let's talk.
Get in touch with me
connect.
Find me on LinkedIn
The Institute of Mixed Methods Research (IMMR) is an institution of academic practitioners, a global network of social scientists and experts that specialize in qualitative and mixed methods research. Clients rely on IMMR for expert experience and methods to garner information and better understand their data for projects and professional goals. With such a distinction, the Institute was in need of a consumer-facing visual identity that would improve consumer perception and attract prospective clients.
The IMMR team brought me on as a contract Art Director to create a cohesive visual identity that would include the design and development of a brand guide, a website redesign and a design system for future site enhancements and UI product applications.
On the heels of the kickoff meeting with the IMMR team, where I gathered project requirements, I then drafted a high-level project brief that would ground stakeholders and guide the creative output; detailing the objectives, key takeaways and brand attributes.
When defining the brand attributes, it was my goal to ascribe characteristics that embody the brand—essentially building a persona that could be referenced in developing future marketing campaigns and targeted strategies. I then mapped these attributes to the elements that would define the visual identity (logo, images, colors, icons, fonts and graphics) by color coding the brand attributes and assigning them to an identity element. This exercise enables me to actualize the attributes as visual elements. I then identified how to tangibly bring those attributes to life and provided real-life examples from comparative institutes and organizations.
Defining the attributes that would form the brand personality/persona fleshed out in the brand guidelines document.
How I use color coding and categorization to map the brand attributes to the core visual identity elements.
The (5) ways, I determined, would tangibly bring the attributes of the brand personality to life.
An illustrative example from two comparative sites of how to bring authenticity to the brand photography.
Once the attributes had been defined (and approved by the team), I wrote the value proposition and authored how the brand should properly be expressed in written and visual forms. I had defined the visual identity as being composed of both structured and unstructured elements that converge into a comprehensive, cohesive framework. Through the use of contrasting (yet complimentary) imagery, colors, fonts and graphics, a sense of balance and symmetry is created and serves as the foundation of all the future IMMR design artifacts. In essence, the visual identity creates balance from incongruity.
After establishing the visual identity, I continued to flesh out the brand guidelines content in a Google Doc, authoring critical sections such as the brand personality, color values and meanings, graphic elements, typography, photography and logo specifications/usage. After writing the contents, I designed the document in Figma, knowing that some of the visual content would be shared between it, the design system and the impending website redesign. Below are a few pages from the brand guide.
Having completed the brand guide, I then focused my efforts on the design system and the website redesign. Without going too in-depth about the process and the Webflow build (as the focus here is on branding) it is, however, important to illustrate how the visual identity permeates through the new site and the design system that supports it.
