Developing a cohesive brand — print to pixels.
When I started designing professionally, the web was still in it's early stages and print was indeed king — and that was OK with me. After all, the font selection dropdown in Quark XPress was as vast as the day is long. I mean, having to limit one's typographical arsenal to the insipid Arial and ho hum Tacoma was bush league at best. Not to mention the better part of a day it would take to load most images larger than a postage stamp.
Well, thankfully that's all rapidly changed over the past decade with the ability to embed fonts and better bandwidth. The frameworks in which websites are built also allows for greater control and flexibility over how your designs display on any given devise. Gone are the days of tables and fixed width design. These are all positive developments from a design perspective but they also force designers to think about their layouts in a multitude of dimensions — "how will this layout fold down to tablet and mobile, yet keep it's integrity and hierarchy of elements".
Given all of the tools we now have at our disposal we are at a point where brand and identity, print to pixels, can be virtually seamless aesthetically.
“Given all of the tools we now have at our disposal we are at a point where brand and identity, print to pixels, can be virtually seamless aesthetically. ”
The Affluent Traveler Collection
Selling travel, the luxury travel market in particular, is as much about selling an emotion or idea as selling any particular destination or accommodation. Simplicity is the best approach — clean lines, a subtle mixture of both classic and contemporary fonts, ample negative space, a calming palette, and most importantly, evocative visuals.
When I began developing The Affluent Traveler Collection (ATC) brand, print was the predominantly favored medium, with the digital components being a distant second. There was another department that developed the digital content (website, emails, etc.), which was loosely based on the print — most notably the magazine, which was the flagship of the ATC brand. As I was promoted from Art Director of the print marketing to overarching Senior Creative Director of all media the entire ATC brand came into my scope of responsibilities. It was in need of a complete overhaul.
There was quite a long list of challenges and opportunities. There was a disconnect between what the consumer was seeing in the magazine and consumer-direct promotions and when they visited the website. This wasn't just a concern from a B-to-C perspective but it was increasingly becoming a hurdle for our sales team to bring more hoteliers, cruise lines and tour providers into our collection. This wasn't just a aesthetic or design issue but a revenue issue as well. Increasingly, comments such as, "I love your magazine and brochures, but your website...," came streaming in.
As I said above, riding atop each challenge is an opportunity to improve — from the ground-up. Below are some snapshots of the process, along with some sketches, and ultimately, the final product.
My Role:
I was Creative Director on the following rebrand for The Affluent Traveler collection. This would set the foundation for a complete rebuild of the program's publication, website, e-marketing & consumer-direct mailings in late 2017.
Redesign of The Affluent Traveler Collection Website
Starting with an outdated design and lack of responsive framework, I began by sketching an archetype with the end-goal being a digital mirror image of the already-established brand in our print campaigns. My immediate objective was to convey The Affluent Traveler Collection brand with a hard-to-ignore, large rotating gallery of engaging photos, pulled directly from what I see when I think, "Wouldn't it be amazing if..." database.
Step two was to optimize the UX using horizontal bands of information and visual search fields broken down by travel experience (i.e. resorts, city hotels, boutique hotels, cruise lines, etc.). Moving away from tedious drop-down menus of ATC's products and services, I organized the menu items into blocks of photos with text overlays, and the results into brief descriptions. Results can then be filtered via a collapsible module based on destination (Europe, Caribbean, Mexico, South America, etc.), personal vacation preference (Romance, Epicurean, Adventure, Cultural, etc.), exclusive offers and any ATC featured travel products or destinations for that month.
To further the UX, all visual blocks of site navigation were reinforced in the top navigation in a fixed position to ensure ease of mobility to all other pages of the site as well as the primary page of any secondary and tertiary pages relating to it. Simple. Layered. Intuitive.
“Starting with an outdated design and lack of responsive framework, I began by sketching an archetype with the end goal being a digital mirror image of the already-established brand in our print campaigns. ”
PRINCESS CRUISES' DIRECT MAIL + WEB CAMPAIGN
Although my responsibilities are mostly tied to developing new brands and maintaining them across multiple platforms, I've had the opportunity to create campaigns based on already-established brands for clients whose names and brands already ring familiar to consumers worldwide. That can be a challenge since there is extensive research involved, but it's one that I enjoy since it's "OK" to "draw within the lines again" and not be accused of a lack of imagination. Following an already-established brand is not as easy as simple copying what someone else did since, most-often, what I am designing involves my interpretation of that brand and how the information I am given falls into it.
Princess Cruises, one of the leading cruise lines in the world, underwent a complete rebrand in 2016 and with that came extensive new brand guidelines. Seeing the levels major companies go to to build a brand — or down-right tear it down — instilled in me a newfound appreciation for things at face-value. The following work is what I designed for two of their Winter/Spring campaigns: one to promote their lineup of sailings to Mexico, the Panama Canal, Europe and the Caribbean; the other to promote their new Ocean Medallion — a device the size of a quarter and can be worn in a variety of ways (wristband, pendant, clip or even in your pocket) and acts as your personal key: to your stateroom, your ship, shore excursions and onboard experiences you won’t find anywhere else.
Each campaign was based on their new branding and consisted of a direct-to-consumer mailer, email marketing, banner ads and landing pages.
MY ROLE:
I designed tHE FOLLOWING Direct Mail campaigns and was Creative Director on the corresponding web campaign for Princess Cruises. The design follows their brand guidelines exactly and is an example of brand consistency across multiple media.
“Following an already-established brand is not as easy as simple copying what someone else did since, most-often, what I am designing involves my interpretation of that brand and how the information I am given falls into it.”
Princess Cruises Campaign — Print to Pixels
Below are the digital components of the campaign for Princess Cruises, based on the printed campaign above. These banner ads were featured on our agent extranet — a resource site for our network of over 3,000 professional travel agents worldwide. These banner ads linked to responsive landing pages with more information about the promotion as well as links to consumer versions of the banner ads, emails and landing pages for our agents to utilize for promotion of this campaign to their respective client databases. The beauty of these promotions is that, although these vehicles carry the Princess Cruises brand, the call to action is customized for the affiliate travel agent or agency that is distributing them, providing leads and increasing bookings.
American Marketing Group Travel Market 2018
— Global Travel Industry Event
Every two years, American Marketing Group holds a 3-day global conference bring together more than 800 travel agents, travel suppliers, industry leaders and press. Our goal is to garner attention from prospective clients and, above all, highlight the value professional travel agents provide to consumers and how together we will continue to shape the industry and thrive in an ever-changing environment.
For the past 15 years or more, travel agents had been besieged by online booking sites that threaten to overtake an industry that has thrived for more than 150 years. In fact, last year, Mark Okerstrom, Expedia's new CEO, lamented, “In the race of man versus machine, in the area of delighting the customer, so far man has won,” before adding, "In the future, we think the machine can win." That perception needed to be challenged and we thought it was time to reassert what makes the travel agent (and any other service-based industry) so important — the personal human connection.
“To my knowledge, there has yet to be an algorithm written that can replace the value and insight that simple human interaction can glean.”
To my knowledge, there has yet to be an algorithm written that can replace the value and insight that simple human interaction can glean. What are your likes? Why do you prefer this destination or experience over another? More importantly, because I, as a fellow traveler, have been somewhere or enjoyed a particular experience I can make sincere recommendations and not just detect simple keywords or suggest something based on an impersonal five-star ratings scale.
We came up with a theme based on "intangibles" vs. "tangibles". What are the intangibles that only a travel professional can provide a client? What made them get into travel to begin with? We needed to identify those qualities and reinforce what makes them invaluable. They must have passion — passion for travel and a deep-down desire to experience the world. Certainly they have vision — the vision to turn your travel dreams into reality. They know every corner of the world — they are so intimately aware of each destination that if you told them you wanted to spend your 25th anniversary in Rome they can tell you that Giolitti is where the locals go for gelato; the city's best margherita pizza is served at Da Remo's (topped with a heaping portion of chaos); and for a calm oasis with a view, Janiculum Hill is hard to top. Finally, who is more knowledgeable than a travel professional? If you want special travel deals, not advertised to the general public, or you want to sail aboard the latest state-of-the-art cruise ship, who better to ask than someone who lives, eats and breathes travel.
“We came up with a theme based on “intangibles” vs. “tangibles”. What are the intangibles that only a travel professional can provide a client? What made them get into travel to begin with? We needed to identify those qualities and reinforce what makes them invaluable.”
As for the "tangibles" in this equation, that's where American Marketing Group steps in. Innovation: we provide the concrete technology and tools the travel professional needs to drive business to their doors and keep them coming back. Reach: our marketing arm gives agents access to our award-winning marketing campaigns that can be customized for them and sent both via mail and electronically. We reach millions of consumers each year. And lastly, support — clients of participating agents have access to a global network of support services including, but not limited to, 24/7 call emergency centers, staffing solutions and corporate travel management infrastructure.
MY ROLE:
my Art Director, David DaCosta (www.davidenco.com), and I wrote the script for the following video that opened travel Market 2018. David produced, cut and edited the video based on the theme and branding we developed for the conference.
MY ROLE:
I, working closely with my Graphic Designer Emily O'Hearn (www.sundaysandchampagne.com), was the Creative Director on the following large format graphics. These 2' x 10' visuals lined the hallway leading to the main conference hall and further enforced our 'intangibles' vs. "tangibles' theme for Travel Market 2018.
