Overview
The SomethingStore is an entirely web based business that was founded in 2007. Its premise is, for $10 (+ free shipping in the US) they will send you a randomly selected item from its inventory. The customer won’t know what they got until the package arrives. They have a few guarentees such as the item value will be at least $10, and it won’t be any item according to its something not list (alcohol, food, drugs, weapons, currency, etc.). The main idea that drives this business is the anticipation of getting a good bargain for $10 combined with surprise. Their current branding consists of a logo, a bland color palette, website, and a very small social media presence, all of which are quite unmemorable for such a unique business.
Original Look & Branding
Problem
SomethingStore is a unique, established, web based business, whose full potential has not been reached. Curiosity, surprise, and variety are what drives this business, but the problem is trying to create a brand that solidifies & delivers these ideas to the client. The main problem facing the SomethingStore is that it’s a web based business with a weak web presence. Their current website is not easy to navigate & it isn’t aesthetically pleasing. They only have one form of social media, and it’s not actively utilized by the company. All of these combined with the lack of a clear&unified branding system leads to the ineffective marketing of the SomethingStore.
Several steps must be taken to to solve these problems. A distinguishable mark that can capture the elements of curiosity and surprise which embody the SomethingStore, and a color palette broad enough to showcase the variety aspect but still provides unity to the brand will need to be created. Packaging that can be used regardless of what size/shape the actual item is, a re-designed & user friendly site, stationary, and touchpoints will also have to be created - all of which will expand on the brand base provided by the mark & color palette.
Increased web presence as well as sales will determine the success of this branding system. These changes will be more effective than the current branding because it successfully communicates the values of the company and engages the consumer base.
Branding & Identity
Initial Identity Sketches
Color Palette & Typeface
With the SomethingStore I wanted to create a color palette that would help me convey the idea of surprise through its usage. The key was finding the balance in variation where it would not look monotonous but the overall look is still unified.
Website Redesign
Their current site is an okay site – the client can make their purchase and find out what the SomethingStore is about but that’s about it. Currently their site is hard to navigate if you want to find out any additional information, the color palette is very drab, and the organization of their information is very messy with no clear hierarchy. For a business that’s entirely web based, their website does not do them justice in the least.
I approached the redesign of the site with a few things in mind: I wanted to create a clean layout, hook the viewer into the site, and make the entire site easy to navigate.
Guerilla Advertising & App
The main values & strengths of the SomethingStore brand are curiosity, surprise, variety, and most of all chance. Chance is what inspired this piece of guerrilla advertising. I took the game of battling tops and decided to digitize it. There are 4 tops in a battle, each participant is assigned a top based on where they stand in front of the ad. The players movement determines the amount of spin the top has.
A large screen would be set up in a public place with a lot of foot traffic. As people step up to the marked place in front of the screen, it would prompt them to download the SomethingStore app on their phone. The app is connected to the screen and each participants phone becomes a controller for the game.
Invision Prototype of the game portion of the app: https://invis.io/R37A7U494
Packaging
The SomethingStore’s packaging was a little tricky to create. SomethingStore provides free shipping for its product, so when they ship the customer’s product they choose the cheapest shipping option. This coupled with the fact that the product can range to just about any size, made it a bit unreasonable to create a standard size of packaging. To solve this problem I decided to create 3 forms of packaging that can be used regardless of the package size.
Stationary System
Additional Merchandise
