Kalaivanar is a non profit dedicated to uplifting artists of all mediums and backgrounds. Without a proper website or branding, many artist venues have declined their sponsorship due to a lack of credibility. The founders approached me seekiing
Problem Space
Key Issues
For the initial launch of the brand, we will focus on two key problems in the current brand.
Lack of cohesive brand image
The foundation has no logo or cohesive branding, making their marketing materials appear disjointed.
Since the foundation collaborates with artists/venues, their branding should look cohesive even across materials created by a third party design team.
Non functioning website
Several venues have turned down the foundations sponsorship due to a lack of a credible website.
Create a brand image/website that is welcoming, easy to use, and serves as a credible resume
Defining user groups
In order to create an effective brand image and website, we need a clear understanding of the user groups and their values/motivations.
1
Audience members looking to attend events
The primary users of the website will be audience members who are seeking tofind information or ticket sales about upcoming shows. They value easy to access events and digestible information, upcoming events should be showcased front and center and easily searchable.
2
Artists/Venues looking to work together
The secondary users of this website will be artists or venues that are looking to work with the foundation. For this user group, they want to see a reputable track record of past collaborations, including testimonials from other artists.
Branding
It starts with some brainstorming...
I created three distinct stylescapes to present. Ultimately, the client ended up resonating most with the first one but wanted to include grain textures from the second as well!
Stylescape #1
Discipline
Soft, Clean, Professional
Attributes
Gradients, abstract shapes
Font Suggestions
Blocky Script Font Paired with San Serif, Minimal, Thin
Stylescape #2
Discipline
Retro
Attributes
Texture, hand drawn illustrations/icons
Font Suggestions
Script fonts, hand drawn feel
Stylescape #1
Discipline
Playful, youthful, dreamy
Attributes
Soft shapes, pastels, bold font
Font Suggestions
Thick, round edges
Creating a custom font
For this project, I decided to create a custom font which was clean and legible. Choosing a custom font allows me to incorporate dots or "Kolam", an artistic expression from the foundations Indian Heritage.
Initial Hand Sketch
Final iteration
And then some sketching
After establishing a style and primary font, I can begin to brainstorm and sketch some potential logos and brand assets.
Making the brand universal
Since the foundations logo will often be used by third party design teams on event marketing materials, its important that its style and color scheme is simplistic and remains cohesive.
Initial Logos(s)
Iteration
Branding Sheet
Based on client feedback, we narrowed in on some finalized branding guidelines!
Website
Outlining the site
Given the main goals and user groups of the website I created some midfi mockups of the layout, making sure to account for user goals and motivations.
Home Page
Goals
Introduce the foundations mission statement, serve as an easily glanceable resume including past events and tesimonials.
Key design decisions
Minimalistic layout, focusing on the events and company mission.
Explore Programs
Goals
Easily skim through hundreds of events with ease. Find relevant events and buy tickets in a matter of minutes!
Key design decisions
Sorting cards by both desciription and filterable tags.
About Us
Goals
The two key goal of this page is to provide a history of the foundation and its work, the secondary goal is to provide a history of the name Kalaivanar, and it's connection to the founders familial history.
Key design decisions
In order to align with the motivations of our key user groups, we prioritize the history of the foundation and its work and the primary purpose of this page
Introducing...
Kalaivanar Foundation
The kalaivanar landing page is easy to navigate, providing an overview of their services and the foundations main goals.
Explore Programs
The explore page serves as an easy to access database of all past and present events hosted by the foundation.
About Us
The about page gives a holistic overview of the history of the foundation and their work.
Public Launch
The site is live at Kalaivanar.org
Creating a brand identity and public facing site has already increased the foundations acceptance rate among collaborating artists and venues, proving as a reliable and credible representation of their work.
Reflection
Further refining the brand
In order to maintain cohesiveness across designs I will further refine the brand guidelines and design system to reflect attributes like grid spacing, button types, etc.
User testing the website
In the coming months, we seek to gather user insight about the intuitiveness and ease of use of the site. We will rely on both qualitative and quantitative methods of testing like task-based usability testing, focus groups, and mouse-tracking. I will also work to better align the website with the design system.
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