Week 12- Next Steps

Tramaine Berry
Dec 6, 2020
9 min read

Updated: Sep 21, 2023

RESEARCH //

I came across Erik Spiekerman's interview, which brought me back to the lecture and how it referred to design being standardised by the internet. It contrasts to how Susanna Edwards talks about using the digital world to explore the physical.

Ideas:

Play with the idea of multiplication (repetition) and try to change it into something else - Stamps/ Printing / Catelogues / Snowflakes (each is the same but is recognised as unique in its own way)
What if there were an automated system where it searched for similar brands on the internet before the designer submits it as a final piece?
Globalisation- All cultures merging together
Zines - Idea of unpublished and original piece (one of its kind), which contrasts to our mass produced and multicultural world.
What if there were a database that can say what percentage of each culture a design was inspired from? A bit like sending your DNA sample to find out where your ancestry has been. Scan your design (design recognition instead of facial recognition) and it comes up with facts. This would reconnect designers to traditional cultural aesthetics.
What if the bricks to housing were marked with global brands? They have become the foundation of how we live and look at the world.

I wanted to compare brands that look the same and see if something that looks the same can be turned into something new.

Turning the mass produced into a work of art

Piroska is a Swiss artist with the belief that the value of paper is in the eyes of the beholder. I like how Piroska Szonye takes something that is mass produced and repurposes it into something unique. The piece of work below is a sculpture. Each book represents each child's life, and the deterioration from outside world doesn't influence their value or love we have for it. Just because something is easily demolished, doesn't mean we don't cherish it in our memories. This also represents the strength of parental love, 'rain or shine' they are always willing to do their best for their child and the love for them never weakens no matter how bad a day it is.

Maziar Raein is an Associate Professor at the Oslo National Acedemy of the Arts and has founded Codex Design, a branding and identity studio. The Lecture with Raein talked about how important it is to design for good, which reminded me of an interesting point Edenspiekerman made about how sometimes we as designers end up working for the commercial world, no matter how strong your beliefs are about ‘common good’ because that is the world, we are in. I have even found myself widening the boundaries between social design and commercial design; as long as it’s not a food or non-necessity, I’ll be happy to work.

A designer named Johnathan Barnbrook was referenced during this lecture. Johnathan Barnbrook focuses on activism, graphic design, typeface, industrial design and motion design. He believes design shapes the way we perceive the world and can influence social change, which are values held by 'First Things First Manifesto 2000'.

Below is a poster designed by Barnbrook, which features a Tibetan mandala made up of corporate logos. This piece stood out to me because I am currently interested in the idea of repurposing something that looks the same.

Friendly Fire at Ginza Graphic Gallery 2004

Ideas:

What if I created a pattern like this but with local business logos? Or maybe my pattern could change/ shift with each unique brand in order to show a lack of mass production.
A map of unique logos, but this would be difficult to know which ones are unique
A collage of global brands where local brands get lost within it.
What if global brands within our community were transformed into a localised style? Brands located in Falmouth include Card Factory, Wilko, Lidl and Tesco Metro. Or maybe the brands can be adapted to suit the architecture it occupies?
Or maybe we could take every brand in a county and recolour all of them according to the flag's colours. For example, all of Cornwall's shops would have black and white brands, whilst England would be white, red and blue.

Ted-Talk by Anab Jain

https://www.ted.com/talks/anab_jain_why_we_need_to_imagine_different_futuresutm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

Anab Jain is a designer, futurist, filmmaker and educator. Jain and her team 'Superflux' looks into creating experiences and transport people into possible future worlds. My favourite is the 'Business as usual' future, which shows people what the air pollution would be like in 2020, 2028 and 2034 if the use of fossil fuels continued; these air samples bring an emotional reaction to people, which is something that cannot be achieved through data alone.

Global vs Local

Looking into my research, I am interested in how I could manipulate global brands in order to create something unique to a specific location. Ideas I've had so far refer to making the branding suit the architecture or changing the brand colours into the colours of the region.

Notes from Tutorial:

HSBC - world's local bank
Starbuck's don't look the same due to structure guidelines for local culture
How could I disrupt the format of shops? Relevant to how high streets are dying. What would post-covid look like?
Photoshop mockup of environmental space

Ideas on the highstreet and post-covid:

Drive through high street - would need to get rid of walking path for a two way system. Non-drivers could get a taxi.
Digitalisation of shops - shops will turn into storage units or factories. Or maybe all local brands will merge together into one large facility
Will local brands be globalised?
Businesses inside homes; my barbar has built a place in her garden instead of renting on the high street.
Customers only go inside shops to order from a catalogue, but samples are shown in store.
Home visitation from local bank experts - book online.
All local shops closing and large chains remain. Maybe an expansion of the supermarket with sections of the local products - a bit like the Argos within Sainsbury's.

HSBC: World's local bank

In 2002, HSBC rebranded itself as the 'world's local bank', which led to a 25% decline in brand value.
Facing branch closures in 2018
'Together we thrive' was the new slogan because it could no longer claim to be a local bank, but could claim to commit to an open and connected world.
Sub-brands for different customers

Starbucks

Starbucks give their stores a localisation make-over to appeal to local customers; coffee company have become the equivalent of fast food with every store looking the same.

18 different design stores across the globe. Mixing the brand's own design with local culture: Mexico's Starbucks are designed to encourage group conversations.

Idea:

Could Tesco's be localised? What features does Starbucks Falmouth have?
What if I took a brand that has no place in Falmouth and localise it? Something like Gregg's would be out of place due to the Cornish pastry shops. This would help fill the empty stores Falmouth has.

Saving the high street brands:

Turn into a park - design social space
More bars and gyms
Portable local businesses - vans that move across the country

Convenience
24 Hour serve
At home
Aspect of highstreet journeys are seen as a weekend treat

WORKSHOP //

How can I make my high-street less homogeneous?

Highstrrets are becoming homogeneous through its large chains.

Ideas:

Save independant shops - A campaign to only have independent shops open during lockdown 3.0
Repurpose M & S store, which has been left abandoned since before the lockdown started. According to 'Consumer Focus' video, an abandoned store can have a ripple effect on both sides of the abandoned store and consumers tend to avoid that area. My concern is that M & S is in the middle of Falmouth highstreet.
I also got the impression from this series that people tend to avoid the highstreet due to its business. What if there were an app to update people on quiet times?
An app that tells you whether what you are looking for is in stock before going inside, which would reduce the ques. This is important especially during Covid.
A comparison site - as you look online for items, a pop up of a similar item from the highstreet shows up. Advantages include receiving it on the same day.
Window shoppers can browse a digital catelogue in-store like Argos, but customers are able to see the product before purchase. This would reduce the need to move around the store during Covid, and a few more people are able to come inside.
What if you could go online, reserve an item and pay for it loyally instore? Try it before you buy it!
Bigger chains with smaller format
Book a slot for a personalised customer experience - prepare shops for cleaning and enable customers to try on clothing in this pandemic. Inspired by Falmouth's Woodlane shop. This would decrease the que and enable people to feel like they have more time for window shopping. I think this would be for the clothing industry.
Someone can bring up to 6 items to your door and you can pay for the ones that fit there and then. The assistant would need to wear a mask t your home. Or maybe someone could reserve these items and choose a time to come in-store and try them on.
List of what's in-store so you can go and try things on at the high-street.

List of Global Brands in Falmouth:

Tesco Metro
Grape Tree / Holland & Barret
Cancer Research UK / British Heart Foundation / Cornwall Hospice
TUI
Rowes Cornish Bakers
SuperDrug / Boots
Pizza on the Corner / Cod on the Corner
Mountain Warehouse / Trespass
Cafe Nero / Costa
Santander / NatWest / HSBC UK
WHSmith
Poundland
Vodafone / EE
New Look / Fat face
Wilko
Clanks
The Works
The Card Facotry
Moss / Hawkshead
Specsavers/ Vision Express
The Grapes / Mangos / The Kings
Subway
surf shop
Cream Cornwall
Weird Fish
Roly's Fudge Pantry

List of Local Brands in Falmouth:

Quba & Co / Wild Pony
LongStaffs
Huddle / Bacon Coffee
The Lookout
Botanical Atelier
Finisterre
Falmouth Grill
Blink
Star Glazers
Jam
Stitches & Cream
Waves Gallery
Dizzy
Shubie
Cornwall Art Galleries
Wearnes
Associated Photography
Falmouth Fishmongers
Coast Casuals
Secrets boutique
A gift from Cornwall
Simpsons Bros
Willow & Stone
Piada & More
Moon Rise
Beside the wave
Cornish Store
Love from ... Luella
Blue Wing Gallery / The Art world Gallery
Little Nelly
Scent Store / Beach Bomb
Oggy Oggy / The pastry Shack
Curi Curi
Corner Bakery / Stones Bakery
Sessions
The Black Pearl
Lanes
Inkfish
Falmouth Bookseller
Dolly's Tea Room
Wull
Bousin's
Tall Ships Trading
Ann's cottage
Racky's
Un-rap
Saltrock / Seasalt
Phone Gadgets 4u / iTech
Wool Basket and Craft Centre

What is missing from my high-street?

Changing facilities; some shops are too small to have one. Customers could buy it, try it and return it without the hassle of going home.
Toilet facilities
Bakeries have closed down. Consumers have to rely on coffee chains
A delivery system / holding facility for heavy shopping ; carrying it inside a cafe or bar can be off-putting.
Local stores are on the outskirts

I think by using the M&S space to compensate for what independent shops lack would improve customer experience and save independent stores. However, the M&S site might be too large for my ideas, so what if I reused a bakery shop that recently closed down; it is on the outskirts next to locals. This would be more convenient.

As you can see from the maps, the abandoned stores are based on the same road, with only 4 doors apart. The layout from this store is clearly visible from viewing, and it is closer to cafe chains.

The building shown below is closer to local stores including a local cafe 'Huddle'. The building is smaller, however, this would be cheaper for the council to rent out.

The purpose of this building would be a changing facility, where customers can rent out a room, try out clothing and return it within the same day. This promotes the high-street experience with less stress of planning ahead of time just incase something doesn't fit.

I also think this fits the workshop challenge because it is taking a high-street shop and completely repurposing it. It also challenges the idea of a changing room without a shop, instead the changing room is the shop.

I wanted to keep the brand neutral, so I choose Helvetica Neu for the typeface with a black and white colour palette. It took me ages to come up with a name that didn't sound like a baby's changing room such as 'changing facility' or 'changing room'. Fitting room seemed to be the correct tone. And the pink logo (above) looked like it had a question mark as a hook, so I decided to play with this; I like making type into imagery.

I choose this abandoned store because I thought the other one didn't have the correct layout in place. And even though it would be cheaper to rent, it would cost more to take out the kitchen.

How could I improve?

Design the layout of the fitting room
Spend more time playing with the logo
Look into virtual fitting; maybe the customer could go into the fitting room first and the virtual reality can tell you what size you are in each brand. I think you would still want to try on the clothing physically after buying it, so it is something to bare in mind.

DISCUSSION //

REFLECTION //

I found it difficult to identify what Graphic Design interested me but I was interested in how the lecture was referring to how everything is starting to look the same, which influenced my investigation into changing global brands to suit the locations. It feels as if it is a follow-up from last week's research due to how it investigates the environment and predicts trends. After further research, I realised that it is the global chains that makes the high-street homogeneous, which is when I started looking at ways to save independent stores and see what they are not doing that bigger chains are achieving.

I think adding a fitting room to the high street fits the workshop challenge because it is taking a high-street shop and completely repurposing it. It also challenges the idea of a changing room without a shop, instead the changing room is the shop.

If I had more time, I would experiment with the logo more and take my own picture of the high-street rather than a screenshot. I would have also liked to design the layout of the building, and create flyers for local stores to inform their customers; taking a fitting room out of context. It's also taking something that already exists and improving it.

In hind sight, behavioural change is probably my main interest of graphic design because I am interested in how the mind works and how I can positively influence the social aspect as well.

Here is a spare file of my Studio Practice pdf!