Design Production, Brief 2 - Study Tasks 3 & 4: Branding and Logo Requirements - OUGD504

TASK 1, Logo Requirements - As part of this brief I needed to outline the specific requirements needed for my chosen clients logo. 

'The Little Hop Shop' logo needs to have the sense of a 'luxury, handmade' product. It needs to address that it is a home/bath product that is suitable for all. I need to think about these certain aspects when I'm thinking about design decisions such as type, colour etc. As it is focusing on the hop plant, I want to make sure this is adapted well in the logo. For this reason I think it will need to show some sort of natural colours, as the brand itself focuses on the 'antiseptic and calming' properties the hop plant has. I need to show this through the type too, making sure it will appeal to both men and women. It also needs to communicate the natural element as opposed to communicating the beer aspect which could get construed in the name of the brand. 

Task 2, Branding Strategy - As part of the brief produce a branding strategy for my chosen product. 

“A brand should be so strong that the immediate association with it should be all the positives elements a company has to offer.”

The Little Hop Shop is a new and exciting home/bath product range that is suitable for all. There aim is to provide an exciting new product line that re-uses hops for their calming and anti-septic properties. This shows a brand-new take on skincare compared to others on the high street, as its unique selling point of using hops is so different and unique. I feel as this is so different, it should be reflected in its branding. This is what I aim to achieve. Although the current packaging is suitable, it no way reflect the unique nature and interesting elements this brand has. This is why I feel The Little Hop Shop needs a more exciting identity that is instantly recognisable to its future consumers and something that will appeal to both men and women.

I understand the brand needs to reflect the idea both a calming and neutral as well as showing the fun side of the hops. As some of the products are ‘stache wax’ and ‘beard oil’, I can’t help but feel it needs some informality in there. Due to the nature of these I feel the tone of voice within the brand should be informal. I feel the current skin/care brands tend to be rather clinical and this is where The Little Hop Shop can be different. I feel even though the aims are to produce something that is calming and relaxing, it does not need to be clinical. I think we can develop something that has both these elements, be natural and fun, play on words as the previous products have. I feel in doing this it will appeal to both men and women. I think it is vital to include something about the hop plant itself. I feel as it such a usp and major part of the brand it cant not. Whether it be with colour choice or imagery on the logo, this is something I aim to include. It would then help inform viewers on what the brand is about, without giving too much information away before the products are launched.

As the aim of the brand is to produce more products, get the brand out there and launch a website I feel to do this the promotion needs to start early. I would propose to produce posters around were the products would be sold. Poster that would not have any information about what the brand is but something that can get word of mouth going “What are these posters selling?, Why are they up?”. Leaflets and small samples of the product outside the stores would then follow this. I feel this would be a huge success as it shown time and time again free samples get people engaged and talking about a product. On things like the leaflet we can get the public to leave emails, follow pages of The Little Hop Shop on social media so when it comes to launching a website, people will know what it is about. These tactics should aim to ‘get the brand out there’ and start creating a name for The Little Hop Shop.