5 Design Firms

Eye 9 Design
The Design Mine
Cranium Studio
Curiously Wired Design Studio
Monigle Associates

class blogroll

Krista Craft
Daniel Wilder
Jeremy Pape
Jessica McWilliams
Mackensie Claire
Andrew Jepkes
Katy Ermak
Elliot Johnson
Erin Lee

Practices of Design: Case Study: projectOPEN Company: Brute Labs Web s...

Practices of Design:
Case Study: projectOPEN
Company: Brute Labs
Web s...: "Case Study: projectOPEN Company: Brute Labs Web site: www.brutelabs.org Project Manager: Joshua To First Guide Version Designed: June 2005..."

Erin Lee Research Link

Erin's Research

Assignment #1

TODA design firm in New York City is a multidisciplinary design firm that strives to “strip down everything to its essence” (toda.com). They take a hands-on, group approach to solving problems and enjoy creating new opportunities.

The design firm recently collaborated with the non-profit AIGA, a professional association for designers, to create a pro bono project. AIGA demonstrates the value of design and empowers the success of designers at each stage of their careers.

Together, the design firm and non-profit created an exhibit at AIGA’s national gallery called, “Design Journeys: You Are Here”. The goal in this exhibit was to bring awareness of the need to increase diversity within the graphic design profession.

To do this, AIGA sought to create awareness of outstanding designers from culturally and racially diverse backgrounds by creating a show of the work of diverse designers.

Marcos Chavez, the creative director of visual communication at TODA design firm, explained that “ the “Design Journeys” project seeks to achieve both - by not only celebrating the lives and achievements of 25 selected practitioners, but also encouraging aspiring designers from all backgrounds to consider design as a viable and rewarding career”. The resulting show was an interactive exhibition open to the public that was on display at the AIGA National Design Center from May 20 through August 6, 2010.

TODA used step two - envisioning the desired state, step nine - choosing the best solution then activating it and step eleven - selling the solution, in the process of creating the “Design Journeys: You Are Here” exhibit. The design firm specifically worked on creating an overall concept, designing all aspects of the exhibit’s visual identity and promotional material.

The first phase of the project (step two), consisted of focusing on finding a way to create an exhibit that both showcased the work of 25 designers, while also creating a secondary level of experience that involved asking participants to examine their own point of view and experience on the topic of diversity.

The second phase (step nine), was to work on creating design installations for a number of exhibit pieces while working within a limited budget. Designs then needed to be translated to finished pieces which required working with a number of vendor specialists in order to bring the designs to like and allow them to work at a large scale.

Step eleven was then implemented when the exhibit opened on May 20, 2010. This specific exhibit platform “allowed TODA to create an exhibit that broke out of the typical format of showcasing design work and instead supplemented the traditional exhibit format with a series of interactive installations” (Marcos Chavez).

The installations were all “based on ‘big questions’ that allowed viewers to think about diversity in their own life and career. The questions; “Where are you from?”, “Why are you here?”, and “Where are you going?” were connected to interactive installations that allowed the viewers to contribute to the exhibit” (Marcos Chavez). This interactive platform actually helped TODA and AIGA sell their unique solution.

Marcos Chavez explained that everyone involved in the creation of the “You are Here” pro bono project felt that it was a fun and unique experience that brought a positive awareness to diversity as well as an awareness to the design profession. And to be able to bring the two together in a successful exhibit was more rewarding than ever.

The slide show below shows the final exhibit as well as how successful it was.

Case Study Link

I think were supposed to paste a link to our individual case study blogs so here mine is!

Mackensie's Project One Case Study

to add a comment click on the comments button on the top right!

ATT AIGA Case Study Step 7

I chose the ATT AIGA study. AIGA documented step 7 – delineating the tough choices. ATT’s internal communication teams’ goal was to engage senior management the consequences and impact involved in changing the company’s identity. ATT’s acquisition of Liberty Media and TCI changed their business and ATT’s internal team was having difficulty convincing upper management of their marketing challenges due to the acquisitions. They determined a brand relaunch was required and wanted to illustrate the communications problems involved with a relaunch. Under step 7’s philosophy they mapped out a variety of branding scenarios and determined the brand was in need of a tweek instead of an overhaul.

ATT’s followed step 7 by mapping out and illustrating their logo redesigns. It was a successful tool in understanding they needed a brand tweek and not a full overhaul. ATT was also successful in getting senior management to understand their existing marketing and branding issues by hiring a firm to help provide internal management present their case. I can’t say the brand tweek itself was successful. Instinctively, I want to say that it was neither successful or unsuccessful. I don’t believe people pay much attention to brand tweeks in the Telecommunications industry. I think it’s a challenge to rebrand services that aren’t attached to physical objects.

NetObjects

The overview of NetObjects Fusion project was straight to the point and I felt that it was a success straight from the get go. The goal was to create a tool that could put web development into the hands of businesses that couldn’t afford the expense of hiring a programmer to develop their site. While reading through this I could imagine the issue they were working on, and the resulting product that they came up with, fusion, sounded like a masterful solution.

I think this is a good example of a case study because it was just easy enough to read and grasp the process, but it also included the right amount of technical information to educate the reader of the complexity of the problem.

AT&T

So, I looked at the case study for the AT&T company and was very disappointed. Maybe because the logo is so established, or there was a lack of interest but the study seemed very skimpy. So because the company was being merged with another communication company they figured they needed to illustrate their new dynamic. The in-house design team seemed to get brushed off and so another team was hired in to make sure the relaunch went smooth.

Essentially the study was just about the brand logo and how it would be used. I couldn't access any more steps so the only thing that I could investigate was the logo. I was under the impression that there should be more background information about the history of the logo and the process of why it was created. In addition there was no real information about the use of the logo other than it held most of the brand's equity. The realization of the helped the internal team with their future development, however left me with more questions.

Rockin it Out

Georgetown Law University is one of the most prestigious universities teaching law to hopeful young adults. Studies from the law university have shown that during economic downturns, applicants to various schools actually increases. Georgetown wanted to seize this opportunity and design a "viewbook" that entices students more than other schools that they have been excepted to.
This case study was very effective in defining the problem and revealing the process of execution. First they gathered data from the area surrounding the school's campus. They wanted to know where most students would likely go once they get to school. Where they would hang out, do homework, and spend most of their free time. Then they wanted to showcase this information inside of the "viewbook."
After participants have gathered information, they execute the design of this viewbook. Many drafts and drawings are created. Many revisions. Until finally the final product is a neat little booklet that not only provides future students with information about the school they are attending, but also excites them with all of the fun activities that they will be doing once they arrive.
The final product featured, newspapers, key chains, elegant pictures of restaurants and hang out spots, top 10 lists of stores, bars, magazines, etc. , calendar of events both in the school and the surrounding area, maps of the area, various shuttle schedules, and much much more! OOOOOO
Overall, this study was great at specifically defining a problem and showing us exactly how they executed. The study keeps us engaged with pictures of the process and tells us of the deliberation that forced the great outcome.

Case Studies

The Via Motif case study was very interesting. The steps that were taken to update this brand's identity were outlined very clearly, and even though it was a long process, it was worth it to the company in the end. A lot of research went into each step, such as creating the look and feel of the brand, researching product categories, and finally implementing the goals for the new identity. At the end of their re-branding they had an updated logo, a clear inventory for the website, and a style guide. Each step of design process was carefully considered and executed to create a successful re-brand of a small company.

NetObjects was another interesting case study. They essentially started from the ground up, and because they had a clear outline of how to build their brand, they were successful. They went through many iterations of their ideas, including getting their ideas out using pen and paper. They enlisted the help of people with many different backgrounds, but all who could help them create the software they had envisioned. Like Via Motif, they followed each step of the design process to a successful conclusion.

BNIM

BNIM is an arcchitectual firm that was among the first to successfully work with and produce sustainable design.

Their goal was to create a brand identity that represented them as a leader in creating responsible, sustainable design for the future

In doing this they used steps 5, 6, and 9.

Step 5.- BNIM researched global trends in sustainable design and renewable energy.

Step 6.- From this research a brand vision was created to reflect their findings. They then began work on creating ways to differentiate their 5 smaller branches within the larger umbrella brand.

Step 9.- Through their research BNIM discovered that they could adopt new positioning within their market as the leaders in sustainable design. Their approach to their designs was simple, flexible, and adaptable. Each one of the smaller branches was assigned a different color so they could stand on their own but still be seen as part of the overall brand.

Erin's Case Studies

Hallmark Flowers took a unique approach to targeting the “encounters” of the Hallmark shoppers. The brand need to be translated across multiple locations, online, in the store, or through the floral deliveries. The main focus was the impact of the brand promise. Through color and photographic concepts Hallmark achieved this goal in five weeks to better position themselves in the market as an expert source for home delivery services.

Sawaya and Moroni took on the task of interpreting furniture as a visual experience for the 2003 Paris International Furniture Fair in one month. With three dimensional modeling programs and communication of plans through the web, the outcome was an “unorthodox use of visuals.”

The Olympic Bid Theme took on a poster design series with a four-month duration to design a theme logotype and implement the poster program. The program was a series of exhibitions, fund-raising events, and press conferences that ended up getting the Olympic nod as the US Candidate City so now all the posters are collectors items.

AIGA Case Study - Hallmark Flowers

(seeking insight to inform the prototyping of the the solution - step 5)
The goal of Hallmark Flowers was to position itself as the expert source in the home delivery floral category. Their brand strategy was to deliver the Hallmark "message" at each consumer touch point. The touch points that people encounter at Hallmark are the actual Hallmark stores, online, through direct marketing and beautiful packaging & user product experience.

(this case study also includes step 9 - choosing best solution and activating it)
A range of customer "experiences" were developed to reinforce the "sharing and caring" of Hallmark's brand. The identity needed to be simple and emotionally powerful. To achieve this, packaging and product experience was the main focus.

To help visualize the Hallmark Flowers brand, they made a style guide that consisted of the following images

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