agree it's a great fit, I wish she would have explored the hypothetical a bit more. For example, what happens if a charity goes through a failed re-branding (thinking of JCP and the blue Jack in the Box campaigns  is there anyway for the charity to rebound? Is there room to try something new and innovative? Why or why not?

Again, the piece was very well written and highly informative, my favorite section being where she explains the re branding process of "Teenage Cancer Trust" which moved from what I call "hospital design" to something that feels much more like corporate America.

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The second thesis I looked at titled. "Social Etiquette and the Social Networks: 
How to Integrate Social Networks Successfully into Your Business to Attract Consumers Who Buy
More, Share More, and Care More" by Holly Bowden, which is a topic I was very interested to learn more about. Sadly, and I am not sure if this comes more from a state of me already knowing most of this, or if the information is indeed derivative and obvious, but a majority of the paper read as a reminder more than an educational opportunity. Items like " remember you comments aren't private" or "ask your friends before you tag them in a pic" seem like pretty commonplace knowledge at this point, but again, to be fair to Holly this paper was written nearly 2 years ago and therefore, I can't, with any degree of certainty, say all of this was common knowledge at that time.

What I did find fascinating was the case of social PR going bad in Murphy-Goode's case. Again their sin was a simple one, "don't lie to the internet" but it was interesting to see the kind of effect it had, and still has one the company to this day.

I'm not sure what I could have done different to really add some substance and depth to this paper, perhaps more individual case studies like she did with Murphy-Goode would help at least personalize it. As it stands now it's a fairly well written reminder to basically, act like a decent person online and that as designers and marketeer's ourselves, the quicker we can learn these lessons the better, but it doesn't go much deeper than that.