We undertook extensive research into the existing audience through surveys and drawing upon previous purchasing data. We segmented this audience into five distinct types.
From the huge amount of data we honed down to our three most valuable personas who we named Stacy, Austin and Hannah. Each one came with their own backstory, reason for needing to learn Mandarin, their interests, hobbies and pain points.
We created keywords and stylescapes (in depth moodboards) for each persona that would inform the narrative for the future brand direction.
We created a solid marque that incorporated the book motif, The initials M and C of the company name as well as putting the customer at the centre of design.
It was designed to be used in all use cases from favicons all the way up to large scale printed uses.
The typography was a modified cut of GT Ultra, we adapted some of the characters to soften the harsh edges and make the brand feel more approachable.
The final part of the engagement was to create a new book jacket design system.
The client wanted a stronger sense of brand with these jackets and to fit within the Mandarin Companion ecosystem.
There was a lot of information that needed to be present on the jackets which in the past had led to cluttered covers with inappropriate use of type.
“Within months we were overbooked and have been playing at important venues in Miami ever since”
Design without strategy is simply decoration.
