Ocean Research
In order to familiarize ourselves with the non-profit, all creative volunteers took a trip down to Dana Point for a hands on walkthrough of the institution. With visual conceptualization on the horizon, the design team worked in tandem with research and strategy teams to analyze future ideas for educational campaigns we can potentially pursue when it comes to bringing these programs to life. Employees of the institute also answered questions along the way and pointed us in the right direction during our research.
After the initial visitation concluded, research and strategy teams came together with the team leads and compiled a list of objectives the overall branding team should address. Team leaders debriefed the teams and we began tackling the deliverables. Another team was tasked with creating the brand book/guidelines, while ours was tasked with creating collateral geared towards student engagement.
Main Objectives
Identify the who, what, where and why of the organization.
Improve OI’s notoriety by creating a common sense of purpose and unified identity across the 43 different programs and helps to attract new visitors and enhance relationships with existing patrons/donors.
Where are we reaching our audience?
Proposing Concepts
Together we discussed potential concepts we can pursue based on research. These consist of moodboards and some design iterations from scratch. Three categories stood out and all concepts proposed should keep in mind these notes pertaining to the concept, imagery, and program headlines.
Concepts
Let’s Go Experience.
At Ocean Institute, we believe experience is the teacher. Our programs are designed to fully immerse students in marine and maritime science, giving them an opportunity to experience and learn at the same time.
What they take away from the program is as unique as the individual themselves.
We provide the experience. The students learn at their pace.
Imagery
Line Art
Our imagery focuses on simple 2D line art. The illustrations should be graphical and contemporary. The line art should not feel hand drawn.
Colored with a youthful spirit. Messy & outside the lines that allude to childlike, organic learning.
When using photography, it should be program oriented to demonstrate positive education and interaction.
Headline Examples
Program Specific
Let’s go experience whale watching.
Let's go explore history.
Let’s go experience the nocturnal sea.
Abstract, Broad
Let’s go experience something new.
Let’s teach each other.
Let’s connect the dots together.
- At the Ocean Institute, we believe experience is the teacher. All our programs are designed to fully immerse students in marine and maritime science, giving them an opportunity to experience and learn at the same time.
- What they take away from the program is as unique as the individual themselves.
- We provide the experience. The students learn on their own.
- When learning is interactive and immersive, information sticks. For years. For a lifetime.
- By bringing your students to the Ocean Institute for a field trip, you’re sowing the seeds for a lifetime of discovery and passion in future Ocean Defenders that could make a positive impact on our environment.
- Science can feel abstract when it’s just words on a page. In a fully interactive program offered at the Ocean Institute, science becomes a real, tangible thing.
- We put science in students’ hands for them to experience with all their 5 senses, making the information more relatable and memorable.
- Field trips are only approved when the location and program apply to the curriculum.
- With over 40 programs ranging from historical reenactments to building robots for underseaexploration, the Ocean Institute is a great destination for classes across all subjects. Not only do we provide a variety, we provide the flexibility of piecing multiple programs together for a fully customized experience.
The Chosen One
After much deliberation and design reviews with our design lead, Concept #1 was the final concept we decided to pursue. Our next steps involved iterations of iconography and multiple campaign deliverables specifically for the institution's Welcome Center where most of the information relating to the programs will be displayed.
Final Proposal
As we reached the end of the 54-hour journey, our team finalized the designs. Minor changes to alignment and supporting design elements were simplified in order to relay a clearer description of each program. After, we presented our final proposal to the leads of each team. Here are the final visuals.
For the final presentation, design leads came to the conclusion of combing our proposal with another group's design. The final posters and prints combine the layout and iconography we created and the backdrop of another design.
Lessons Learned
After the 54-hours concluded we celebrated with all the teams and were thanked by the institution for all the tremendous work we completed in such a short amount of time. Now the rest of the decision making was in the hands of the Ocean Institute.
Overall, we learned that with the right resources and research, we were able to turn an existing brand into a life long educational legacy to come. Walking into an unfamiliar territory and really learning to trust each others' skills really set the tone in being able to meet such a tight deadline.
