"What if we design a strong brand identity for a local, community-driven plant shop that will drive engagement and involvement?
This project was designed and developed for an academic assignment.
Problem
Grown is a conceptual plant shop focused on enriching the local community and catering to flora and gardening enthusiasts, seasoned and new. The shop needed a strong and cohesive branding and marketing campaign to promote and launch its first flagship store in Calgary. This campaign needed to connect with their clientele's emotions while portraying its authenticity.
Role
Experience Strategist
UX Researcher
Team
Meagan Dickie, Graphic Designer
Gio Villapando, Strategist/UX Researcher
Skills
UX Research
Graphic Design
Project documentation
Tools
FigJam
Adobe Creative Cloud
Google Suite
Further defining the problem
Before trying to tackle the design and research of this project, we had to specify, in depth, the problem that Grown would aim to solve for its clientele. We conducted research on the likely personas that would best represent this clientele, and from this we were able to generate two proto-personas.
After establishing these personas, our team then proceeded to brainstorm a problem statement that they would potentially be facing, given their situational descriptions:
"As a flora enthusiast who gardens and takes care of plants at home as a hobby, I am looking for an establishment that can act as a go-to spot for me to purchase plant-related needs; such as tools, soil, vases, decor, and the plants themselves, while also serving as a hub where I can meet other enthusiasts like myself and be part of a fostered community centred around the love and interest of greenery"
Once the problem was further specified, we then had to visualize how our strategy for Grown would lead to a solution for this problem statement once the store would be officially open. As the Experience Strategist, I developed a user journey and solution map for both the customers and for Grown as a business, respectively.
Outcome
By the end of this project, our team had accumulated numerous designs, and all the required deliverables were submitted according to specifications. Grown was provided with enough assets that would assist in marketing efforts as a new business, and a campaign that would strongly promote the brand's mission and values to Calgarians.
Retrospective
During my time working on this project, I came to realize that there were a lot of steps involved in the process of designing a campaign for a business. The work was demanding, and at times I found myself lacking as a team member due to feeling overwhelmed with other academic and personal endeavours. From this experience, I learned that:
✅ Consistency plays a huge role in designing - things did not have to be perfect, so long as they were being gradually worked on as time progressed. This applies to behaviour within a team as well.
✅ Communication - particularly on my end - would have saved a lot of time going back and forth, and would have eliminated the disconnection between ideas and approaches for the scope of this project.
✅ Dividing the work based on skill or strength does not always yield benefits, especially when working in a small team. Both myself and my team member carried intersectional skills that could have contributed to the project's overall growth, but the workload was unbalanced - this is something I aim to amend in future projects.
