Part One: Research

This entire assignment was based on conceptualizing a brand for a randomly assigned generation based on what you think they’d respond to. I was assigned Gen Z, specifically ages 13-23. My first step (as always) was research, being on the elder end of this generation myself. I condensed my findings to present to my class, focusing on key elements to connecting with my target audience.

Part Two: Strategies

Having decided to go forward with the fake plants concept, the next step was to figure out my brand’s angle. I came up with three different key ideas that could act as entry points for the customer, and a corresponding mood board to best visualize each avenue. For each mood board, I included three potential brand names - what is this thing even called?!

Part Three: Logo Sketches

After my testing team responded best to the strategy of campy surprise and the ridiculous name Really Fake Plants, I got to work figuring out a logo. I was convinced the logo would somehow look like a fake tattoo being smeared away, and I got to get good practice listening to smart people when they tell you something doesn’t work. “First idea, worst idea” was a big takeaway for me here - iteration will always produce something more interesting!

Part Four: Brand Bones

Then I got into the meaty stuff: selecting the bones of the visual identity. Using the logo my critique picked out as a baseline, I leaned into the energy of the mood board I’d started with and pulled colors from 60s psychedelia. Balancing the wacky with legibility and scalability was a big challenge here; I’d never experimented with such a loud style before, so I felt like I was trying to push it further and keep it reeled in at the same time.

Part Five: Testing Applications

This was a fun bit - slapping my new branding system on some stuff and seeing if it worked. It also helped me brainstorm how I imagined the customer would physically interact with the product, prioritizing maintaining that sense of fun and surprise in every interaction.

Part Six: Impact

My dream is to work for a brand that considers its place in the community and planet integral to its brand DNA. Given I wasn’t limited by actually having to produce these plants, I aimed big and worked environmentalism into the brand’s mission statement, calling back to one of the key strategies to connect with Gen Z from weeks before. To bring in another point from my generation research (and make my heart happy), I also whipped up a visual connection to the LGBTQ+ community to further this brand’s personality and values.

Part Seven: Putting It All Together

Finally, it was time to go back, get more critique, make edits, and make a book. The brand book gives a deep dive into Really Fake Plants’ identity and how to use their branding system in everything from photo style to tone of voice. All of the content of the book also had to be formatted into a presentation for our guest critics, providing a fun challenge in streamlining copy and formatting the same material for print and the screen.

As silly as it is, this project has a special place in my heart for introducing me to the fun of telling stories with visual identities. I learned a lot in this process and got to get feedback from some excellent peers and mentors. In all my new projects, I try to connect back to the excitement I felt making this brand.

It’s been a few years, but I still think it’s Really Cute.