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.