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Professional Practices - Week 4

Semester A: Week 4
Student: Tai Ser Yeet (22064351)
Programme: BA (Hons)(SW) Digital Media Design


WEEK 4

Takeaways from Class

Briefing on the Lemon Assignment

Class Notes:

  • As many followers and likes as you can garner
  • Has to be unique so be creative
  • Can be anything as long as it is lemon-themed
  • Instagram only
  • Create an account using your student email
  • Post everyday

Good Branding Strategies


1. Lead with Authenticity


"Her approach clearly works: on any given day, she posts 1-3 times and shares up to 15 Instagram stories, offering a glimpse into everything from her morning routine to what she's having for lunch." Moral of the story, post often and share loads if you want to create a brand based on lifestyle.

2. Influencers and Social Media Challenges

Quotes from the Article
  • Involve the audience in the campaign instead of using their sense of sight
  • Chipotle collaborated with David Dobrik (already a known fan of the brand), who launched his TikTok account with the #ChipotleLidFlip challenge, and it went viral, which boosted the sales of the business.
  • Authentic partnerships matter because choosing David Dobrik, a genuine Chipotle fan who already had an appeal with the Gen Z audience, made the campaign feel natural rather than forced. 
  • Focus on actions that are simple enough for anyone to try but satisfying enough to share.


Tips:
  • say what you stand for/against - you attract people with the same values
  • show the lifestyle, not the product - paint what life feels like with your brand
  • use storytelling and mood
  • build rituals, language and inside moments
  • Example 1: alo - they sell a whole lifestyle through wellness, an aspirational aesthetic, creating a brand the audience wants to live in
  • Write your story, quirks - what do you love, believe in?
  • example 2: glossier - obsession for beauty rituals and belief that skincare should come first
  • content gets scrolled. culture is remembered.
  • don't try to be everything because it waters down your impact
  • one idea, one mood, and repeat it obsessively
  • be known for something specific
  • The smaller your niche, the stronger your voice
  • Focus on how your brand makes people feel- start creating emotional reactions
  • every detail should feel cohesive - think texture, tone of voice, colour, music, scent (design for all senses, not just sight)

After Class

To gather inspiration for a distinct brand identity, I turned to my go-to platform, Pinterest. The platform is actively updated with interesting works that you can't find by searching on Google.


Links to Pinterest Boards:

General - https://pin.it/7p1YVCJfF

Concepts - https://pin.it/7p1YVCJfF

Templates - https://pin.it/7lGBFR5Jr

Dance Portraits - https://pin.it/4yNP4CMzU

Since this project allowed for creative flexibility, I was able to merge my academic work with my main passion: dancing. When I started brainstorming, I looked through previous students' work and noticed most accounts took a literal approach to their subjects. I wanted to do something different with mine. Rather than simply promoting lemons as a fruit, I aimed to represent the lemon conceptually: something subtle, mysterious, and open to interpretation. 

Here are a few name ideas that I've come up with: 

  • lemonpipe
  • citronconduit
  • citronchannel
  • un_citron
  • lecitron

Recently, I have been learning French, so my ideas might have been influenced by that. Nonetheless, the main concept of this account is to serve as a channel for creative expression revolving subtly around lemons.

Building a Visual Identity

The first major decision was choosing brand colours that defied expectations. Instead of the obvious yellow, I went with a striking royal blue. This choice was personal, blue is my favourite colour, but it was also inspired by the legendary French artist Yves Klein. Klein developed and trademarked his own shade of pure ultramarine called "International Klein Blue," and I loved the idea of creating something distinctive that didn't follow the conventional path. The overall brand identity centres on simplicity and minimalism, while the brand voice stays playful and encouraging. I wanted to create a sense of exclusivity that paradoxically promotes inclusivity, making followers feel like they're part of something special.

After that, I went on to designing the logo in Figma. I wanted to apply Gestalt's principle of closure, which centres around the human brain naturally filling in missing visual information or gaps to perceive incomplete shapes and patterns as whole, complete objects. I was playing around with a lemon slice I made until I made an impulsive decision to cut it in half, and that was it. To make it more usable and easier to see, I placed a solid fill behind it. However, users have the option to have it with a transparent background or a solid fill, depending on the level of legibility.




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