Primary & Secondary Research
Thurs 1st Oct
Primary Research is research that you have found and produced yourself. For example if I was looking to conduct primary research for my logo design I would use social media surveys. These can be very beneficial because if I was in a tough situation and was struggling to make a decision about a logo. I would go to social media and conduct a poll where I can get people to vote on their preferred logo. Another type of primary research is holding a focus group, due to me being in a level 2 course I know how helpful a focus group can be. A focus group involves a group of people discussing someones idea or work they have completed. So for example I want to hold a focus group so I gather 6 friends and I tell them my ideas for the logos I have created. Once I have told them my ideas I will ask for them to give me feedback and this feedback with provide me with the knowledge to improve my work. Finally, photographing physical information can be beneficial as I am seeing how each different company advertises their own brand. Therefore I am seeing what works and what doesn't when it comes to advertising a brand. For example I would see that a strong logo advertises and helps a brand a lot to grow. So this would be something that I would be interest in using for my own work, making sure that I create a strong logo to promote my brand.
Secondary research is information you gather, analyse and use from a source that already exists. For example, if I wanted to conduct some secondary research for my logo design I would look at certain websites, that provide me with information that will help me understand what works and what doesn't when it comes to logos and promoting a brand. Another type of secondary research I could examine is interviews, interviews is something that I could use when finding out how a brand became what it is today. So I could watch a Elon Musk interview and find out how his company has grown to be so successful. Therefore this provides me the knowledge to use when it comes to my own brand and how to hopefully one day reach the level of someone like Elon Musk. Finally, I could use textbooks as a type of secondary research. For example if I was stuck on a problem that occurred when designing my logo I would look to a book and find out how to resolve that problem. Furthermore if I was to get a book about Illustrator it would also help understand the software much more than I do now also I could learn some new things when it comes to that software.
Brand Designs
The first brand design that I find so interesting is Target, although we don't have any targets over in the Uk, I still find the logo to be so interesting yet simple. The logo is a true representation of what a simple logo needs to be, Although the logo is simple everyone remembers it because it says exactly what the company is called. The logo was created in 1962, and it has showed that a logo can withstand time and can withstand all competitors that think they can make a better logo than Target. Moving on we have Apple, Apples logo has only had one major change and that was back in the 1970's, but from 1976 apple have been able to keep the same logo throughout all the news. This is also another logo that has stayed fashionable and also the logo states what the company is called. Therefore making it easier for people to remember it, as you know the apple logo has a bite out of and some people call it a metaphor for the bite of knowledge consumers get from using Apple’s products. Next up we have Google, the simplicity of Google’s logo is clearly evident in its design. As with Apple, Google likes to boast how accessible it is to the masses, which is a huge part of what people know and love about the company. Also, the google logo is ever changing as they have made it accessible for users to make a google doodle, this google doodle still has to have the main google logo in it but uses clever ways to represent the logo differently. After Google we have Fedex, FedEx hid a white arrow inside the last E and X, a subliminal symbol of speed, movement and precision—very important traits for a delivery and logistics brand. This was something clever Fedex has included and this could be something that I could use when it comes to creating my own logo, I could use a hidden message to users of my brand. Next we have LG, Although more obvious than the hidden arrow in the FedEx design, the emoji face hidden in the LG logo is undeniably clever. The letters “LG” match up with the company slogan “Life’s Good." Additionally, the G is shaped like an on-button, which is very fitting for an electronics company. All things included this logo provides a happy look for a company like LG and provides users with the Feeling of satisfaction when buying from that brand. After LG, we have Toyota, the Toyota logo uses different colours and uses their meanings to explain their logo as a whole. Toyota uses red as its primary brand colour When selling vehicles to the masses, a sense of community, friendship and endurance are all vital traits. But the silver and grey represents conventionality, dependability, professionalism and safety, while the metallic shine adds a feeling of high value and quality. I know this by looking back at my colour definition portion above this piece of text, this is something I am looking to include in my logo and show users that the colour represents something, it isn't just there to look pretty. As well as looking at logos there are some artists that include similar graphics to their music videos, for example childish Gambino, in his music videos he uses a few different techniques that I could use in my work. In the music video "FEELS LIKE SUMMER", Childish Gambino uses high level graphics and stop motion animation instead of the real life scene shoot. This is something that I could include in my own work as not many people do advertisement like that and something different always catches peoples eyes. Finally, we have Lil Dicky with he music video Earth, this music video is mainly graphic design, this is something that I am very interested in looking into and making my advertisements similar. Like is aid previous you don't really see many graphic design advertisements like these two I just spoke about. So it is something that could work for my brand.
Understanding Competitors
Knowing who my competitors are, and what they are offering, can help me make my new brand stand out. It will enable me to set my prices competitively and help me respond to rival advertisements. I can use this knowledge to create my own advertisements and take advantage of my competitors weakness. Therefore improving my own business performance. I can also asses my threats posed my birth new upcoming brands and current brands controlling the market. This knowledge will help m be realistic about how successful the new brand will be. All businesses face competition. For example if I was the only restaurant in town I must compete with cinemas, bars and other businesses where your customers will spend their money instead of with you. With increased use of the Internet to buy goods and services and to find places to go and eat, I would be no longer just competing with my immediate neighbours. I could be competing with businesses from other countries. To find out about competitors I can read about them, look for articles or ads in local papers. I can look at competitors websites. Find out how they compare to mine and check interactive parts of the site to see if I could improve on it in my own website.
Inspirational examples of advertising
In the advert below it is clear to see the appreciation for uniqueness, in the advert we see that Coke is enjoyed by a wide variety of loyal customers whose appearance, activities and stories differ from one another. Another point in the advert is that the voice-over is performed by many different actors, which furthers the importance of diversity. Another important factor is that it displays how many people even though they are diverse come together as one and I think that this should happen more often in the world. In connection to my work I aim to please as many people as possible with this new brand that I am making. No matter what background you have, who even who you are. If you are interested in sneakers and fashion my brand should apply to you.
This inspiring advert, it begins with a young Arab women who leaves her house for a morning run. As she passes disapproving neighbours, her voice-over ponders what they say about her. As similar women's stories play out, the voice-over empowers the audience to reach for more. This advert shows that no matter what others think, do what makes you happy and never give up on your dreams. In correlation with my work I think this plays an important factor in me personally. I could look at all the competition and all the work that would have to be completed to make a brand, and I could give up. But the reward your receive after all this work is so rewarding. It is like completing a college course, and you work so hard through out the year and you finally receive the best grade you could. There is no better feeling than that.
Both videos above will help me throughout this project in creating my new brand. It gives me incentives to know what to use when making advertisements. Out of the two videos I really believe that I need to make advertisements that appeal most to the customer. As what customer wants to buy off a brand/company that doesn't appeal to them. I need to tell a story with my advertisements and really make customers believe in me and make them want to use to brand that I am creating. As you might of picked up I chose Coca Cola, as my first advertisements because they have a really strong logo and I chose Nike because they have a really strong brand, for example the Nike shoe. This is something that my main aim is with the brand, this being selling high end shoes.
Primary Research
In this segment i will talk about the primary research i have conducted. The following work will mention the ways different shops have advertised their brand, and how they could improve it if necessary. The first good advertisement i have found is a magazine displaying a car show. What i like about the front cover is that it includes different colour schemes, these colours not only tie the page together is also makes the magazine very eye catching. Therefore more and more people would purchase it. In addition, the logo of the page is very interesting, it obtains a bright orange arrow, this adds to the ability of the magazine to drag people in. If i was the creator of this magazine i would maybe add some text talking about what the car show is about. If you was to look at it you wouldn't have a clue where the car show is and even what the car show as about.
The next advertisement i have found is another front cover of a magazine, the magazine is about a Lakers game that happened a couple years ago.
What i like about this front cover is that it includes bright yet calm colours. The calm colours make it nice to look at and the bright colours draw you into the magazine. This could be something that i look at when creating my design brief. Another feature that i like is that it includes the date, it seems like you are able to collect each magazine. Therefore it creates something fun for the fans to do. If i was the creator of the magazine i would look at making the logo more prominent, maybe add some bolder colours to the logo therefore creating it even more eye catching. But apart from that there isn't much i would change. This is one of my favourites out of the 3 good advertisements.
The final good advertisement i have found is yet again a front cover of a magazine. This magazine is from 5 years ago. Even though it is from five years ago the magazine has retained good integrity and is still readable. What i like about this front cover is the fact that they have included free playing cards, these enable you to collect and obtain cards from each magazine. Much like the Lakers front cover it is something fun for the fans as it gives them something to collect. If i was to re create the front cover i would think about changing the colour scheme used. As much as it is appealing at the moment it isn't very eye catching and for a front cover i find that to be very important. This is something i would want to include in my own advertisement, i would want to use bright colours as i believe it would draw more people to view my magazine.
Next up we have three bad advertisements that i have found, the first store i found was closing down and they had all for sale banners across there store front. As much as this is enticing for someone trying to get a good deal, there is no information regarding what the store sells. In addition all the banners located outside the store are overlapping each other. This not only blocks each banner it stops people having a clear understanding of what is happening in the store. If i was the owner of the store i would think about changing the for sale signs to be a bit for minimalistic. Also i would not use any features of the store in my own personal advertisement.
The next store front i have found is Asian garden. What makes this store front so bad is the fact that they are advertising denture repairs while your waiting for your Indian. I don't think you would be able to eat the food after having a denture repair but that's my interpretation. If i was the owner of the store i would think about adding a more in your face sign, really show what the shop is and what food you are selling. If a driver past was to see a there sign at the moment i don't think they would be that appealed to eat there where as if the sign stood out more and showed the exact food they sell in clear view the passer byes might think twice.
The final bad advertisement i have found is happicabs, i get that the sign is small and they would struggle to include more information of the company. But all you see mainly is TAP, PAY AND GO, there is no explanation of what the company entails. It can be viewed differently as the slogan they have doesn't explain as much as you would want it to. It clearly doesn't tell you how to get a taxi, according to this advertisement all you have to do is tap. This is something that would need some work on and i would not want to use something like this for my own advertisement. I want my advertisement to be clear and precise.
Secondary Research
During the process of making my visual guide, i wanted to show a representation of what the work someone produces me could be on. So i turned to mock up world, mock up world is a place where you can get mock ups that download to your computer and can be used on adobe photo-shop. For example i used a bus stop mock up. So i started with finding the perfect one on the mock up world website, and i downloaded it to my computer. Once it was downloaded i opened it up on adobe photo-shop. Once opened there should be a layer where i can double click on it and it will open up a new page. On this there is an advertisement already in use. I made a new layer and deleted the previous layer with the advertisement on, on the new layer i loaded in my logo. Once loaded in i placed it in the right position and clicked save on this document. After it was saved i closed down that document and went back onto the previous one. This is the one with the mock up on it and it also has my logo on it now too. That is a short description of how i used mock up world in my work. Overall the process of doing that was quite straight forward. In my previous year i used to use this website quite a lot in my work so i am no rookie when it comes to mock ups.