Retail Display Design System
Case Study
Project Overview
Demonstrates my ability to combine important causes with consistent visual aesthetics to create a design system in a retail setting.
Title:
Studio Blk. Design System
Software:
Adobe Illustrator,
Photoshop, Dimension, and Procreate
Deliverables:
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Logo and Symbol Design
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Custom Illustrations
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Mockups
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Window Display
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3D Retail Display
Brief:
Create a cohesive and comprehensive design system appealing to a specific target audience. I chose to design for a retail collection collaboration between Anthropologie and the Black Artists and Designers Guild (BADG).
About the Client:
Anthropologie is a retail store providing unique women's apparel, accessories, home-décor, and beauty products created from worldly inspiration. "Anthropologie was founded on the values and principles of inclusiveness and cultural understanding. Every day, we strive to do better, to be better – to better serve our customer and our community." The mission and spirit of BADG and this collaboration is critical to advancing creativity and creating a more equitable environment for Black artists and designers.
Problem:
Not enough representation and equity in the artist/design community for Black creators.
Project Objective:
Advancing and creating a more equitable playing field for Black artists and designers by creating an attractive and cohesive collection and visual identity within the Anthropologie brand for more exposure and reach to the BADG members.
Target Audience:
Industry — Retail, Women's Apparel and Home Decor
Demographic — 30 to 49-year-old women, household income of $150-200k/year
Location — USA, Canada and United Kingdom
Interests — Family, travel, cooking, gardening, individuality, antiques
Ideation
Mindmap, Moodboard & Sketching
Mood Board:
Soft, delicate, worldly, boho-chic & creative aspects from the Anthropologie brand mixed with passionate strength presented in an elegant, classic, cool, modern way to represent BADG brand.
Initial sketched ideas for the new brand design, clothing tags, and retail display signage.
Branding & Assets
Colours, Fonts, Logos & Illustrations
Colour Palette:
Composed of blacks, browns, pinks, yellows, and whites with a pop of burnt-orange. The main focus of the chosen colour palette is to represent diversity using different skin tones and is directed to the primarily female target audience to create a soft, interesting, and bold palette.
Logo & Symbol:
The name for the collaboration between Anthropologie & BADG I created is Studio Blk. (Studio-Black) This collection would include only products and designs from the BADG members. The logo wordmark I designed for the collection uses the serif typeface Mencken. This wordmark is strong, classic, and elegant which coordinates well with the current Anthropologie logo while also creating a separate label for the collection.
I also designed a symbol to be associated with the collection. This symbol would be used across all Anthropologie store window displays to identify as an inclusive and diverse space. The design itself is composed of three circles of different skin tones overlapping to create even more colour variations. The circular shapes and overlapping colours also symbolize unity and inclusion.
Illustrations:
The illustration I drew to be used on the display signage is meant to be a portrait of BADG founder Malene Barnett. It continues the theme of overlapping colours and unity. The pattern on the left I created to add texture and another asset to the visual identity of this collection.
Signage:
This signage will be used as a promotional element for the in-store retail displays.
Again following the circle motif and overlapping colours to keep consistency. Using the illustration and pattern above to attract the target audience's eye.
Once their attention is caught the viewer can easily see what the collection is and a quick tagline about what it is for.
Signage:
This signage will also be used as a promotional element for the in-store retail displays.
If the customer wants to learn more about the collection/purpose this will be available with information from the Anthropologie website.
Mockups
Clothing Tag & Window Mockups
Displays
Window & Retail Display Concepts
Displays
In the visual display elements, I focused on texture, levels, colour, and transparency. Continuing to overlap different colours and materials creates depth throughout the displays, building more captivating features to draw the target audience to the collection. In the retail display, I purposely included products from the BADG member’s websites to add a realistic, personal touch.