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Challenge: As a personal project, I set out to explore how I could modernize the visual identity of Atlantic Records, a brand with a rich history in the music industry. The challenge I undertook was to refresh the brand’s visual identity in a way that would make it more relevant and appealing to today’s audience while maintaining the integrity of its legacy.
Solution: I began by redesigning the Atlantic Records logo, giving it a contemporary update that paid homage to its historical roots. From there, I developed brand guidelines that would serve as the foundation for this new identity. These guidelines were designed to ensure that all future brand assets, including a mobile app, advertising campaigns, and other materials, would follow a cohesive and modern visual direction.
Outcome: While this was an independent concept and not part of an official rebrand, the project allowed me to explore and demonstrate my ability to modernize and refresh a well-known brand. The redesigned logo and brand guidelines I created showcased how Atlantic Records could evolve its identity to remain impactful and relevant in a changing market.
To inform the redesign, I conducted in-depth interviews the target audience. Insights gathered included user preferences, pain points, and desired features. Understanding their motivations and expectations was crucial to aligning the redesign with user needs.
The primary goal of this interview was to determine the users comfort levels and experiences using e-commerce websites.
In the interviews, I asked demographic and informational questions that would allow me the gauge the user’s experiences. These questions would help me identify their goals and pain points seen in their real life experiences.
● I asked questions about their age, Occupation, educational background, & working status.
● Additionally, I asked questions about what their typical day consists of.
● Comfort level with tech? Devices Used?
● What apps/sites do you use typically?
● How do you typically buy clothing?
● If online, where do you buy clothing?
● Why do you buy clothing online?
● Are there any issues with shopping?
● If there are, how could these issues be solved?
● How did you come up with any solutions?
● Which websites, if any, gave you the best experiences?
● What were some of the good experiences?
● If not mentioned, Was this website easy to navigate?
● Which websites, if any, gave you the worst experience?
● What were some of the bad experiences?
● Can you describe the experience?
● If not mentioned, Was this website easy to navigate?
These interviews helped me gather information on what users like, how they behave, and what problems they face when using ecommerce websites. I used the information I gathered from the interviews to create a user persona that represents my target user. Creating a user persona allows me to understand target users betters and make design decisions that cater to their specific needs and preferences.
The website’s home page, search section, and product page cause experience issues for the users. On the website, users must go through a lot of unnecessary steps to see product info, and there are many unorthodox sections throughout the website. Therefore, I chose to focus on improving these 3 elements based on these questions.
As the current site has an unorthodox home page, how can I make the home be more familiar for users compared to other sites, while maintaining a unique experience?
How can I allow users to see everything they’re searching for more efficiently?
How can I streamline the process of choosing sizes and seeing all of the available product info quicker?
I created wireframes to map out the websites content, features, and functionality.
For the logo redesign, I aimed to pay homage to the early elements of the Atlantic Records brand while giving it a modern fee;. The logo prominently features the letters A and R, representing Atlantic Records. Between these letters, there's a silhouette of a vinyl record, recalling back to the label's historical roots when vinyl records were a defining medium. It's worth noting that vinyl records have experienced a resurgence in popularity in today's music scene, adding a contemporary touch to the logo.
The design of the logo intentionally draws inspiration from the aesthetic often associated with jazz, as Atlantic Records originally made its mark in the world of jazz music during its early years. This fusion of historical and modern elements results in a logo that not only honors the label's legacy but also resonates with today's music landscape.
The primary color palette centered around Indigo Blue and Chardonnay. To complement these colors, I incorporated secondary colors that were variations of my primary choices along with the inclusion of Brick Red. This palette was designed to provide flexibility and create contrast when necessary.
The selection of Indigo Blue as the predominant color stemmed from Atlantic's historical ties to New York, both in its founding and current location. Blue is a color often intertwined with the identity of New York City, making it a fitting choice for the branding.
The mobile app functions as a comprehensive hub for all things related to Atlantic Records. The app's design strategy focuses on consistently showcasing the brand's new identity This ensures that the app not only aligns with the rebranded visual elements but also reinforces and propagates them. Features of the app included:
Streaming Service: Users can access and enjoy music from all of Atlantic Records' catalog.
Artist Updates: The app keeps users in the loop with timely updates about their favorite artists to strengthen the relationship between fans and artists.
Merch Shop: Fans have the opportunity to purchase merchandise from their favorite artists, extending each artist's brand reach beyond music.
The advertising campaign centers around Atlantic Records' success in the music industry. Achieving Gold certification from the RIAA is a coveted goal for many artists, and Atlantic Records boasts numerous artists who've attained this status. To capture this achievement, I used the slogan "HOME OF GOLD," to be the slogan of the campaign.
For my initial promotion, I recreated my designs in Cinema 4D to showcase the reversibility of the designs in a unique & engaging way. This video garnered more than double the views of my previous videos, allowing for a larger audience to see my product before launching.
For this colorway's campaign, I wanted to use photography to simultaneously showcase both sides of the beanie in a creative way. The final concept I landed on was using a mirror to capture a model's reflection with blue skies surrounding her, and then using Photoshop to show the reversed colorway. After landing on a final composition, I made a static advertisement for the release.
Along with the advertisement, I directed product shots to showcase the beanie in more variations. Firstly, I directed shots on both genders with both sides visible to ensure the audience knew that the product was unisex. Secondly, I took standalone shots of the product on concrete to evoke the urban aesthetic that I was promoting. And finally, I took more standalone product shots with a pure white background that would be used for website purposes only.
Rather than photography, this colorway's campaign was focused on 3D imagery. I wanted to catch my audience's eye immediately with bold, vibrant colors, and hive-mind-styled compositions.
With this colorway's campaign, I introduced a video promotion and a cartoon-styled 3D advertisement. Also showcased here is the tech pack that I used with my manufacturer and the website's home page for this release.
