SOLVING PROBLEMS
As previously stated, the client is not necessarily the problem or challenge; instead, clients present conflicts to designers in search of solutions. For the Las Vegas Enforcers, the problem was creating brand awareness for a new brand that will grab the attention of fans in the community. Additionally, the client chose to revive an organization that did not have true affiliation with the local communities that were in search of a break from their regular routine. Research led to the differentiating factors of the Las Vegas Enforcers and aided in the development of the only-ness statement and theme for the organization. The question then became: How does one use the research to create a brand for a new organization that will engage and build trust with fans?
Creating the Brand Voice & Tone
Brand voice can be interchanged with the phrase brand personality. A brand’s personality is its appeal to its consumers that aligns with the brand’s core message, values, and goals. Creating a brand voice or brand personality is beneficial for the brand-consumer relationship. Brand voice allows the consumer to view a brand as a like-minded peer, trusted advisor, or source of inspiration (Gray, 2013). The decision was made to shape the voice of the Las Vegas Enforcers after the hero archetype.
Brand Archetype: HERO
The hero archetype often presents itself in the form of a leader and can usually be seen manifested in athletes, political figures, and branches of the military (Fox,2023).
It is frequently represented in companies that possess strong social obligations.
At its core, the Las Vegas Enforcers exist to help people and provide guidance on how to develop strength and discipline.
Brand tone is the use of emotions to tell a brands story. Brand tone uses emotions to connect to the consumer on a human emotional level. Tones of brands, like humans, may be serious, comical, inspirational, and everything in between to relay a message to audiences. The Las Vegas Enforcers should use a voice that inspires and motivates, reflecting their commitment to EXCELLENCE!
Good marketing should always begin and end with the consumer (Joseph, 2010). The Las Vegas Enforcers’ brand aims to inspire its community by using its aspirational tone to move the audience. In most cases, the brand tone is often confused for the brand voice which can be a drawback, especially for a new brand. To combat this issue a voice-and-tone style guide was created. And by using the voice-and-tone style guide by Busche (2017), solutions of communication concerns for the brand became clear to define. These questions included:
• How does the Las Vegas Enforcers’ voice come through in the area on which it is working?
• How does the brand speak to a subset of its audience. How can one describe it?
• What channels are the brand using to reach out to that audience?
To create and refine voice and tones of Las Vegas Enforcers, the is/isn’t chart was created to determine how the brand should communicate via different media platforms. The is/isn’t model aided in creating the brand voice by listing verbs that are consistent with the theme and research conducted of the organization, market, and target audience.
The is/isn't list was used to guide the creation of the Las Vegas Enforcers' positioning statement (origin story) that is written in an appropriate voice for the brand and sets the tone for future copywriting.
Positioning Statement
In a city known for its vices, the Las Vegas Enforcers aim to change the narrative of what action is in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is composed of a group of bold, gritty, and fearless men that face off against the dishonest teams of the ECHL. By embodying the winning spirit of its community, the Las Vegas Enforcers emerge as glacial heroes. Las Vegas Enforcers will turn any situation into an opportunity for victory and invite you to join the team by becoming a part of something larger than yourself.
Tagline
Taglines are important because they can gain consumers' attention, differentiate a brand from its competitors, reinforce a brand's core values, and encourage action. A good tagline is memorable and catchy, and it can help to cut through the noise of advertising and marketing. A well-crafted tagline can help to position a brand in a unique way, and it can make it stand out from the competition. A tagline can be a powerful way to communicate a brand's values to consumers, and it can also help to create a sense of identity and belonging for customers. Finally, a tagline can be used to motivate consumers to take action, such as buying a product, visiting a website, or signing up for a service.
The article "Wag the Tagline" by Swartz (2022) helped create the Las Vegas Enforcers tagline in a few ways.
Tagline line option 3 was determined to be the strongest and most memorable option. By removing the pronoun, the tagline “Bring the BOOM!” was born.
First, the article emphasizes the importance of taglines being short and memorable. The tagline "Bring the Boom" is only three words long, and it is easy to remember. This makes it more likely that fans will remember the tagline and associate it with the team.
Secondly, the article stresses the importance of taglines being relevant to the brand. The Las Vegas Enforcers are a professional indoor football team, and their tagline "Bring the Boom" is a reference to the physical and aggressive nature of the sport. This makes the tagline more meaningful to fans and helps to create a sense of excitement around the team and is the best solution for the Las Vegas Enforcers' brand identity and consumer engagement.
Creating Brand Look & Feel
The look and feel of a brand are more than just its visual appearance. It's also about the emotions and associations that it evokes in its target audience. When developing the look and feel of a new brand, it's important to consider all these factors before moving forward with any design work.
In the case of the Las Vegas Enforcers hockey team, the desired look and feel had to reflect the city's tough and gritty reputation while remaining true to the theme. This could be achieved using strong lines, bold shapes, and rough textures found in comic books. The color palette should also be something that feels powerful and championing.
Las Vegas Enforcers Look & Feel
Las Vegas Enforcers Look & Feel
Las Vegas Enforcers Look & Feel Rationale
The imagery used in the brand's design should also be carefully considered. Images of tough-looking players or even enthusiastic fans could be used to reflect the Las Vegas Enforcers’ image. The color palette of the Las Vegas Enforcers reflect the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign and was narrowed down to fit the needs of its heroic theme. The typography should also be something that feels strong and confident. A sans serif font with sharp edges were chosen.
By taking the time to get the look and feel right, creating visual graphics became easier to move the Las Vegas Enforcers into a brand that will resonate with its fans and help it to stand out from the competition.
Las Vegas Enforcers Vision Board
Logo Development
The logo development process for the Las Vegas Enforcers began by observing the voice/tone and theme of the organization. By immersing in relevant material associated with the brand, such as watching live NHL hockey games (Dallas Stars) and highlights presented by ESPN the designer was able to gain insight into why many consider the sport entertaining and thrilling. This time of immersion is also called preparation, which is in line with Baldowski (2023) who recommends surrounding oneself with material associated with the brand.
Research
During the research, notes of team logos of both NHL and the ECHL. What was observed is that over one third of NHL teams represented themselves as letter-based icons, while ECHL teams were more likely to incorporate wordmarks and mascots in their logos compared to NHL teams. This observation is consistent with their initial observation that teams of the ECHL are graphical logos incorporating wordmarks and mascots in their logos compared to NHL, as well as with the research of other logo designers (Iakovlev, 2023).
Airey (2014) posits that viewers typically have only one to two seconds to view a logo, making clarity and simplicity major factors when creating a logo for a new brand. Examples of this can be seen daily with brand examples like Nintendo, Subway, and FedEx. By recognizing this, the design decision to create a word-mark was the ideal way to create brand awareness for the Las Vegas Enforcers as its primary logo.
Initial Sketches
Thirty-one logo designs were developed, with the first twelve designed to be wordmarks for the Las Vegas Enforcers. Some designs were inspired by NHL teams and others inspired by comic book titles. Designs 13 to 23 were based on shapes and emblems, with the most common shape used being the quadrilateral as squares and rectangles are the most common shapes in graphic design projects due to their everyday usage in items such as street signs, shops signs, books, etc. (Iakovlev, 2023). Designs 24, 27, 29, 30, and 31 were meant to be icons of the Las Vegas Enforcers, inspired by the game of hockey, the fauna of Nevada, and the tagline of the organization.
To test the memorable factor of the designs, a group of participants were chosen to view the sketches. Each participant was given forty-five seconds to review all designs, before they were snatched away from viewing. Lastly, the participants were given a few seconds to draw the most memorable designs they saw.
Refining Sketches
Logo design is a complex process that involves careful consideration of various elements such as shape, color, typography, and symbolism (Airey, 2014). In addition to shape psychology, designers also consider the psychology of color when creating logos (Blakemore, 2020) as people often hold certain biases or cultural feelings towards certain colors. By completing the logo options in black and white, distractions of color were avoided to focus on the form and ideas that the designs conveyed. Also, this knowledge was used to refine logo options that would best represent the Las Vegas Enforcers brand and identity.
Logo option #1 was designed to create a visual identity that emphasizes the name of the team. It functions as a wordmark that communicates boldness through typographic hierarchy and represents itself as a beveled comic book title, reminiscent of classic Godzilla comic book titles.
Logo option #2 aimed to create a word-mark that creates visual movement. It uses diagonal text to suggest momentum and dynamism, connecting to the theme of comic books by conveying the movement of a comic book "explosion" or "smack".
Logo option #3 was designed to represent the Las Vegas Enforcers as an ice hockey team. It features a badge created using two ice hockey sticks that enclose the name of the team. The rectangular shape of the badge is common in graphic design projects and is seen every day in street signs, shop signs, or sheets of paper (Iakovlev, 2023). The design relates to the audience of the Las Vegas Enforcers as it resembles the name badge of a blue-collar worker.
Logo option #4 was created to recreate the onomatopoeia "Boom" and complement the theme of comic book superheroes. It uses abstract shapes that have figurative meaning and represent an explosion and the mountains of Nevada. The name of the team is well-defined within the design by being placed inside the abstract shape of an explosion.
Logo option #5 personifies the tagline "Bring the BOOM!" by representing an aerial bomb of World War II. The painted menacing face on the bomb communicates that the Las Vegas Enforcers is a fierce and explosive team that is ready to strike.
Logo option #6 was inspired by the native fauna of Nevada, the desert big-horned sheep, and was designed to show the competitive aggressiveness of the Las Vegas Enforcers. The silhouette of the desert big-horned sheep gestures the movement of a jumping ram in mid-battle, symbolizing the team's aggressiveness and fierceness.
Logo Vectors
Each of the six concepts were vectorized in illustrator in black and white in order to focus on form and shape, further refined, and then colorized. Concepts such as the Golden Ratio, Of the six concepts only two were chosen after experimentation and refinements.
Concept 1: This concept placed emphasis on the “Enforcers” yet lacked action and excitement.
Concept 3: This concept contained proximity issues and the geographic information became lost at small scale.
Concept 4: After review, the design contained overlapping issues and did not convey the “boom” effect. It resembled more of a rip in a page. Additionally, the rectangular container did not match the abstract influence of the multi-edge bubbles.
Concept 6: Concept six proved to be a strong candidate for iconography, yet at a quick glance viewers confused the concept with the Red Bull brand.
Final Logos
Lidwell (2017) states that an effective logo will create an emotional response in viewers and the chosen designs were based on stimuli response of basic shapes and typeface that align with the brand of the Las Vegas Enforcers. Each design contains a significant amount of angular shapes that signals dominance, authority, and action.
The primary logo (1) is the word-mark; It should be used in most cases for brand recognition.The typography in this concept had a stronger tie to the word action. The warped text offered greater movement than any other concept.
The secondary logos are the “Big Bang” (2) and Target Badge (3).
The “Big Bang” logo should always be used for dynamic media content such as videos and animations.
The badge logo is to be worn by employees and affiliates of the brand.
Big Boom (4) is the mascot of the brand, based off the hand-painted aerial bombs of WWII. Initially, mascot contained slight errors in the paths, and further refinement was needed. The bomb vector was flat, missing visual form, so reflections and an outline were also added to the design.
The initial phases of this project allowed the designer to focus on the shape and forms of the visual identity of the Las Vegas Enforcers. The evaluation of each design helped determined the effectiveness of each concept in relations to the theme, comic book superheroes. Rand (2023) stresses that a logo derives its meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes; the chosen concepts do not offer insight to what the Las Vegas Enforcers are instead it symbolizes the brand—action, boldness, and heroism.
Reference
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