project 04 :: synopsis

This project was a lot of fun to work on! It was especially rewarding because of the collaborative aspect. It felt like real-life experience working with a team of creatives. We worked together through the brainstorming, brand identity ideation, sketches, and iterations, and each individual brought her own unique insight into the project.

Our final brand, Mod with Purpose, is a store that sells modern and contemporary furniture in East Village in Downtown, Des Moines. It is fresh, clean, and modern with a high-quality-yet-playful vibe. This is Mod with Purpose's philosophy: "Our purpose is to provide you with beautiful, modern furniture that will last a lifetime. In our designs, form always follows function. Every piece is made with purpose in mind."

It was exciting to see how our hard work in deciding on a style guide in the beginning of the project paid off in the end. Even though there were three of us designing the different pieces, they seem cohesive because of the visual system we developed. It was also helpful to remain flexible while we worked with different applications of the visual elements, as this process allowed our brand identity to be refined and ultimately strengthened.

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project 04 :: final critique

It was pretty exciting to all the different pieces of our identity system printed out!

Overall, we received positive feedback for how the elements of our system work together. Some constructive criticism included suggestions to solidify the use of our green tertiary color and refine our large poster because the different elements seem to be disjointed. 

project 04 :: initial designs

The total contents of this brand identity will include:

• poster
• exterior sign
• Facebook post
• Instagram post
• E-letter template
• letterhead
• envelope
• mailer
• business cards
• catalog

Because there are 3 people in our group, we split up these items and each used our predetermined style guide to inform our design choices.

Here's what I worked on:

e-letter

mailer – outside

mailer – inside

mailer envelope – outside

mailer envelope – inside

letterhead

envelope – outside

envelope – inside

business card 01

business card 02

business card 03

project 04 :: style guide

After a weekend of experimenting on our own with options for a logos and all the elements of our brand's style guide, the three of us worked collaboratively today to come up with a style guide for our brand. We discussed colors, textures, and logos... and then more colors, textures & logos.

Here's what we decided on:

overall style guide

colors

logo

examples of color/logo treatment

textures/materiality

project 04 :: sketches & iterations & color palettes, oh my!

Here's a quick look into the process that was this weekend.

Stay tuned for updates on a finalized logo & color scheme...

project 04 :: brainstorming

Today in class, we came up with a "staggering" amount of ideas.

We brainstormed name ideas and visual elements to create the identity system of our brand.

Here's the resulting whiteboard:

As you can tell (or maybe not), in the very left-hand bottom corner is where we stumbled across the name we decided to go with: Mod With Purpose.

Not only do we like the sound of the name and its slight play on words, but we also think it accurately portrays three aspects of our brand image:

• our store sells modern furniture and has an overall modern vibe 
• hence, "mod"
• our store represents creators of furniture that is durable, functional, and made to last
• hence, "with purpose"
• we know we put out well-designed, quality products, but we don't take ourselves too seriously
• hence, the play on words

project 04 :: project statement

The intent of this project is to develop an original name and design an identity system and collateral materials for a new Des Moines based company selling contemporary and modern furniture.

I will be working in a group of 3 designers. To begin, we will go through a brainstorming and research process. We will think about our audience, the location of our store, and the store's purpose as we brainstorm ideas for store names, logos, colors, and other visual elements of the identity system.

Once we nail down a working style guide (having determined typefaces, colors, and textures to employ throughout our system), we will divide up the pieces that need to be designed and all work to create a unified system of collateral materials.

We'll critique and help refine each other's work each time we meet, so as to maintain a consistent brand identity.

At the end of the project, we will have developed a brand identity for this (faux) new contemporary and modern furniture store opening in Des Moines and the collateral the goes with it.

project 03 :: synopsis

This project was a challenge because of the sheer amount of information we were dealing with. I suppose that was the point, as an "information design" project.

When I began the project, I had my own conceptions about the trail systems in Des Moines and how users might want to interact with them, as well as the information that was available about them. Therefore, the research I completed through this project was essential. I found a variety of maps online that provided different levels of information. I also explored other digital platforms like apps that have already been created and provide users with similar information to what I wanted to create.

The goal I wanted to accomplish in this project was to create one resource that provides information about the downtown trails in Des Moines, from Gray's Lake on the west to the Des Moines River on the east. It would lay out how the trails connect, and what sort of amenities are available along them (i.e. attractions, restaurants, and parking lots). I believe I achieved a visually pleasing prototype of such an app, but I think there is still much functionality that can be improved upon (with more time and a larger team of researchers and developers!).

Some of the principles from the readings that I was able to employ within the app included "provide options" and "don't reinvent the wheel." I provided options within my app by creating a variety of ways for the user to get to the information they need, and I stuck with the "wheel" that has already been invented by using some of the principles of Material Design.

If I were to enhance this project, I would use Adobe Muse, as some of the functionality I desired was limited by InVision or became too time consuming for the time restraints of this project. The time factor also affected how thorough my research was – I would love to have users test my current product, and through a human-centered design process continue to make iterations until a product is reached that would actually greatly benefit users.

Overall, I learned a lot about the research and thought process that goes into creating information design. It is not about making something you as the designer think is helpful or looks pretty, but about using research to inform the creation of something that is genuinely useful in a beautiful way.

project 03 :: final mockups & site map

Following are some example images of the final state of my app at the time to turn it in.

Click here to view the functioning prototype using InVision.

To make the final formal decisions for this app, I looked into Material Design and utilized their color palette, which was very helpful. The fonts I used were Hind and Nunito, both from Google fonts.

home screen

Finally, this site map lays out the structure of the app:

project 04 :: identity systems

Something I have noticed about identity systems: the use of texture and material.

Much of this identity is solidified by the wood and the metal tools:

see project here

see project here

Similarly, this furniture brand uses the materiality of the wood and the highly textured black paper:

see source

I also love how both of these furniture websites utilize clean, white backgrounds in conjunction with a specific typeface and a single accent color. Both employ the same method to create very different looks.

project 03 :: final critique

Here are some screenshots of the first iteration of my app for our final critique today.

Most of my work so far has been in site mapping and wire framing. I have a solid understanding of the organization of the app, what information will be provided, and how the user will move through the app. Formally, however, this iteration is still very much in its "sketch" stage.

Helpful critique from class today included suggestions to warm up the color palette from so much gray and tighten up the typography. I agree with this and definitely plan to!

Stay tuned for updates!

project 03 :: small group critiques

Today in class we met in small groups and presented our initial design ideas. It was helpful to get others' insight into the organization of our systems – it helped me think about things I hadn't considered yet.

At the beginning of class, I had already defined my user and the content I wanted to include, but I had not fully decided on what form my project would take.

Audience: college-aged students and young professionals living in Des Moines
Content: a resource highlighting the trails in downtown Des Moines (from Fleur Dr to the Des Moines River), how they connect, and amenities along the way.

After talking with the group it seemed like a mobile website or app would make the most sense for my audience and the function I want this information design piece to have.

I spent the rest of class continuing my research. I found Google Maps to be an extremely helpful resource. Using the satellite view function, I was able to follow each of the trails I want to include and made a list of attractions, amenities, parking lots, and connection points along the way.

Then I did some brainstorming over how I want to organize the information in this resource.  I don't want to create any sort of GPS or map device that will compete with Google Maps, because Google Maps is already a high-functioning and sophisticated product.

Instead, I want to create a resource that will help the user visualize the city in a new way, and be able to see how the trails around Gray's Lake and the Des Moines River connect and how they can be taken into the city, as well.

So, I drew up a sketch of "districts," which might be a helpful way to visualize this information.

Then, working from this visualization, I could model the app or mobile website off of this system of organization. This is a rough sketch of what the structure of some of the screens might include:

Stay tuned for further updates!