Assignment 5 - Response to Design Brief and Design Audit

Response to Design Brief: Part One

About the Company

UBLO is the design business of Rohan Nichols, who operates it as a sole trader. Rohan’s background is in jewellery and metal smithing, and increasingly his business is focused on making both one-off and uniquely manufactured pieces of industrial design. His emphasis is on crafted products that are unique, with interesting materials and careful attention to the detail of every product that bears the UBLO name. Previously, Rohan has operated under both his own name and UBLO, and is still unsure about which name to choose. For the purpose of creating a unified branding, which should be the main outcome of this project, the name UBLO will be used. However, after the initial logo design, the client may wish to change the logo type to read Rohan Nichols. Therefore, this should be taken into account.

The identity should be able to be reproduced on the products, so it needs to look effective both at very small and large sizes (hence why UBLO would be a better choice in this instance), as well as possibly without colour at all (for instance, if it gets embossed into the products, then it will take on the characteristics of the product material). Design for the company needs to pay close attention to the client’s items themselves, as the logo will be based on them, as well as eventually being a part of them. Therefore, the logo needs to stand out, but be ‘of the hill’ not ‘on the hill’ in terms of its ability to be part of the product. Additionally, the identity needs to inspire confidence in both potential investors and customers. The unified identity will give a professional image to UBLO, and also enable it to become a sought after designer ‘brand’ in the eyes of customers.

A note on the customers of UBLO products
It would be prudent to consider who the design is really for: in this case, the customers of UBLO products as well as potential investors in the UBLO brand. UBLO stands among a throng of cutting edge designers, all trying to make their mark on a market that is really quite small. Hand-made and limited production items cost more money than mass produced items, and therefore we can assume that Nichols' products already have a limited audience. Here's a list of possible characteristics of Nichols' customers:

• Urban living, rather than rural (although this does not discount large rural cities and towns);
• Disposable income (so this may place them in an age bracket of 25-45, with a slight dip in the numbers in the middle for those who have families);
• Interested in the arts or items that say something about them personally (i.e. perhaps they are interested in innovative design, or are just more than your average fashionista);
• Areas that come to mind are Paddington in Sydney (especially the Paddington Markets), Prahran in Melbourne, and Omote Sando and Harajuku in Tokyo - basically where serious shoppers go to find innovative new items from designers.
• With this in mind, the design has to somehow speak of the products - that they are from the hand of a designer but modern and edgy - and capture the attention of potential customers who, although on the look out for new designers, are often inundated visually. The design should allude to innovativeness, modernity and designer crasftmanship.
  
• In addition, the design should appeal to other designers and people who work in the design industry, such as magazine publishers, interior designers, boutique owners, etc. Drawing on the designs of the competition, without mimicking or reproducing their work, will help to place the image of UBLO in this class of designer.
  

Stakeholders

Rohan Nichols
Designer and business owner of UBLO, and directly responsible for the approval of all design work.

Designer
For this project, there will only be one designer (Willie). All responsibility for the design staying within the timeline and budget rests solely with Willie, unless there are special circumstances, in which case special permission will be sought from the client (i.e. if the client’s timetable moves up or down, or the client makes amendments to the budget, paper stock doesn't arrive in time, etc). Contact details for the designer are:

Email: iiii[at]postoffice.com*
Phone: 0152 256 365
*for privacy reasons this has been withheld from the blog

Note: All designs to be approved by Rohan Nichols. The logo will need to be approved first (see basic list of tasks below) before the rest of the work goes ahead, after which stage all work will be presented to the client by 3 June. However, there may be times when the designer will want to consult with the client about various parts of the design process before the final presentation.


Project Overview

As mentioned above, all design work packets are to be the responsibility of Willie (click on image to see larger view).




Part Two: Visual Audit

As UBLO does not currently have a logo, business cards, or any other official identity, the design audit will primarily be drawn from the actual designs of UBLO and the identity of competitors. A search for competitors will be based on the look and feel of UBLO’s designs, and on the words listed above. A group of images showing various aspects of the designs have been included on the following page.

UBLO Designs
There are certain consistencies in the designs below, despite the use of varied materials. Most notable is the use of soft rounded edges, which bring a modern feel to the products. Also, although red is a predominant colour, the orange could be interesting with the use of a metallic group of colours. Interestingly, against all of the colours, the green stands out, but in terms of the logo design, it might appear too organic, and not really reflect the company in the right way. Examples of possible swatches are also below.

A lot of the competition designers have very simple logos, often with only logotype and no logo as such. The idea of a simplified logo allows the designs to take visual precedence, however, care should be taken not to duplicate what is already out there, which might have a tendency to date within a few years.

While some thought has gone into whether or not to use a type-only logo, this does not make an allowance for a strong symbol to become the ‘seal’ of UBLO products, and therefore its main identity across its whole range of products. However, if the designer goes ahead and uses his own name, it could be better for him to just find a strong logotype instead of using both logo and logotype. For now, as the name UBLO is being used, a logo and logotype will be designed.

Words to invoke imagery

In the design brief, certain words are keys to the logo design, and include:
Stylish
Simple
Clean
Modernist Styling
Minimal Decoration
New Materials
Crafted
Sophisticated
One-Offs
Alluding to mass production

Other words that can be associated with this design brief include:

Minimalist
Metallic
Simplistic
Shiny
Plastic
Resin
Unique
Luxury
Urban
Smooth, Rounded Edges

Samples of UBLO Products




Possible Colour Swatches




Visual Reference to Competitors



One thing that I really liked about the first designer, Carga Bags, was the use of the organic-looking felt with the more inorganic metals. I think this expresses what Rohan Nichols was saying the other day about not wanting to take too much of an industrial approach, but somehow giving the feeling that the products are hand-made but still modern. Also, it was a great example of the use of a logo on the bag (although just logotype, not a symbol).

Interestingly, all of these designers did not use a logo at all, only a logo type. It would be easy to fall in line with this, but the more I look around, the more I see that even the bigger design houses, such as Pentagram, Meta Design and Nichols' favourite, Bruce Mau Design, have very similar, understated designs for their own businesses - minimalist and for the most monochromatic (although Bruce Mau does have some red). Their emphasis is on subtle changes to typeface. On a website, this can make their portfolios really stand out, but on products it will be lost. Also, there is a real danger of this becoming too commonplace, and therefore will not serve to make UBLO a standout business if the same line is taken.

Although I liked the designs that design4ego have done, I don't like the name at all, and for me, it really took away from the business.

Also, in he case of Joey Roth, it's interesting to note that although he does not have a stand-out logo (again, grey typeface only), he places a lot of emphasis on the packaging of his products (see: http://www.joeyroth.com/sorapot/).

Ideo's Stone Phone is such a great product! I love the way they have taken a human action - fondling a phone - to a new level! Their logo is, again very simple (and grey), and I remember the phone more than any reference to the company or designer.

Philippe Malouin again has a typeface only logo, and a very simple website. The emphasis here is on minimalism with humour (the opening movie with the blow-up table is great! Also, the title "Who?" at the top of the website is an eye catcher).

Droog is an amazing group, with beautiful designs, but I found their website frustrating and their logo a little boring. Again, just understated logotype, but after a while, faced with a sea of black or grey logotype-only logos, this approach gets a little stifling.

I think that UBLO can draw on the image of these competitors without recreating the wheel. Maybe a nice light teal / metallic blue, hand drawn or the complete opposite - shiny, metallic, simplistic logotype with a logo. Some experiments based on this concept can be found in the blog posts below.

Sample Logos
Although these logos, in themselves, don't really express the vision for UBLO's design, each of them contain elements that would be great to try to build on. They include:

1. Australian Centre for Photography: The logo is very strong, but not pretentious. It gives a nice, free-flowing effect, while the typeface is quite tight and understated. All up, this logo is good for remembering restrain.

2. Cambodia House: I loved the typeface with the small circles - very subtle, but powerful logo!

3. Groove Armada: Designed by ZIP, this logo really captures a clean, modern, urban look, while being extremely understated. Great use of a drop shadow!

4. Orson & Blake: Interesting to look at this logo, because this shop, in Paddington, Sydney, is filled with specialist designer ware: tables, lights, etc. Good to keep in mind this logo when thinking about how to make UBLO's logo appeal to stockists.

5. F!NK: As a great inspiration of Nichols', this one was worth taking a look at. Fun, but sleek.

6. Latitude: I love the texture of this, but also the use of the coordinates as part of the logo - very creative.

7. Rolled Gold: I added one more because, although it's not a logo, this is the kind of texture I would love to have at least in some part of UBLO's logo. By Alex Tochut.




House Product Lines
Smug Designs' range is inter-changable - from the website, you can choose which pattern or colour you would like with each design - whether jewellery or homewares. I like this way of producing a line because it involves the customer (also there is a note to customers that they are welcome to ask about custom-made designs, which wold feel more welcoming from this format also). The website is very easy to navigate, and I love the green! It gives the impression of a very innovative design company, through the user interaction and slick design.

(Source: www.smugdesigns.com.au)



Bernstrand is a Swedish designer, and seems to have the market sown up on what to do with all of those winter coats! The website was very simple and stylish (yet again, though, similar to many other designers' websites and branding - almost non-branding), and it was easy to navigate through. It gave a really good impression of the whole line of products available, but this was a great example of how the Gobble was portrayed.

(Source: www.bernstrand.com)




Joey Roth's Sorapot is very interesting. The packaging is used as a marketing tool, as shown in all the photos Roth has of the packaging - as is the tea pot. It's easy to tell from his approach that this is something special. All of the packaging is recycled, adding some conscience onto the product! What's really interesting is the stark contrast between the tea pot, which is anything but organic-looking, and the packaging, which is rough but beautiful. Somehow, the two compliment each other (and this kind of packaging would be a hit in Japan!).

(Source: www.joeyroth.com)


The emphasis is on the hand-made with Carga, and this is why I chose to look at their lines a bit more. Rohan Nichols mentioned that his works are crafted, and the presentation of the Carga bags, with its mixture of hand made and urban feels, really fits the bill for Ublo, I think. Also, Carga used a lot of sketching as navigation buttons on its website that looked like this:


The mixture of hand-drawn features and a finalised look is what I envisage for UBLO.

(Source: www.cargabags.com)




Bilingual is very smart because they do one thing and do it well - make unisex rings that interlock together. This makes the presentation very simple, and I think their logo also expresses their business well, with the logo on the top of the text representing the 'two'.

(Source: www.bilingual.com.au)



Dinosaur Designs has always splashed a lot of colour across its range, but those colours are always grouped together to bring each other out, as in the stack of bowls below or group of vases. In fact, DD'd products really do look best when there's lots of them together. There's not much emphasis on their logo on any of their products (but it's very noticeable on their Sydney Store shop front!).

(Source: www.dinosaurdesigns.com.au)




Part Three: Exhibition Space
The contents of the exhibition booth must be considered before any illustration work is done, to make sure the vision can cost effectively become a reality. Portability and a limited budget are important, but so too is taking advantage of trade shows to attract investors, other designers and potential stockists of UBLO designs. A few different scenarios have been considered including a plat panel TV display with a looping slide show of the design process and products, and in fact while this option is really not so expensive, a plasma screen would have to be hired for each expo.

An Expand MediaFabric is being considered. Creative Visuals have supplied the quote for a the smallest size at $2600 + GST. Although this seems like a lot, if UBLO puts its logo onto the MediaFabric, it can use it for markets, expos and possibly even a shop is one is opened later. This is a good investment, and can be used for many years to come.






Other possible furniture includes the Barcelona lounge set or the simple ottoman set (in back or white for simplicity) and stands for the items. These stands are glass, for easy visibility. Also, lights should be hired to highlight the items.

A basic budget for furniture alone ( exhibition space itself is unavailable - all prices ex GST):

Ottoman (small): $97
Ottoman (large): $150
Coffee Table: $90
Stand set: $155
Total: $492 +GST

Or

Barcelona Set (three chairs and coffee table): $655
Stand Set: $155
Total: $810 +GST

Plain plinths to display the products were unavailable from this exhibition hire company, so I will keep looking, as I don't think the shelving is exactly right for this space. Tall, rectangular, white stands to place the products on top of, and then light would be preferable.

Part Four: Timeline and Budget

The time line is as follows (click on it to view a larger size):



Printing

The print quote is from Kainos Printing (www.kainosprint.com). There has been a 10% commission fee added for print management by the designer.