The Client
Cerae is an up and coming singer-songwriter based in Toronto, Canada. As a fresh face on the music scene, she aspires to cross the boundaries between the genres of R&B, neo soul, gospel and funk to create relevant messages that portray the human experience.
The Challenge
To establish an artist identity that was reflective of the artist's musical aspirations while also filling a gap in the Toronto music industry. The team was also tasked with conceptualizing a vision for the promotional materials (e.g., cover art, lyric video, single teasers, ads, etc.) as well as a marketing strategy for the release of her debut single, Clocks (Loving With You).
The Team
My Role
Heuristic Evaluation
The team conducted an expert review of the current site to determine the site's key strengths and weaknesses. The review covered 7 categories of usability (e.g., navigation, findability, understandability, etc.)
What did we find?
Comparative Analysis
The team identified 5 similar government websites related to integrity and/or ethical standards in order to identify best practices, ideas and opportunities that can be applied to the redesign of the OCIEC website.
What did we find?
Users are visiting these websites in order to learn more about:
Primary Usability Concerns:
Recommendations
Areas of improvement were identified on the home page, site structure, content, and public registry.
User and Stakeholder Interviews
The team conducted interviews with end-users and stakeholders. I synthesized the notes that were collected from these interviews into a concise report that was delivered to the client. The report identified the following:
What did we find?
Wireframes
The team created 14 low-fidelity wireframes, using the new IA, that adhered to the Microsoft Sharepoint template and Government of Canada styles guides provided by the client.
Using the program, Figma, I converted the low-fidelity wireframes into medium fidelity wireframes. After client feedback, there was one iteration of the designs.
Prototype
I used Figma's prototyping tool to create interactive flows that would simulate how a user may interact with design. The prototype was used during usability testing.
Information Architecture (IA)
The team developed an new IA, informed by the research, that would better serve the tasks and goals of both end-users and stakeholders.
Usability Testing
In order to validate the designs, the team conducted remote and moderated usability testing with 7 participants via Zoom. Participants were staff members of Members of the House of Commons and the general public.
I completed 2 usability testing sessions.
Findings
We found that participants were generally successful at completing the tasks. However, some of the labels in the primary navigation, although suggested by the client, did not meet the users' expectations.
Next Steps
As a result, I iterated upon the previous designs to incorporate the findings of the usability testing sessions. The IA was also updated to reflect the changes.
What did I learn?
I learned how to effectively create an artist identity that fulfilled business needs. I was able to successfully tell the story behind the music across multiple visual deliverables. Furthermore, I was able to develop my creative process. By identifying the strengths and weaknesses of my process, I can use this knowledge to iterate on my process for future projects.
My key-take aways
Heuristic Evaluation
The team conducted an expert review of the current site to determine the site's key strengths and weaknesses. The review covered 7 categories of usability (e.g., navigation, findability, understandability, etc.)
What did we find?
Comparative Analysis
The team identified 7 similar related approaches of other organizations to learn how other solutions solve users’ problems, especially workers who are in the vulnerable sector.
What did we find?
User Interviews
In order to better understand the needs of workers in federally regulated industries, the team conducted 40 interviews with organizations as well as individuals who self-identified as having experienced either labour relations, health and safety, and minimal labour standards issues. The interviews addressed the following questions:
All participants were interviewed remotely via telephone or online teleconference using WebEx.
Due to the sensitive nature of the subject, I did not interview the participants myself. However, I was able to listen to each interview and identify some preliminary patterns in the findings. It was also my responsibility to ensure these interviews were transcribed for the client.
The team held a meeting to discuss the preliminary findings and the report structure.
Brainstorming
During this meeting, we were able to redefine the scope of our problem (as it was larger than initially proposed by the client), discuss the main findings, and propose possible solutions.
Evil 8's
Similar to the design activity, Crazy 8's, we completed Evil 8s's to help us brainstorm possible solutions. The purpose of the activity was to encourage the team to push the boundaries of their thinking by proposing anti-solutions to the problem. Each team member would write their anti-solution on the first square and passed the paper onto the next person. As the paper was passed along, the anti-solutions were expanded upon.
Afterwards, we used the anti-solutions to help us to propose innovative and creative solutions to the problem.
What did I learn?
I learned how to effectively create an artist identity that fulfilled business needs. I was able to successfully tell the story behind the music across multiple visual deliverables. Furthermore, I was able to develop my creative process. By identifying the strengths and weaknesses of my process, I can use this knowledge to iterate on my process for future projects.
My key-take aways
Musical Direction
Before production on the single could begin, the team needed to determine the musical direction for the single (as well as Cerae's future songs).
Drawing inspiration from Cerae's musical influences (e.g., Lauryn Hill, Mariah Carey, the Bee Gees, the Winans, Michael Jackson, Jacob Collier), the team decided that a sound that could easily cross boundaries between the genres of R&B, neo soul, gospel and funk would be a good fit. Additionally, the team determined that this musical direction would appeal to the trends within the Toronto music scene while still remaining niche.
Artist Image
Based on the proposed musical direction, I curated 4 mood boards to demonstrate different artist images that Cerae could potentially emulate . Each artist image drew inspiration from current and past trends within the music industry. The purpose of selecting an artist image from the curated mood boards was merely to act as a point of reference, which would be further developed into a unique image, personalized to Cerae.
Each mood board contained the following:
The musical direction and artist image initially established by the team acted as a guide for all future creative decisions.
Once the writers had completed the lyrics, it was my responsibility to translate the sentiments of those lyrics into a visual narrative (which would be used for the promotion of the single). I worked concurrently with the production of the track. Thus, both the visuals and the music reciprocally influenced one another.
Finding Inspiration
I was sent a rough demo of the song to work with. My first goal was to establish a colour palette for the visuals, which would set the scene for the overcharging feel/mood. I asked myself and the team to think about what colour they envisioned when they listened to the demo. With the input from the team, I laid out a colour palette that also aligned with the proposed release date of the single (end of Summer/Fall).
The team looked to music videos and album covers of artists within the same genres as Cerae for inspiration. A preliminary mood board was created.
Eureka!
I stumbled upon the music video for Meet Me in Amsterdam by RINI. In the opening scene of the music video, RINI sings "Row this boat from dusk till dawn" while enacting the very lyrics he sings in the video. The literal nature of the lyrics gave me an idea. I immediately thought of Cerae's lyric, "Loving with you, a 9 to 5 of constant disputes." It was this specific lyric that inspired the concept of the workplace theme found throughout the promotional materials. The action of punching in and out of work on a punch clock (a prominent theme in many of the promotional materials) was used as a metaphor for the cyclical nature of turbulent relationships that is described in the song.
Curating a Mood Board
The vision for the shoot was heavily influenced by 70s fashion and mid century modern interior design. In order to appeal to a younger demographic, the team decided to take a modern twist on the era.
The team scouted a location and procured props and wardrobe for the shoot. A photographer/videographer was hired for the shoot. He assisted in blocking out scenes. In addition, a hairstylist and an actor (to play the love interest in the lyric video) were brought onto the team.
Hair, Makeup & Styling
In addition to the action of punching in and out of work on a punch clock, we wanted to further simulate the passing of time through changes in outfit, hair and makeup.
In total, the team styled 16 outfits, 4 hairstyles and 4 makeup looks for Cerae. Additionally, we styled 3 outfits for the actor in the role of the love interest.
Critical Path
The team had only 8 hours to complete the entire shoot on location. Due to the sheer volume of wardrobe changes, a detailed schedule, called the Critical Path, was set in place. The purpose of the Critical Path was to ensure that all preparations, shots, and clean up could be achieved within the 8 hour window.
Shoot Day
Up until the day of the shoot, all planning had been conducted virtually. On the day of the shoot, I collaborated with our photographer/videographer in providing artistic direction. The team was successful at capturing all the necessary shots within the 8 hours on location.
Editing
The team edited the following promotional materials using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom:
I supervised all editing to ensure that all materials were aligned and consistent with the artistic vision. Additionally, I edited the lyric video for the single using Adobe Premiere Pro.
Marketing Strategy
While the production of the song entered its final stages, the team developed a multi-channeled marketing strategy that included the following:
Hand-off
Clocks (Loving With You) was released on November 12, 2020. It is available on all platforms. Since its release, the single has had several notable accomplishments (last updated in January 2021):
What did I learn?
I learned how to effectively create an artist identity that fulfilled business needs. I was able to successfully tell the story behind the music across multiple visual deliverables. Furthermore, I was able to develop my creative process. By identifying the strengths and weaknesses of my process, I can use this knowledge to iterate on my process for future projects.
My key-take aways
I see you've made it to the end! Got an exciting project?
Send me amessage and let's create!
