Solving Problems

SOLVING PROBLEMS

The Problem

With this thesis project, the problem was that the Las Vegas Enforcers needed to revive the sport as the previous team failed due to low attendance and the downward trend of the economy. They needed to rebrand the team with a new spirit and appeal while still focusing on the strong connection and their commitment to local communities.

The Solution

Starting from the beginning of this thesis project, an Onlyness statement needed to be created for the brand that would serve as a guide for all future design decisions. Using the included brand profile as a guide, the original Onlyness statement written below was created. The first iteration of this Onlyness statement had a very good foundation in terms of the brand and its specific location. The problem with this Onlyness statement was the lack of connection between the benefits, target audience, and features.

Original Onlyness Statement

The Las Vegas Enforcers are the only ECHL team in the Las Vegas area that provide a new sense of joy and appeal in the post-Covid era. These benefits are provided to working-class people, young professionals, and suburban families through connecting with local communities and giving back to supporting communities while still making the prices affordable for everyone.

Updated Statement & Explanation

The Las Vegas Enforcers are the only ECHL team in the Las Vegas area that provide philanthropy to active working adults and suburban families through affordable pricing for everyone, community focused events during games, and making meaningful contributions to their supporters.

The updated Onlyness statement presented above fits more in line with the direction of the design problem trying to be solved. The benefits, target audience, and features were all adjusted to fit the solution of the design problem. While this was a large step in the right direction, some wording was still off. The use of philanthropy

and affordable pricing made this event seem more like a charity/donation event and less like a hockey game. While philanthropy was the correct word for this statement, some words still needed to be reworked to fit the brand better.

Final Statement & Explanation

The Las Vegas Enforcers are the only ECHL team in the Las Vegas area that provide philanthropic acts to active working adults and suburban families through fair pricing, community focused events during games, and making meaningful contributions to their supporters.

This final Onlyness statement was the true showcase of the brand’s vision that would also guide future design decisions. While still being a form of entertainment, the Enforcers also want to be an integral part of local communities in the form of giveaways, making prices reasonable for all members of the target audience, and community focused events during their games. They also wanted to be the only ECHL team in the Las Vegas area that can provide all these features and benefits to their target audience.

This Onlyness statement needed to show that the Enforcers were unique in their league of hockey. In another article on Onlyness statements, Davies (2020) states that brands need to be different for the right reasons. They need to be the only ones that can do what they do (Davies, 2020). Using this research, the Onlyness statement for the Las Vegas Enforcers fits in line with the brand’s vision for all future designs while also conveying the brand’s goals of being both entertaining and supporting of local communities.

Voice & Tone

When working on the voice & tone, it was clear that the brand needed to be presented as both entertaining and willing to help the community any way that they can. When thinking of a theme, the name Enforcers helped to think of ideas. An Enforcer could mean multiple things. It can be someone who protects, someone who is aggressive, or even someone who enforces laws such as police.

While these things are true, none of these fit the brand of the Las Vegas Enforcers. The Enforcers needed a theme that would represent the ideas of entertaining fans, helping the team win, and supporting the local communities. With these things in mind, the theme of heroes was chosen as this theme fit the brand and the brand’s message.

Look & Feel

Next was the look & feel of the brand. This part of the project included typographic elements, imagery, color palette, lines, shapes, textures, and patterns. Finding typographic choices for the brand was a tough task as it is crucial to find fonts that match the message and personality of the brand. The headings, subheadings, and body copy were all tested using multiple fonts until the final fonts were found.

The final fonts of Tisa Sans Pro Bold, Tisa Sans Pro Regular, and Rustica Light were all chosen due to their professional look and legibility. It is also important to choose fonts based on the brand’s values (Pack, 2021). Since this brand is a hockey team, the fonts don’t need to be over the top or unique. The target audience of this brand will only want to read important information such as team updates and news, so making it as easy for them to read as possible was a top priority.

Regarding the color palette, the main problem faced was that of trying to match the brand’s energy, message, and theme. Once research was done to see what colors could be used, it was time to create a color palette for the brand. The main colors of dark blue and orange were chosen due to their emotional properties and what they evoke from the target audience. Dark blue can be viewed

as a color of trust that suggests loyalty, security, and dependability (Braam, 2021). Orange was chosen as this color emanates the energy of the team as well as making the audience feel the excitement of a sport such as hockey. These colors fit very well with the design direction thus far and matched all necessary points of the brand such as the message and theme.

For the lines, shapes, textures, and patterns, it was again important to keep the brand message and theme consistent. While there are multiple types of lines, diagonal and vertical were used due to what each represents in the field of design. For this brand, it is all about showing both the excitement of hockey alongside the protection, stability, and philanthropic nature of the team.

While diagonal lines represent the energy of hockey, the vertical lines represent the stability and strength of the team (Bradley, 2010). These descriptions made it clear that these lines would be perfect to use for this brand. Many shapes can be associated with hockey, but the main shape used in this brand was that of a shield. Pettengill (2013) says that brands will use a shield to imply strength, protection, or confidence.

This helps to show how the problem of representing the brand was solved using the shield shape. This shape also solved the problem of showcasing the more caring and loyal side of the team as this was another important brand message that needed to get across to the audience. The helmet shape came into play as this shape was used to represent the name Enforcers. This solved the problem of trying to give the team name an image that people would be able to see once they heard the name Enforcers.

While multiple helmets were research, the spartan style helmet was chosen to harken back once again on that idea of strength, trust, and loyalty (Nicola, 2018). The textures and patterns that were chosen added to the brand personality using common textures and pattern someone might see while attending a hockey game. Textures & patterns such as jerseys, netting, or even ice marks were used to add immersion and interactivity to the brand look & feel.

Imagery was also included in the look & feel of the brand. As imagery can be used in multiple ways such as advertisements or descriptions of ideas and emotions, it was important to choose the right imagery for the Enforcers. It is also important to align imagery with brand persona and the target audience (Fulmer, 2021). The imagery needed to convey the brand message of attending an exhilarating sport even as well as connecting with

local communities. The imagery solves this problem by conveying both messages throughout the images chosen. While some images showcase the excitement and exhilarating atmosphere of hockey, other images showcase the support of the team and the potential for the team to be something like role models for future generations.

Original Vision Board

The creation of the vision board was all previous elements showcased on one artboard. When creating this vision board, it was important to showcase all the information gathered and designs created thus far in a way that conveyed the appropriate message and personality of the brand. While the original vision board had promising elements that were connected to the

Enforcers brand, there were a few errors. The Onlyness statement was still not fully formed at this original design, the imagery was not representing the brand properly, and some of the shapes, lines, and patterns could be misinterpreted by the viewer.

Vision Board Refinement

The refined vision board was more focused on the brand of the Las Vegas Enforcers. The images were fixed, the lines were changed, and shapes were excluded due to the lack of relevance to the Onlyness statement and brand identity that was being created. While these refinements were steps in the right direction, the

vision board itself still felt unorganized and cluttered. The necessary design elements were present, but everything needed to be more professionally put together to make the brand match the look & feel and voice & tone.

Final Vision Board

The final vision board showcases all these elements in a more professional and connected way to the Las Vegas Enforcers brand. Vision boards help to layout inspiration for which messages and feelings the brand is trying to evoke (Why vision boards, 2019). This statement is important as it is the reasoning behind all the design decisions when creating this vision board. From conception to the final vision board, it was vital to convey the appropriate feelings

and messages from the Enforcers brand to the target audience. Creating a vision board that connects to the client, stakeholders, and target audience is the main goal and the biggest challenge. This final vision board meets and exceeds all these challenges by showcasing the brand and what it is trying to convey to the audience.

Logo Concepts

As mentioned in the main design problem, the logo now comes into play as the Enforcers need a unique and recognizable brand mark to increase audience appeal. The first step in this logo process was finding the best ideas that correlated with the brand

identity and then sketching multiple versions of each idea. While these logo concepts were nowhere near the final design, this process helped to narrow down the best possible ideas and expand upon those sketches.

First Refinement

The first sketch refinement involved more detailed sketches of the top six design ideas for the logo. These refined sketches helped to show which design idea was the strongest in terms of matching the brand message, theme, values, etc. While some designs in this refinement stage did not fit the brand, it was important to refine

these sketches anyway as changes can help to make the logo match the brand more closely. Once the refined sketches were reviewed, it was time to create rough vector logo of the three best ideas.

Second Refinement

The top three design ideas were then taken into a digital workspace to further refine such as adding color and creating rough vectors. One main problem at this stage was trying to showcase the sketch onto a digital platform. No matter how well the sketch is done, it can be hard to convey the same message once digital elements are created. After this was completed, the two best logos were chosen and fully detailed in both black and white and color.

Final Logo

The final logo was chosen out of the best two ideas and finishing touches were added to any specific areas that may have needed slight reworking. One attribute that can go the furthest in improving the success of a logo is simplicity (Hardy, 2011). While being simple, the logo should also be distinct and stand out from brands in a similar category (Pomerlau, 2019). With this research, it was clear that the final logo was both simple while also being

unique in its category. Besides these elements, the logo also stays in line with the brand identity and acts as an extension of the brand. The logo should never feel separate or different from the brand itself. These two must be tied together, and the created Enforcers logo achieves this by conveying all necessary elements of the Enforcer brand.

Style Guide

The style guide was the culmination of the voice & tone, look & feel, and logo design all in one place. This style guide was necessary as it helps to ensure a continuous brand experience (Davis, 2013).

For this guide, there were new additions to the logo involving logo specifications, logo use, logo clear space, and logo sizing. Research was done to find requirements such as advertisement sizing and average clear space dimensions. The logo use section had some problems as this required testing in some cases to see what background may work with the logo or how much of the logo can be separated before it is unidentifiable. Adding in this section of the

style guide is necessary as it tell designers and other professionals who will use this information specific cases on things such as how to size the logo, what colors are necessary for the logo, what should NOT be done to the logo, etc. this style guide also helps to bring consistency to the brand as it showcases all design elements and how they connect to each other so far in this project.

Media Assets - Sketches

The next part of the project, and the most design heavy, was the creation of the appropriate media assets for the brand. This started by choosing the six media assets that would be designed throughout the month. Once these assets were chosen, sketches were created to showcase the rough ideas on how these assets would be created and how they would connect to the brand. The best sketches for each asset were then used as a reference when making the actual media assets for the work each week.

First Letterhead Design

The first media asset created was the letterhead. This media asset had a few challenges as the letterhead needed to be both representative of the brand while also being more professional than other media assets. While the first letterhead design was already close to being a great representation of the brand, some design elements needed to be reworked. The orange edges

needed to be removed as the variation in printing machines could ruin the perfect width design that was made for all sides of the business cards and letterhead. Other elements such as the shield design on the letter needed to be resized to not take up as much room as it currently was using.

Final Letterhead Design

The key to letterhead designs is simplicity (Boyd, 2019). This was a major factor in making sure that the letterhead design was simple yet effective to the audience that would receive it. The final letterhead design used simple graphic elements and the chosen brand font to create a professional yet brand appropriate letterhead design.

Jersey Design

The jersey design was different than other merchandise as a jersey is the main source of advertisement for the brand. The team wears it, the jersey is in almost every ad, and fans can wear them to games and around town. This was noted while designing as the jersey was created to standout and feel like a refreshing design in the world of hockey merchandise.

This jersey was made to be recognizable immediately while also displaying the full location and name of the team. The shield was resized to take up the entire middle of the jersey and represent the fact that anyone who wears the jersey is part of the Enforcers brand. The jersey sleeves were designed with waving lines to represent the energy and flow of hockey and skating. The popularity of jersey has risen in the last several years due to fan

culture (Berglund, 2020). Now more than ever, fans want to feel immersed and part of the team. This jersey was designed to give fans an opportunity to really feel like they belong with this team and with this brand. This jersey design solves the problem of being just another sports team with a jersey for sale. This jersey was created to be unique while still holding the brand’s values and message in its design.

Social Media Assets

Social media is the number one marketing tool for the future (Hills, 2020). It’s important to solve the problem with social media designs. They need to be relevant to the brand, engaging to the target audience, and informative. As consistency is also a major factor in design, it was important to keep a consistent feel throughout all social media platforms.

Some designs were reused for each platform as this made it easier to recognize whose social media page someone was on. The designs also incorporated a giveaway as this is in line with the brand’s message of not only being entertaining but also the fact that they want to give back and support the local communities and fans as much as possible. These social media design showcase the brand being able to reach their fans through multiple ways, not

just around the area or in the stadium. They also help solve the larger problem of the brand trying to show both the entertainment side and the philanthropic side as this was the main problem that needed to be solved. Creating a consistent online identity in the form of social media assets also helps to establish the brand and make it more recognizable while also ensuring future engagement of the brand online.

Swag Assets

Merchandise is a great way to build a relationship between fans and players (Merchandising for sport, 2021). The swag assets aim to solve the problem of making the brand and the fans more connected. This was solved by creating multiple pieces of merchandise such as a t-shirt, a hat, and even a canvas bag.

The t-shirt was design as a simplified version of the jersey. It incorporated a new striped chevron graphic that took the solid chevron of the jersey and made it much softer. The hat was also designed using this new chevron graphic. Different version of the

t-shirt and hat were designed as well since more options can equal more happy fans. The canvas bag took the helmet of the logo and

turned it into a shield pattern. This new pattern made the bag standout while still being relevant and recognizable to the brand. These designs were created for the simple fact that fans want to engage with their favorite teams. Creating swag assets gives the fans more opportunities to show their team spirit while also supporting the brand.

Logo Animation

The logo animation was next in the asset production list. A logo animation can uplift brand personality, accent the brand’s story, and even increase brand awareness (Dillon, 2020). Creating a logo animation that is entertaining and engaging was the main goal for this asset design.

This animation took many hours, so working through all the speedbumps such as the ice effects or cracking sounds was the hardest part of this asset. This logo animation shows the Enforcers logo being overrun with ice and then destroying the ice through a fast shrinking and enlarging effect. This animation represents the idea that no matter what obstacles stand in the way of the Enforcers, they will do what they can to win the game. I can also

represent the idea of helping the community in any way possible, even if it’s not easy. The logo animation can also be used to spread brand awareness as this animation could be seen in an ad, outside the stadium, or even on tv during a game. This animation gives the brand a simple and engaging animation that can also increase brand awareness while staying consistent with the brand identity.

Looping Animation

When creating the looping animation, it was important to keep this consistent message that has been followed since the Onlyness statement. Looping animations, or GIFs, are easy to consume, appealing, and effective (Lista, 2016). GIFs can also easily capture attention and allow users to engage spontaneously or through creative campaigns (Maisch, 2016).

It was clear that the looping animation needed to capture audience attention, be interactive, and be engaging while also representing the brand. The created design for this animation showcases the possibility of the team revealing a jersey to the fans and the world. This simple animation outlines the jersey with fire as it gets ready to show the big reveal. The anticipation builds until the jersey is fully outlined and the “lights” turn on to reveal the new team jersey.

The jersey then starts to undo the outline and the lights turn off hiding the jersey away until the animation loops again. This entire animation gives the fans an interactive and fun looping animation that not only gives information on the new jersey but also represents the energy and atmosphere of the Enforcers. This animation was created to be appealing and engaging while also adding to the brand personality.

Brand Playbook

The final piece of design for this project was creating a brand playbook. This brand playbook needed to showcase the brand story, design elements, and media assets all in one place. This brand playbook also needed to tell the entire compelling brand story of the Las Vegas Enforcers from conception to the final media assets.

First Playbook Design

The first design of the brand playbook was created to exclusively layout all digital content. Placeholder text was also used at this stage to show the future placement of brand voice & tone elements. At this stage the main issue was finding proper placement and order for the brand playbook as the order should be brand story, design elements such as color palette, fonts, logo, etc, and finally media assets.

Playbook Refinement

When refining the playbook for the first time, it was finally time to add all voice and tone elements along with making any necessary changes to the look & feel of the playbook. This refinement also involved the use of weekly assessments to see the progress being made and if the designs were ahead or behind schedule. The problem being solved with the refinement was also to make sure that all text was legible while still being informative and telling the story of the brand through both words and visuals.

Final Playbook

The final refinement involved any last-minute changes to things such as wording, visual placements, legibility, and adding last minute touches such as drop shadows and appropriate backgrounds. If any brand wants to be effective, it needs to be consistent and eliminate confusion (Barnett, 2018). This band playbook was designed to showcase the consistency in brand development from conception to final media assets. The brand

story, design elements, and media assets are all laid out and easy to understand. This eliminates any possible confusion when someone is viewing the playbook and gives the reader a clear understanding of each section. This brand playbook brings all previous elements together to tell the whole story and showcase the entire brand identity of the Las Vegas Enforcers.

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