Barebones Living
A Brand that Moves You
THE CHALLENGE
A brand’s identity almost never changes. A stable name, visual make-up, and story are all factors that help drive brand recognition and recall among potential customers. But when it does change, there’s a lot of work to do, from ensuring internal alignment to communicating the change consistently to your audience wherever you are in the world.
Struggling to meet customer needs, generate revenue, and ultimately provide value to shareholders, it was essential that we redefine the market, create a product roadmap, and architect a brand that resonates with today's conscious consumer.
My Role
Creative Director, Brand Strategist
my process
I. Understanding the Business
II. Understanding the Customer
III. Determine Competitive Advantage
IV. Creative Development
V. Brand Evaluation
I.
Understanding the Business
mission, vision, goals, & environment
Mission
To inspire, outfit, and provide
transformative outdoor experiences.
CORE values
Simple Living
Outdoor Experiences
Socially Minded
Environmentally Conscious
Healthy Lifestyles
brand personality
The Explorer
Help people express their individuality
or break convention.
The Magician
Offer transformative experiences.
The Lover
Help people connect with others.
II.
Understanding the Audience
segments, attitudes, beliefs, values, & behaviors
Key retailers
Creating visual profiles for key retailers increased stakeholder engagement and streamlined internal distribution and consumption.
personas
Executing on strategy began with a deep understanding of our audience. We developed personas to define our customer’s goals, values, beliefs, and lifestyle. This exercise uncovered the problems our customers encounter that stand in the way of achieving their goals and helps us identify a plan to be their guide to overcome these obstacles.
The Gardener
The Outdoorsman
The "Persona Guide" is a visual tool for the product development team. They are able to map new product concepts into the lives of our customers – the products with the most relevancy will map to several personas signaling a more substantial business opportunity.
Incorporating personas into product ideation is key to understanding which products will best serve our customer.
IV.
Creative Development
balance, shape, form, light, space, color, & movement
POSITIONING
We inspire people to spend time outside enjoying elevated experiences that are enhanced by our provisions, inspiration, and guidance. Our passion for this mission is fueled by a fundamental belief that elevated outdoor experiences have transformative power and as humans, we crave and seek to create and share more of them.
logo update – WHy?
Brand positioning has shifted; there is a desire to reach a different crowd
Current logo now conflicts with the look and feel of our brand
Current logo now conflicts with our message and our purpose
Current logo leaves out key brand attributes
Old Logo
updated Logo – What's New?
New Typeface
More friendly/approachable
Serif font increases legibility, especially in smaller sizes
Gender neutral
Must fit/blend well with our current family of typefaces
Added “Living”
Coincides with our URL and social media accounts
Reinforces how key retailers identify our brand
Communicates a pursuit of a certain lifestyle
Must be equivalent in weight to Barebones
Size of Compass Reduced
The compass and word mark are equally weighted
The size reduction has streamlined the mark
Updated Logo
updated BRAND PHOTOGRAPHY
We were committed to telling vibrant, rich, and meaningful stories. These stories allowed our audience to immerse themselves in the experience, to feel like they are “living” the story.
Instead of focusing on what our products do, we focus on how our products make people feel.
A sample of early mood boards illustrating the our new approach to brand photography.
Left – Lifestyle / Center – Still Life / Right – Product photography
website UPDATE – WHY?
The old website had several fundamental problems:
The website lacked focus and there was redundant navigation and content
There were many usability issues that could prevent users from easily navigating the site, finding what they came for, and completing their purchase
Online sales were stagnating and cart abandonment was high
The company had rebranded, but the website was still using the outdated aesthetic
UPDATED WEBSITE – GOALS
Provide a more accurate and engaging description of the company
Position the new brand aesthetic and revise messaging
Communicate a lifestyle and the activities associated with products
Improve customer experience and increase online sales
Wireframe sketches helped kickoff early (and healthy) discussions with stakeholders regarding content strategy and key interactions throughout the purchase path. These discussions also led to some unexpected discoveries and innovations that may have not been uncovered otherwise.
updated sales catalog
updated sales BOOTH DESIGN
V.
Brand Evaluation
internal alignment, audience awareness, business performance
We've received strong market validation of the positioning, product line, and brand story of Barebones Living. We also discovered consumers are craving a conscious, design-centric approach to an outdoor lifestyle.
In one year, Barebones Living has received high praise and outdoor lifestyle market validation.
Featured Press
During that time, Barebones Living has partnered with some of the key leading lifestyle and outdoor retailers.
Key Retailers