Thursday, 18 November 2010
Here are more logo designs. The first image shows a few design concepts and the other 3 are adaptations of those designs. I really like the top one as it takes up less vertical space and uses the brands original logo in a more abstract way, rather than just a duplicate of the original logo. It is important to keep that reference to the original source, while creating a new, individual design. 
Wednesday, 10 November 2010
Karma Card
I have had to change my initial idea all together due to the fact that it didn't quite fit the brief. The new one I have chosen can be found here.
I started thinking about problems and issues, which prevent charities receiving as much as they potentially could. The first thing that came to mind was charity shops and how there seems to be a very typical theme to the things that tend to be donated. Although many charities have spent a lot of time and money or modernising their image and expanding the range of things they sell, there are still many people who could donate but for various reasons, don't.
In a world where many people can sell everything from their old clothes to their televisions online using websites like ebay, it is hard to persuade people to donate their items to charity, when they can so easily get something in return by selling them online.
Then I began thinking "What if they could get something in return?" The problem with selling items online is that there is a lot of waiting and messing around for auctions to end, receiving payment, corresponding with buyers and eventually sending the item (and paying for it). What if people could actually take those old items: DVDs, books, video games, clothes etc. down to there local charity shop and in return be rewarded with vouchers or something similar? It would mean that people would be more inclined to donate to charity because not only would they be contributing to a good cause, but they would also get something back for doing so.
So what kinds of people could a service like this benefit? Anyone who has old unused things collecting dust, which could be of use to someone else. This could be a teenager who has no real source of income but has a lot of old DVDs that they have become bored of due to getting a bit older. Perhaps it could be a mother who's baby is now a toddler and no longer needs a pram, but what she may need is a new bag to take to nursery. Because the majority of us have things, which are serving no purpose but occupying space, why not let them go to someone else who needs them?
My idea then is to create a system whereby people can collect points for donating things to charity using a card, which can then be redeemed to buy new items, tickets, vouchers etc. This would require a database full of items, which would each have an individual points value attached to it. For example if someone has a few old video games they have completed, but wants a brand new computer game, which is coming out in a few months, they can take their video games to the nearest charity shop, where the woman at the till scans the barcodes or enters the details manually into a small computer at the side of the till, which then returns a points value that the games are worth. If the person is happy they can accept and scan their card, which will automatically add their points to their online account. They can then go home and review their balance and look at how many points they need, if any, to preorder that game they are after.
I have considered various technologies for the card itself such as a magnetic strip, RFID chip and QR codes. I feel that QR code is the best choice, due to the fact that it requires to additional material to be added to the card itself, as unlike the RFID or magnetic strip, it just has to be printed on.
Because the whole concept is based around being rewarded for "good deeds", I have gone with the name "Karma Card". It has a nice ring to it due to the obvious alliteration in the Kar.. Car.. sounds. Not only that but the idea of karma and being rewarded for good is what my whole concept is about. The brief specifies that I have to pick an existing charity and after looking into various options I eventually decided on the British Heart Foundation. My idea really required that the charity already be both well established, recognised and already have a large amount of high street charity shops, which could potentially have these systems put into them. Oxfam has the most charity shops in the UK than any other charity shops, but I wanted to use a charity, which helps people within the UK, because the Karma Card would at first, be used exclusively in Britain. Although the BHF already have a unique and personal brand identity, I soon realised I couldn't get tied down by their colour scheme as it would detract from the desirability of the card and the service. Below is an initial design for the card itself, just as a starting point. I have implemented the BHF logo, but that combined with the colour scheme makes it look more like a donor card than a card, which you can use to buy cinema tickets.
Because this card and service would be useful to people of varied age, personality, taste etc. I thought it would be a good idea if the cards could have a personal element to them. A good idea for this would be to order your card online and choose and customise the design of the card, which would also be applied to your own account on the website. The brand identity really needs to be desirable for the whole thing to work and I think personalisation is a huge element of this. It needs to be fashionable in the same way all those livestrong bands were that everyone used to wear. It was something so simple yet extremely successful. Here are a few cards with different colour schemes applied to them.
As part of my research I have sent out online questionnaires that 9 people have filled in so far. From the data I received back I have been wrote up 9 personas based on each person. I have all of the data in text, however I just need to turn that into a more visual and human format (personify the data). In the next post I will show the 3 complete personas I have so far.
I started thinking about problems and issues, which prevent charities receiving as much as they potentially could. The first thing that came to mind was charity shops and how there seems to be a very typical theme to the things that tend to be donated. Although many charities have spent a lot of time and money or modernising their image and expanding the range of things they sell, there are still many people who could donate but for various reasons, don't.
In a world where many people can sell everything from their old clothes to their televisions online using websites like ebay, it is hard to persuade people to donate their items to charity, when they can so easily get something in return by selling them online.
Then I began thinking "What if they could get something in return?" The problem with selling items online is that there is a lot of waiting and messing around for auctions to end, receiving payment, corresponding with buyers and eventually sending the item (and paying for it). What if people could actually take those old items: DVDs, books, video games, clothes etc. down to there local charity shop and in return be rewarded with vouchers or something similar? It would mean that people would be more inclined to donate to charity because not only would they be contributing to a good cause, but they would also get something back for doing so.
So what kinds of people could a service like this benefit? Anyone who has old unused things collecting dust, which could be of use to someone else. This could be a teenager who has no real source of income but has a lot of old DVDs that they have become bored of due to getting a bit older. Perhaps it could be a mother who's baby is now a toddler and no longer needs a pram, but what she may need is a new bag to take to nursery. Because the majority of us have things, which are serving no purpose but occupying space, why not let them go to someone else who needs them?
My idea then is to create a system whereby people can collect points for donating things to charity using a card, which can then be redeemed to buy new items, tickets, vouchers etc. This would require a database full of items, which would each have an individual points value attached to it. For example if someone has a few old video games they have completed, but wants a brand new computer game, which is coming out in a few months, they can take their video games to the nearest charity shop, where the woman at the till scans the barcodes or enters the details manually into a small computer at the side of the till, which then returns a points value that the games are worth. If the person is happy they can accept and scan their card, which will automatically add their points to their online account. They can then go home and review their balance and look at how many points they need, if any, to preorder that game they are after.
I have considered various technologies for the card itself such as a magnetic strip, RFID chip and QR codes. I feel that QR code is the best choice, due to the fact that it requires to additional material to be added to the card itself, as unlike the RFID or magnetic strip, it just has to be printed on.
Because the whole concept is based around being rewarded for "good deeds", I have gone with the name "Karma Card". It has a nice ring to it due to the obvious alliteration in the Kar.. Car.. sounds. Not only that but the idea of karma and being rewarded for good is what my whole concept is about. The brief specifies that I have to pick an existing charity and after looking into various options I eventually decided on the British Heart Foundation. My idea really required that the charity already be both well established, recognised and already have a large amount of high street charity shops, which could potentially have these systems put into them. Oxfam has the most charity shops in the UK than any other charity shops, but I wanted to use a charity, which helps people within the UK, because the Karma Card would at first, be used exclusively in Britain. Although the BHF already have a unique and personal brand identity, I soon realised I couldn't get tied down by their colour scheme as it would detract from the desirability of the card and the service. Below is an initial design for the card itself, just as a starting point. I have implemented the BHF logo, but that combined with the colour scheme makes it look more like a donor card than a card, which you can use to buy cinema tickets.
Because this card and service would be useful to people of varied age, personality, taste etc. I thought it would be a good idea if the cards could have a personal element to them. A good idea for this would be to order your card online and choose and customise the design of the card, which would also be applied to your own account on the website. The brand identity really needs to be desirable for the whole thing to work and I think personalisation is a huge element of this. It needs to be fashionable in the same way all those livestrong bands were that everyone used to wear. It was something so simple yet extremely successful. Here are a few cards with different colour schemes applied to them.
As part of my research I have sent out online questionnaires that 9 people have filled in so far. From the data I received back I have been wrote up 9 personas based on each person. I have all of the data in text, however I just need to turn that into a more visual and human format (personify the data). In the next post I will show the 3 complete personas I have so far.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Make Something Disappear
The RSA Project
After looking through the various RSA student design awards briefs, I was drawn to the above project. Being someone who tries to economise and minimalise waste as much as possible, this project is one which I know I will find interesting and I can really use my imagination with.
I am particularly interested in domestic waste and how much packaging and food we as a country throw away. The amount of waste we produce is having a negative effect on our environment as we all know. Quick and easy microwave meals are not only unhealthy, but also come in portion sized plastic packaging, which will probably end up in a landfill or in some whale's stomach. Additionally convenience meals are a lot less value for money as many people think, as the portion sizes are usually small and are made out of poor quality ingredients (especially the value range). I want to create a system, which helps people cut costs and waste, eat better quality foods and still have convenient meals that they can stick in the microwave for a few minutes when they get in from work.
The idea I have is to first of all create a strong "eco" brand, which effectively represents the "waste not, want not" philosophy.
The second thing I want to do is look at implementing the brand into various systems and products. One of the key elements of this is an iPhone app, which allows a user to scan the bar code of an item, using the iPhone's built in camera and they will then be able to view information on not only meal ideas but ways of storing the food effectively and using any left overs that they may have left from cooking.
The app will be linked to the second media platform, which is a community-based website, where users can give each other tips and ideas on how to cut costs and waste, as well as tools to help economise further.
Once the brand is well established, there would be future implementations such as a cookbook full of tasty, low cost and economically practical meals, which can all be made in bulk and frozen into portions.
After looking through the various RSA student design awards briefs, I was drawn to the above project. Being someone who tries to economise and minimalise waste as much as possible, this project is one which I know I will find interesting and I can really use my imagination with.
I am particularly interested in domestic waste and how much packaging and food we as a country throw away. The amount of waste we produce is having a negative effect on our environment as we all know. Quick and easy microwave meals are not only unhealthy, but also come in portion sized plastic packaging, which will probably end up in a landfill or in some whale's stomach. Additionally convenience meals are a lot less value for money as many people think, as the portion sizes are usually small and are made out of poor quality ingredients (especially the value range). I want to create a system, which helps people cut costs and waste, eat better quality foods and still have convenient meals that they can stick in the microwave for a few minutes when they get in from work.
The idea I have is to first of all create a strong "eco" brand, which effectively represents the "waste not, want not" philosophy.
The second thing I want to do is look at implementing the brand into various systems and products. One of the key elements of this is an iPhone app, which allows a user to scan the bar code of an item, using the iPhone's built in camera and they will then be able to view information on not only meal ideas but ways of storing the food effectively and using any left overs that they may have left from cooking.
The app will be linked to the second media platform, which is a community-based website, where users can give each other tips and ideas on how to cut costs and waste, as well as tools to help economise further.
Once the brand is well established, there would be future implementations such as a cookbook full of tasty, low cost and economically practical meals, which can all be made in bulk and frozen into portions.
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