Proposal
Proposal Context
Before beginning my major project, I must undertake the very first initial steps of planning just like any other project which starts with purpose, audience and parameters of the major project. I could revolve my major project around almost anything that clearly demonstrates a definitive design idea. I established that I want to revolve my project around the theme of branding/rebranding, essentially redesigning an existing brand by adding my own design style or coming up with a completely new brand portrayed through marketing assets.
The crucial decision to make is what kind of brand I want to produce for my project, here are a few ideas I have noted down from the top of my head that I’m potentially interested in developing.
Project ideas
My suggestions revolved around something that has my personal interest such as sports and fashion, but at the same time I had to consider the type of design project I wanted to undertake whether it includes photography, product design or VR for example, it is important I demonstrate what type of designer I am or strive to be through this project by simply identifying my passion and strengths within the graphic design field.
As you can see all my ideas revolved around branding/product design as there are many different solutions and methods, I can incorporate within this field using what I already know and capable of creating that portrays and sells my product/brand using design marketing assets and ideas.
My finalised project idea
After brainstorming and noting down various project ideas for my project, I have come to a decision to revolve my project around product design of a sports energy drink using various marketing assets to establish a brand-new sports drink brand featuring professional athletes or local sport communities.
Why this project? / Purpose
I want my major project to revolve around a niche I’m familiar and most importantly passionate about, my chosen project revolves around sports, health and branding as I have a clear idea as to how I’m going to link these three topics into the creation of my sports drink brand, however more research and experimental design is obviously needed in the early stages of project planning.
The purpose of my project is to open a new door for athletes and fitness enthusiasts, with a brand-new product that will enhance performance and recovery in it’s own way. I’ll be undertaking research revolving sports drinks and potentially find a gap in the market but essentially come up with a product that will be a first choice for consumers of my target audience.
Subject, audience & purpose
The subject of my brand is widely open as sports and fitness is a widely open subject itself, with a huge similar and contrasting audience due to various type of physical activities available for people to undertake.
Many sports product brands revolve around one specific area of sports and fitness for example there are performance products specifically made for weight lifting such as protein powder brands which are used for protein shakes that have a target audience of weight lifters as the product specifically helps them build muscle and put on mass, athletes also tend to use protein shakes just not as excessively as weightlifters who are mass bulking, however the product still links back to the gym and weightlifting specifically as many athletes still undertake weightlifting to some extent.
The target audience for my product will be young adults to adults in their 30s who pursue in high intensity physical activities whether it’s weight lifting, athletics or sports such as football, boxing or basketball. However, a weight lifter may require a different type of performance drink compared to a footballer therefore more research into sports drinks is required to identify a suitable sports consumer of my product as different sports require different needs.
Sport drinks research
Sports drinks are very common with most well-known brands such as Lucozade, Gatorade and Powerade being advertised within the sports industry. Many people who don’t participate in any intense physical activity still consume these drinks because of the very sweet taste due to it’s high levels of sugar essentially making it a casual sugary drink for the majority despite still being beneficial for athlete’s recovery and performance.
Despite it’s high levels of sugar which may be a turn off for the majority of athletes, sports drinks help athletes replace water, electrolytes and energy which is lost heavily during intense exercise. Sports drinks are mainly made up of water, electrolytes and carbs that often come in forms of sugar such as glucose, making sports drinks very sugary.
This is essentially a gap in the market therefore I’m planning to create a sports drink that has more purpose for athletes other than being a sugary drink for the casual public. This is without saying that casual public will not be able to access the product however it won’t be a go to sugary drink option such as Lucozade or Powerade. The approach I’m taking to make this happen is to create a drink that is by simply reducing the sugar content by a large scale and use natural fruits with no additives, which is the approach many juice brands have taken.
Class meetings
From the beginning of this project, I have attended weekly group meeting where me and other students have proposed early ideas of our project as we discussed our thinking behind the project with each other including our personal supervisors. These weekly meetings have been rather beneficial as we gave each other suggestions on how they can approach their project.
My initial approach was to include existing athletes in my design advertising the brand however my personal supervisor suggested to include members of a football team I’m part of in my brand design, this will make my project better as I’ll be using original assets rather than existing images from the web. I’ll achieve this by organising a photoshoot with some members from the team wearing their kits and then play around with the images in photoshop that will be imbedded in the brands design across different areas such as posters, social media and website. However, I still might incorporate existing athletes in my design. Before getting on with the photoshoots the members of the football team will have to sign an ethical form where they give their permission to be posted publicly on my portfolio as this is a professional approach to take.
In the earliest stages of planning James suggested to incorporate Augmented Reality to advertise my brand, which is something I’m working on in my other module that I can bring to this project, for example QR codes on the bottle packaging that gives consumers the chance to claim rewards.
Scope
- Website
- Social media apps
- 3D animation of the bottles
- Packaging design
- Brand identity
- Moving image such as promo video
- Photoshoots imbedded in my design portfolio
- Realistic bottle design that could potentially be used in photoshoots/video
- Posters
- Augmented Reality – QR codes on bottles, posters.
Background & design research/inspiration
I’ve explored the marketing/branding side between sports and drink products, as there are hundreds of drink brands that are sponsored by top athletes, and sports industries. Just like any other products, having a big name on the packaging will boost the popularity of the product and essentially sell well. Lucozade have been working with a global boxing star Anthony Joshua, being their brand ambassador. As you can see his illustration is portrayed on the packaging of a Lucozade bottle with a ‘Stay humble’ quote. Like in this case, some products are not just products for the sake of it, through the power of branding and marketing some products are used to convey a message to the public. As we can see in this example of Anthony Joshua convey a message to potential aspiring athletes and the public in general through a simple quote on the bottle packaging.
Furthermore, an interesting design detail I’ve picked out from these athletes sponsored bottles is the use of clever word play. Anthony Joshua is on the packaging of a ‘Fruit Punch’ flavour bottle which portrays a connection between boxing and the drink through the word ‘Punch’. The same has been applied with Raheem Sterling’s ‘Cherry Kick’ drink showcasing the subtle link between his sport being football and the drink through the obvious word ‘Kick’. In addition, we see an effective use of homonym which is when a word can be used in a different context, as ‘Punch’ and ‘Kick’ refers to the flavour of a drink but at the same time the link between the two athletes in their sporting field.
Here we can see more examples of athletes being utilised in adverts to push forward a drinks brand, even though Mountain Dew isn’t necessarily a sports drink and isn’t particularly a healthy drink option for athletes, they still use the same marketing applications like Lucozade or Powerade would through the use of ‘big names’ such as NBA stars like Kyrie Irving.
Kyrie is seen advertising the drink through a simple photoshoot as he is holding the bottle whilst playing basketball. I’m looking to implement this type of marketing in my own work through a variety of photoshoots where members of the football team are seen with the product on the football pitch portraying the connection between the brand and the subject it’s used for.
We see many drink brands use marker-based Augmented Reality through a QR code which many brands do as it has become a popular niche within the marketing aspect of branding over the years. Just like many other product brands, some drink brands implement a QR code on their bottles providing user interactivity. One of the most common and essential traits that makes a brand successful is a strong bond between the brand and it’s consumers, once the trust between the two is established. Going back to Augmented Reality marketing, brands use QR codes to give their consumers a chance to win rewards which is one of the ways to build a bond with their customers.
This example shows Pepsi using QR codes to give consumers a free 3-month apple music deal, sometimes the rewards are as big as winning tickets to a big event which is appealing to the majority essentially being an effective selling point for the brand.
Design inspiration
Throughout the course of the research, I’ve had a look through a variety of sports design projects that revolve around incorporating athletes within a brand. A project that captured my eye is a campaign titled “engage your Mbappé mode” which is a Nike football campaign that uses globally known football athlete Kylian Mbappe to create fun animation game. Despite being completely different to my project in terms of purpose, I’m intrigued by the visual aspect and the creative concepts used to engage with the audience which I’m looking to incorporate within my work.
Firstly, this campaign has a clear design identity as it uses purple, striking lightning effect throughout the visuals conveying the idea of energy and speed which are Kylian Mbappe’s standout traits on the pitch. Many of the visuals are enhanced by blue and purple colours showcasing consistent use of brand identity throughout the project. Despite this project mainly being centered around animation, they still effectively use still-imaged visuals and social media.
As we can see this visual poster uses photography combined with enhanced graphic effects which is something I’m planning to incorporate within my work. As I’m looking to take series of photos and enhance them in photoshop showcasing the brand identity and enhancing the visual in general by adding design effects such as lighting or smoke effect to enhance the visual aspect, just like these visuals I could consider incorporating a lightning effect as it’s a common design asset used for drink brands especially energy drinks.
Another thing I’ve picked out from this project that I find interesting is the use of social media to engage with the audience. Users can interact with the challenges through Instagram inbox, as ‘Nike football’ sends the challanges through as an Instagram message with video animation of the challanges attached, providing detailed user experience through interactivity making the users feel important which is an effective way to build a bond with the audience. I’m considering incorporating social media engagement in a similar way offering consumers a chance to win rewards such as free drinks or tickets to an event, which I’m also going to incorporate through QR codes on the bottles. In addition, this campaign uses tokens that can be earned through engaging with the challanges which is something I could consider within my project when implementing social media engagement.
Sample Artwork
Here is my early sample design of the brand’s potential logo design presented in a design style that I’m looking to implement as part of my brand identity. This is an experimental artwork as I’m considering having blue as the brand’s primary colour alongside white and mint green which I’ve used in my logo designs. As you can see, I’m split between two names for my drink brand as I’ve created a logo for each, the meaning behind ‘Level UP’ is that the drink takes you to a higher performance level. I’ve attempted to illustrate this message by adding rising lines on the side of ‘UP’ visually signaling the word rising upwards as well as having ‘UP’ above ‘level’.
I then proceeded to create two logos for my secondary brand name idea being ‘Elevate’ which has the same meaning behind it as the previous name idea as the drink elevates athlete’s performance, which I’ve illustrated through green arrows pointing upwards alongside the logo text symbolling the idea of elevation. In addition, green is commonly used to label progress or success in any form.
The second ‘Elevate’ logo design is similar to my first one as I’ve used the same type font with a simple illustration of an individual consuming the drink, it’s not visible in this artwork however I made the bottle glow in turquoise colour as I’ll have to enhance the glow effect to make it more visible.
I’ve included images of waves and adjusted the colour slightly which represents the drink as I’m planning to incorporate this asset throughout my project artwork. I’ve experimented with the blur effect applying a spin blur effect to the wave asset in the bottom right corner as it adds a nice effect to my visual, I feel.
Approach/Milestones
Brand identity
Firstly, I’ll establish the brand identity such as colour, font types and asset designs that can be implemented across a variety of areas in the project whether it’s packaging design or web design as brand identity must stay consistent throughout the project making it recognisable and unique to itself.
Photoshoot
I would then plan and organise a photoshoot with members of the football team advertising the drink, I’ll apply the brands design on plain plastic bottles using photoshop that will be used in the project’s artwork such as posters or website’s front page. As I’m planning to have the members of the team hold the drink bottle that will have the brand’s identity alongside other shots. I’m planning to experiment and take a variety of cinematic shots that could be enhanced in photoshop such as replacing the background creating a different environment or adding other effects to the existing image. As mentioned before, I’ll need the members of the team featuring to sign ethical forms which can be found online.
Visual design
My next step will be focusing on visual design of my project creating general brand artwork which can be used across the website and social media. I’ll be using photoshop for the majority of my artwork. I will use Adobe XD to create an interactive website incorporating menus and variety of landing pages with brand’s identity incorporated. I’ll attempt to incorporate Augmented Reality through QR codes that I will design using Adobe Aero.
Moving image
Lastly, I’ll look to incorporate moving image to present my brand through a video advert montage alongside 3D animation of the bottles that could be incorporated in the advert montage. I’ll be using Adobe Premier Pro to create the video advert and Substance Stager to create 3D animation renders of the drink bottles with the brands identity on the packaging.
Additional references
Water waves used in sample artwork – Akter, A. (2024). AI generated Translucent water wave in light blue colors with seamless horizontal repetition,. [online] Vecteezy. Available at: https://www.vecteezy.com/png/35755785-ai-generated-translucent-water-wave-in-light-blue-colors-with-seamless-horizontal-repetition [Accessed 7 Nov. 2024].