Project B Reflection

Project B has been fun and challenging. Fun because we got to develop, explore and decide on our own, and challenging because of group work and my own limitations. We quickly decided on a group, which consisted of Maria, Vanessa, Vivian, Andrea and me.  We initially had many ideas of businesses we wanted to go into, everything from eco-friendly travelling to consultancy. We ended up with a consultancy, named Blue Orchid. It was beneficial for us that we all wanted to go in the same direction, when deciding upon a business. We all wanted to do something more that just making profits. We wanted to aid and enhance the role of craftsmen around the world.

Back in the days the craftsman was a valued community role, due to the knowledge that he/she possessed. It was vital for the community’s wellbeing that the knowledge of material and craft was passed down through generations.  The craftsmen operated as a link from land via materials, through process via craft and to user via business. Then the industrial revolution brought about a shift in the craftsman’s role. The focus was on profits and mass production, and the value of the craftsman was suddenly not as important anymore. The focus was now on the design process, instead on the actual craftsman and his/her knowledge.

We wanted to bring back the focus on the craftsman, and shift the centre of attention from a mass-producing profit seeking focus, to a value and knowledge focus.  We did not want authentic and distinct knowledge and products to be stepped on by the big chains anymore. This would have to be done through consulting local craftsmen around the world. Aiding them in gaining brand awareness and increasing brand value through our expertise. Blue Orchid would act as a knowledge exchanger, where we provide up to date expertise in marketing, sales, design, distribution and management, in exchange for their crafts knowledge. It is a win-win equation, where both parties benefit from each other. Together we will be a stronger team, and it is our job to prove this to our clients. Blue Orchid is a London based company providing global expertise in creating holistic brand solutions for craftsmen in emerging markets. We want to help craftsmen realise how to fully maximize their opportunities of benefiting from increased tourism. Our service is made with local jewellers in mind, strengthening their commercial value through having us as partners. Our main focus will be on brand revival creating sustainable local enterprises, while satisfying the need of the cosmopolitan consumer.

We were lucky enough to have Vivian in our group, who explained about the local jewellers in the Seychelles, and the potential of developing a collaboration with them as a starting point. These local craftsmen are mainly concerned with producing their own jewellery, but they are not aware of current trends that could increase their sales. We saw this market as an excellent starting point and a feasible business opportunity.

I enjoyed this project, but as previously mentioned – it was challenging. We started of excellent, and we were all motivated and excited about our business plan. I personally fell of the wagon after the Easter break, and when thinking about it now it was probably because I am used to do smaller projects quickly and then hand them in. This project was more complex – both in duration and the actual process. When I would usually hand in a project, this project was not close to done. I got a bit restless and unmotivated, as I felt I had nothing more to give and would rather see this project finished sooner than later. I quickly realised that I had to put my business ways of doing things aside, and focus on the design process. When I managed to do that, I realised that we all had so much more to give, and that a project only gets better the more time you allow for it to grow. I realise now that we could have had even another more weeks, to develop our ideas even further. This is a new way of thinking for me, as I usually begin something only to end it. I work hard to see the final outcome, but through this project I realised that the process should be the main focus. The process is what creates a well-developed outcome.

All in all I am very pleased with our Project B process and outcome. I personally learned a lot, which I think in itself is the best accomplishment. The project made me think in new directions, and also made me develop an idea further than I have done in previous projects.  I learnt a lot about my own weaknesses and strengths when working in a group, and as we were a group of five people – how it was to work in such a large group. How to coordinate and reach decisions with five different opinions can be quite challenging, but when we finally reach a decision it is five times more exiting. I also believe five minds develop better ideas than one, and the idea is put through tests that only strengthens the final solution. 

Kreolor:Business Card & Brochure

Here is the template for the business cards we intend to produce for Kreolor. We have also designed a brochure which will be distributed in hotels and shops. The brochure sets our to describe and explain the value of the jewelry and is a celebration of the craftsmen. We also wanted each piece of jewelry to have a paper note attached to it explaining what materials the craft is made up by, where the materials are from, what the colors are called, how the craftsman made it, and if it symbolizes anything special such as relaxing, peace, love, energy, strength etc.

HUB

Kreolor:Kreolux #2

We decided to keep the name of our first client. We believe it would be wrong of us to change the name of an already existing brand, as we are aiding them to enhance their own brand value, not to risk loosing it. So the new logo will look something like this:

Kreolor:Kreolux

We thought about altering our first clients name, from Kreolor to Kreolux. Kreolux sounds more luxurious and exiting, but we have not reached a decision yet. If the name change will take place, their new logo will look like this:

Logo

I think we will go with the 'Blue Orchid' logo, as we think it looks better and more businessish. It also gives of a calm and organized vibe.

Bompas & Parr

Bopas & Parr designs spectacular food experiences often working on an architectural scale with cutting edge technology. Projects explore how the taste of food is altered through synesthesia, performance and setting. Bompas & Parr also designs and manufacturers bespoke jelly moulds and kitchenalia; makes fine English jellies; provides full catering services; and provides food and design consultancy.  I would love to go to one of these events!

• DIRT BANQUET: A meal exploring the culinary implications of dirt. 
• TASTE O RAMA: Guests watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom while being able to enjoy key moment of the movie with their mouths.
• CELESTIAL BED: For Valentines Day 2011 Bompas & Parr recreated James Grahams notorious 1782 Celestial Bed. Visitors were invited to make love in the museum and drink a love philter which was made up by 23 secret ingredients.

 

Arts & Business: Rose Enright

Why link arts and luxury brands:

• Synergy - its a natural fit
• To do this differently
• Repositioning
• Good way to get PR
• Reach new audiences

A high level of creativity is valued in luxury brands. These brands are more progressive and daring - and linking the brand with arts may give huge brand rewards. One example is 'Made in Prada'. Prada does a lot of thing relating to culture, and one of these things is 'Made in Prada'. Each product in this range rewards the craftsmen behind the product. This range was hugely successful because it was a very honest and authentic project. It was the celebration of craftsmen from different parts of the world. 

Another successful campaign was the The Scottish malt whiskey society's collaboration with 26, a national organisation that champions the imaginative use of language in business. The project paired 26 writers with 26 designers to create the unique identities and labels for 26 Society malts. 26 Malts illustrates the power of words and images working creatively together, and maintains the long association of whisky with literature and language.

However, a campaign that did not work out as successfully was Louis Vuitton's ad campaign called 'the craftsmen'. As most of Louis Vuitton's products are made by machine, it is not authentic to produce an add that claims that there are craftsmen doing the work. Therefore the adds were banned, due to it not being authentic advertising.

A3 Poster

The Power of Words

Word Cloud:Orchid Consultants

Project Feedback

• Are you influencing the design of the jewellery? -Yes.
• Our business model can easily be replicated in other contexts.
• The main difficulty for craftsmen is to demonstrate the value of their crafts, but they are highly skilled and the work is authentic. 
• We should make the demographic/the clients understand why they should pay a premium. Make clients understand the value they are paying for. 
• Main challenge is marketing - How to tell the story honestly. Tell the story of the craftsmen. How many hours they spent on this work, how, why etc.
• Toursism - What is the market? Who is going to want these products?
• It is basically a trade of knowledge. We bring knowledge of tourism, marketing, finance etc. in exchange of crafts knowledge. It is a knowledge transfer!
• It is very important for us to prove that we will not take anything away from the craftsmen. 
• Synergy of culture. Synergy when bringing all parts of the business together. 

Project B: Process

In our group we all listed 4 values we believe our business should have. Then we grouped them, and linked them. The most common values were humour, respect and hard work.

Information Design

Information design is about communicating complex ideas. It was originally used to communicate to the masses quickly. An excellent example is the London Tubemap, which once understood, is easy to use to navigate through the complex underground. Or the signs outside toilets which easily communicates the male and female toilets. Information design is also used for accounting and finance, to present numbers effective and efficient. One example is the piechart, where information is easily presented. Visual communication design consists of photography, graphics, packaging, film, typography, magazines and web design. It is all about reaching out to people in the simplest way - to make people understand complex messages by only looking at a sign/chart/picture.

The Beauty of diagrams:Florence Nightingale

It has been said that the famous nurse Florence Nightingale was the first to use diagrams for presenting statistical data. This is not true, of course, but she may have been the first to use them for persuading people of the need for change. Florence Nightingale created a diagram to force the British Government to create cleaner and safer hospitals. The war hero stories where soldiers died on the battling fields presented a much more heroic picture, than the death of thousands of soldiers in hospital beds. They died because the hospitals were filthy and unsafe. Nightingale wanted to make a change so she designed and delivered a 'rose' diagram to the British Government. People have very limited time to make decisions, so a graph must be informative and understood at one glance. Her diagram was just that! Nightingale's diagram conveyed a message of hope.

Nightingale's diagram saved million of lives

Diagrams can be a brilliant propaganda tool, because you can easily read statistical data in a glance, which would otherwise have taken a much longer time to read and understand in text. I personally think diagrams often need a counterpart, because one diagram often does not show the whole picture. You need something to compare the diagram with, in order to put the information in context. Some diagrams do this by having year-on-year results, while others simply show data from one event. So there are good and bad diagrams.

Creativity/Context

Nanyang Art School

The School of Art, Design & Media at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore is a school that really stands out - or blends in - however you wish to look at it. It blends in with the nature, and symbolizes  the creativity it houses.The glass façade provides a high performance building envelope that reduces solar gain and heat load while allowing the benefits of natural views and daylight into creative spaces. The curving grass roofs acts as informal gathering places, where students and staff can hang out. I would love to study at a school like this, and I think the idea and architecture is brilliant!

Straight Line Thinkers

Straight lines does not exist in nature, straight lines are human made. Nature is not linear, but it is more connected and networked. So why are so many people Straight Line Thinkers? Straight Line Thinkers can not follow the development of people, they can not be a part of the evolution of technology, fashion, the way we talk and dress. It is alien to them. What does not follow the regular linear ways of doing things, is not understood. The 20th century was the century where we built big things, the 21st century is where we learn big things. So people are forces into defining themselves in a new way. In the old days we defined ourselves by the city we lived in - where we grew up, worked, married, had kids and died. You used your skills to the benefit of the community. All the skills combined made strong societies. It is not like that anymore, because we no longer define ourselves by the external factors. Some people feel like they do not belong anywhere, hence having problems identifying and defining themselves. We should go back to the old ways of giving back to the society, and thereby 'finding' ourselves. 

Business schools teach us to focus on profits, individualism and hard work. It would be good to de-school business schools, in order to create an understanding and connection between ethics, nature and people. The world is networked, just like nature. So we need to be more flexible and adaptive. We need to imbed sociability in everything we do, and make the environment more social, so we actually want to spend time in the environment. We should focus on shared selective joy, in order to create a playful and enjoyable world. 

Project B: Tetrahedral model #2

This is an explanation of the relationship between our roles, the Service, Client and Context.

Our roles are explained far left, and our service is described at the top of the tetrahedral. We had some difficulties figuring out who our clients were, as we both deal with local craftsmen AND the businesses which are going to sell the products. Our direct clients are the local craftsmen, and our indirect clients are the local businesses. We are focusing on the Indian Ocean market, with the Seychelles islands as a starting point. As our consultancy will grow, we will explore opportunities in other parts in the world as well. 

Project B: ORCHID CONSULTANTS

We have created a consultancy named Orchid Consultants, and our first and primary focus is on the market in the Seychelles. We want to aid local jewelers to reach out to their client base, and the problem is that the current jewelry design does not fit tourists/European taste. We will consult local crafts companies/people in designing jewelry that suits current trends/tastes, and deal with local hotels and shops in selling the jewelry. We get 30% of the net profits per item the jewelers sell, and we are dealing with a niche strategy and market. 

Our first client will be the jewelry and crafts manufacturer Kreolor, which is situated in the Seychelles. Kreolor focuses on local materials, and the jewelry is handmade. We se a big opportunity in brand development and management, design strategy and a re-design and modern twist of the actual design of the products. 

Leadership Workshop

What is the leadership responsibilities of the ‘company’ in your chosen context?

Orchid Consultancy’s leadership responsibilities are mainly concerned with Brand Management as we are advising and directing company/designers to successfully achieve brand awareness and appealing designs.

How will you communicate and act out your leadership responsibilities (as a design led business) to your client base?

Face to face meetings, international tele-conferencing via Skype, E-mails, phones. 

Within the business, what are your leadership roles and responsibilities?

(Servant leadership, Hierarchy, skill based)

Titles (Skill based) + Belbin Team Roles – flat hierarchy

Belbin's Team Roles is based on nine team roles, categorized into three groups: Action Oriented, People Oriented, and Thought Oriented. One can use the model within a team to help ensure that necessary team roles are covered, and that you address potential behavioral tensions or weaknesses among team members. This will help to create a more-balanced team. One can also use it to understand your role within a particular team, so that you can develop your strengths and manage your weaknesses as a team member.

How will you behave and act as a leader in the organisation that will be both true to other 

members and external context and client base?

Internally: Democratic – Servant leadership – know our roles –

External: Democratic – negotiable – include opinion and suggestions yet make the final call

Through your individual leadership and group (design/business) leadership how will you fulfill your design-led business proposition?

Brainstorming sessions (everyone gives and input, feasibility evaluation). All members contribute with their strengths and skills. Everyone responsible  for enhancing and educating themselves in order to meet the needs of the company. 

Design Leadership

Unlike business leadership, which is about leading organisations, the notion of design leadership is fuzzier. It is often used interchangeably with design management, but is also liberally applied to any big personality around the industry. Back in the days the designers or design managers were situated low down in the business hierarchy, and if they wanted to stress their opinions, they would have to talk to a marketing director, who would then talk to a higher member of staff, and then eventually the top management would get the idea. - If not the idea was lost along the way, or changes too much. Nowadays, the role of the design managers have totally changed, and their roles are vital to business success. 


There are many different design leaders, such as Josephine Green, Sir Terrence Conran, Tom Ford and Dyson. However, design leaders do tend to share three general qualities: they are good at envisioning the future, thinking strategically and leading others. They tend to have mastered their professional craft and understand their field well, but are driven by a restless feeling in their gut that 'it doesn't have to be this way'. They have the ability to hover above the detail, see the big picture and think abstractly to imagine a different direction.

TOM FORD

Leadership involves remembering past mistakes, and analysis of today’s achievements, and a well grounded imagination in visualising the problems of the future

 – Stanley C. Allyn

Comments & Questions on Project B

Comments:

1. Roles well defined
2. Wrong timing - Pacific disasters
3. Big natural threat
4. Good role division
5. Sustainable idea
6. Limited market
7. Research hotel before offering supply
8. Think about expansion, gallery
9. Have different people in different parts of the world to promote

Questions:

1. Why the Seychelles?
2. How will you make money?
3. How can local craftsmen pay for your assistance?
4. Whoa are the clients?
5. Which countries?
6. Is the product expensive or cheap?
7. Whoa are you representing, hotels or locals?
8. How can this prove profitable?
9. How measure fair trade?

STAR STORY

A star story will convey not only the duties you performed but what you achieved personally or for the company.

Situation: Provide Background on a situation that occurred
Task: Describe the task you were asked to perform
Action: Provide detail about the action you took
Result: Describe the result of learning outcome


Companies expect you to have transferable skills, soft skills that makes us performed within teams, and as a leader. Employers ask us for star stories, what we have achieved that we are proud of. It is very much based upon achievements. Instead of focusing on the team, focus on your personal contribution.  Employees want to learn about your competencies for the specific job. Most demanded competences in design sector are business skills, ability to network, communication skills, & time management.

• My Star Stories: 
• I went to a Boarding School in Hampshire for three months, where there were only english students and I was the only Norwegian person, and knew nobody. After two weeks I became the captain of our School Runners team, and every weekend we travelled to new places to play our matches. It improved my communications skills, and made me work better in groups and as a leader. 
• In 2010 I was on the Deans List at Regents Business College, an award for my high grades.
• In 2009 I held a speech for my dads 50th birthday, in front of 150 people. It improved my confidence in speaking in front of crowds. 
• I was an actor for my school play, in front of a crowd of minimum 100 people each day for two weeks. The preparations for the play lasted for four months, and it improved my teamwork skills, as well as networking skills. The year after I was the director of the school play, which improved my leadership and managerial skills. 
• I was the head of the student counsel for two years, which improved my teamwork skills, marketing skills and leadership skills. 

Applying for jobs within the Design Sector

About 60% of designers in London work as communication designers. This surprised me, as I though a bigger percent would be in retail design. In design, jobs are often not advertised. Many creative businesses accept spontaneous CV's, without any job being advertised. It is important to do thorough research of the business in which you are going to apply for. CV; Not all you have done, but your best pieces. Include a link to your portfolio. Have 2 CV’s, one which is professional and one which is creative. Have both in formats which are easily printed, and that will not corrupt if you send it to a different IT system. A PDF is usually the best way, as the format is the same for all IT systems.

Project B: Tetrahedral Model

Objectified

When you se an object you make so many assumptions; How it looks, how it works, what it does, who made it and what it should cost. You have connections to products, and it makes you feel a certain way. Back in the days people made products themselves, such as arrows for war. When a fellow soldier died in battle, the other soldiers could not use his arrows for they own bow, because it simply did not fit. That was when standardizing of products began. Many products thereafter where standardized in order to fit all people. It is said that all products are designed, even if we do not think about it. Products from scissor handles to toothpicks are all designed to fit a need.

Good design is:

• Innovative
• Useful
• Aestetic
• Honest
• Unobtrusive 
• Long Lived
• Consistent in every detail
• AS LITTLE DESIGN AS POSSIBLE

Great design makes our everyday gadgets function better, really without people even thinking about it. Your doorknob, your toothbrush, and your water boiler - are all designed to fit a purpose. Most products are redesigned, often, in order to fit a new trend or even to create a trend. The redesign may simply be because of an idea of a better solution. So when the markets spit out new and improved products, even though we are perfectly satisfied with  or old ones, we go ahead and buy an upgraded edition. May it be a new phone, a new toilet brush or a new vacuum cleaner. It provides a promise of a better and easier way of living. But is this true? Nobody have died of holding on the the same phone for over a year! 

People show off through clothes, bags, interiors and cars. Cars are frozen in time, so the car designers have to undergo a massive process when designing the cars. The front of cars have always had a "face" - with front lights, a grill and a license plate. The back of the cars have now also evolved a "face", which means double opportunity for design. All designers must now take sustainability into consideration when designing products. This means redesigning every single object in a product, making every component of the product sustainable. So designers have to take into consideration the life of the product after we are done with it. 

"Every product tells a story, if you know how to read it" - Henry Ford

Japan

Project A:Creativity or Salesmanship

This project gave me the opportunity to be both a design manager and a client. My group consisted of me, Andrea Banovic and Maria Aaslund. I was Andrea’s design manager, and Maria’s client. Andrea is from Croatia, and Maria is from Norway. Being a design manager was a bit challenging, in the sense that it was tricky at times to get enough information. It was also not easy to imagine what results my client wanted, and as Andrea is from Croatia, we have very distinct backgrounds. It was difficult to understand the social and cultural context she is used to, as well as the business environment in her home country. Luckily enough I have been to Split, so I had some sort of feel of what the business world looks like, and how people behave. It is very different from Norway. It seems more relaxed, and not so rigid. I found it difficult to try and plant Andrea’s USP’s, personality and strategy into one simple business card. In order to get an idea of what my client represents we met up and the underneath questions where asked:

• What are the key components your teammate represents/offers? Her key components are management skills, leadership skills and marketing skills. She is also hard working and social.

• What is their current strategy? Her current strategy is to graduate from RBS this summer, then have one gap year where she is going to work back in Croatia. Then she is planning on taking a master’s degree in management, and then finally start working for her family business ANDA. ANDA is chain of eyeglass stores located in Croatia. The chain is the market leader, and has the most eyeglass stores in Split.

• Where would this graduate sit within the local and global market? She will sit in the local market of Split, Croatia. This is firstly because this is where she wants to live, and secondly because this is where ANDA is located.

• What other visual identities your teammate competing against? She is competing against other managers in the family business. She is lucky enough to have a guaranteed position in the business, when she graduates, but she must obtain and protect her position. There is also tough competition between the eyeglass chains, so Andrea must protect their market leader position again competitors.

• What are the USP’s and how can they be made visible to employers after graduation? Her USP’s are international experience and education, with management and leadership skills. As well as marketing skills, and social networks. (See Mindmap:USP)

The transfer to a market economy has increased competition in Split, so the competition among businesses is very tough. Split is the largest coastal city in Croatia, with 470 000 residents. In comparison to other European countries, Croatia is not a wealthy country, but Split is well off compared to the other Croatian cities. This builds a respectable market for businesses, and for employees wanting to work there. Andrea will be situated in this market, which is highly competitive, so it is vital to communicate her USP’s. ( See Mindmap:Split)


Andrea’s main USP’s are listed in the mindmap further down on this page. Since she is going back to her local market after graduating, her international experience and education will give her an advantage when entering the business world. She has also got leadership and management skills, which will benefit her when entering her family business. She has had previous experience as a seller in the ANDA stores, but as her goal is to climb higher in the business, and eventually become a manager and owner, she will benefit from these skills. Her marketing skills are highly applicable in all of the stores, and the social networks that she has gained through living abroad will enlarge her connections in different aspects of business across the world. Meaning that she has valuable connections to individuals in management, finance, marketing and design professions.     


When discussing the outcome of this design process, I had to make clear what she expected of me, and what she wanted to portray through her logo and business card. This process was challenging for me, as I have never used Photoshop, and have never been asked to design a business card before. First I had a look at competitor’s logos in order to get an overview what this business sector’s design appeared like. I started sketching on paper, and then I used Word for my first drafts, and finally used Photoshop on the final product. It took me quite some time to understand Photoshop, as it was completely new to me. Initially I made some sketches for her business card, and then we met again to discuss the alternatives. She was not too exited with the outcomes, as they did not properly reflect her as a businessperson. I understood that I needed to do some changes and started thinking in another direction. We focused the design of her business card on her future business position as a manager in ANDA, so that it would become clear what her profession was with one glance at her business card. She also wanted the business card to be simple, not too colourful, and not too feminine. The outcome was a simple layout, the front covered with a picture of a pair of glasses, with her initials inside the glass. The back of the card consisted of her address, phone numbers and e-mail address. My client was pleased with the result, and so was I. 

Business Card #2

Here is the business card that I designed for Andrea. It is simple, yet different and descriptive.

FRONT:

BACK:

Business cards #1

These are some of the examples of the first drafts I did on Andrea's business card. They where not the one we went for, due to the fact that they were simply a bit boring, and my client was not satisfied.

HELVETICA

We get different responses to different typefaces, and the western world has been united behind the so-called ultimate typeface for several decades; The Helvetica font. The Helvetica font was developed by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger in 1957, then called 'Neue Haas Grotesk'. 'Grotesk' was not an acceptable name, as it did not work internationally, so that is the reason behind the name change some years later. Helvetica is a part of a font family called scalable fonts. A scalable font is a font that can be resized, either smaller or larger, without being distorted. Miedinger accomplished this task by making each element of the font a mathematical formula. This made it easy for people to make their font bold, italicize, resize or even change color of the font without having to refer to another character on the computer. In 1960 the typeface's name was changed to Helvetica (the Latin name for Swiss)

The Helvetica font is the most popular font, because it is considered fresh, clean and neutral. The design of Helvetica is all about the space between and in the characters. The space between the characters are tight and holds the characters together. A Helvetica font on either a logo or a slogan represents a transparent, accountable and acceptable image. Which is what many businesses strive for. Some people are even saying that Helvetica is the badge of the modern society. It has got the perfect balance of push and pull, which indicates that everything will work out. Even though so many people are mega fans of this font, there are some people who argue that the font is creating standardization and pushing globalization. You see Helvetica everywhere, all the time. Businesses, people, organizations and governments are all pushing their information out in the world with help from Helvetica. What a global monster! Designers say Helvetica is simply unfixable - How can you fix something that is perfect?

“I’m obviously a typomaniac - which is an incurable if not mortal disease.” 

-Erik Spiekermann

Well-known brands that have used Helvetica as their font.

MindMap:Croatia