10 weeks
School Project
Monica Ravitch, Theo Truong
Branding, environmental design, motion/animation
Art direction, motion/animation, branding, advertising, copywriting, filming and editing
Heyday is a crafted canned cocktail that offers four unique and delicious flavors, aligning itself with those who want to enjoy an optimistic and positive lifestyle.
The pandemic is nearing an end, and people are starting to feel positive and optimistic about the future. How might a new canned cocktail give people the feeling that things are going to be okay and give them a reason to get outside to enjoy themselves? How could the package design stand out from the brands that already have such a large presence in the marketplace?
In a post-pandemic summer, users want to purchase products and support brands that align with a positive and optimistic lifestyle. In order to compete in the saturated seltzer market, Heyday needed to align itself with the user from the beginning. In order to do that, we created an optimistic, joyful, and fun new beverage that compliments the lifestyle of young people who will be getting back out into the world together – with a drink in their hands.
Not only did this project epitomize how efficiently we worked as a team, but it also highlighted how we navigated the design process.
Our first few weeks were dedicated to research and brand development.
The current time we’re living in is unpredictable and frustrating. Watching COVID-19 numbers rise and fall, it’s easy to lean into a pessimistic mindset, as it feels like we’re stuck in a cycle of taking two steps forward and three steps back. After being in the dark for two years, people are anxious, and questioning if life will ever go “back to normal.” How might we not only give people the feeling that things are going to be okay, but also a reason to get outside and enjoy themselves.
When we imagine the summer of 2022, we see rays of sunshine, groups of friends and family reuniting, and laughter and celebration for a maskless and COVID-safe summer. We are creating an optimistic, joyful, and fun new beverage that compliments the lifestyle of young people who will be getting back out into the world, together– with a drink in their hands.
Identifying key trends that were successful in the market today gave direction to what elements should be included in our new product.
We also were able to identify some key competitors to see what was working and what wasn’t in order for us to incorporate successful, enduring trends in our own design.
From a pool of 25 anonymous survey participants:
We came up with two archetypes that represented the highlights of our user research.
Mind mapping ideas for the brand name and it's related adjectives set flushed out the brand's tone of voice and personality.
The name Heyday provides feelings of optimism through imagery and brand messaging. The name is a play on words and aligns itself with what our audience looks forward to on their time off.
The brand positions itself more competitively in the market by offering reasonably priced crafted canned cocktails instead of trying to compete in an oversaturated seltzer market. This was determined through 3 key observations based on the survey with our target audience:
The moodboard generated for Heyday defines how various elements will be used within the brand while maintaining the look and feel of the ideal summer. It's uplifting, playful, approachable, relaxed, and uses natural imagery with elements like fruit, landscapes, botanicals, and sunshine.
Establishing the illustration library and a stylescape gave us the foundation to start creating deliverables.
Through group iteration and feedback, we were drawn to friendlier, rounded typography for the logo. The lockup needed to be minimal so it could be clearly read and identified while on store shelves. Mimicing the slight curve with the roundness of the sun felt most on-brand compared to other sketches.
As a team, we felt it was important to establish the packaging and visual assets first so that the style was maintained when delegated deliverables later. We tested our lockup with an outside group, and found that although the one flavor layout was clever, it would be hard to maintain consistently with other flavors. With a slight revelation to exaggerate the main ingredient, yet in a way that could be used for any flavor beverage, we created a consistent recipe for the packaging.
With a slight revelation to exaggerate the main ingredient behind the landscape, we created a consistent lockup that could be used for any future flavor.
After researching successful landing pages from similar brands, we used familiar trends and patterns to iterate Heyday's landing page. We leaned into warmer, lighter colors like green and yellow over the original blue because it felt too dark and calm when we were going for energetic and optimistic.
Full landing page process
While developing the illustration library and creating the branding assets, rough storyboards and shot lists for the required videos were made so that when the assets were ready to be used, we were able to start filming and editing early on in the project. Creating physical mockups of the cans aided in creating the live action video.
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The Heyday pop-up experience is a unique way to immerse users in the brand culture and story. Users are encouraged to read the brand story, answer the interactive quiz and share their results, enjoy live music, take and share selfies at the selfie wall, and most importantly, have the opportunity to try the drinks at the Heyday bar.
Whether bought in store, online, or attained at a giveaway event at a pop-up, Heyday merchandise allows for word-of-mouth advertising and allows users to express themselves with their favorite flavors.
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As a team, we went above and beyond with what was asked for deliverables. What made us successful as a team is we:
What made our project successful was we:
This project was successful in many ways. Not only did we demonstrate technical capabilities with the project requirements, but we were able to maintain a consistent brand narrative and style across many deliverables. Even through presenting, we were able to showcase Heyday as a brand experience, allowing those who were present to see product merchandise (shirts and can mockups) and actually taste the product through samples. This presentation allowed an audience that had not seen our brand get to experience it, and through their feedback, they all agreed they felt more optimistic and positive, and of course, enjoyed how delicious the product was.
Moving forward, I believe testing how well sales are with the product on the shelf would indicate how much our branding and packaging stand out from the competition. I would also test engagement with an online presence through Instagram and record and monitor how many visits the landing page would get once the brand launched. I believe it would be smart to have additional advertising campaigns ready to launch after engagement like it is plateauing to keep the word-of-mouth and excitement about the brand going. For example, conducting Instagram giveaways, having people share their results from our “what drink are you” test on their socials and using hashtags, and sponsoring events that engage the customers would be great ways to create a familiar brand presence in the real world. I would also allocate time to create more professional advertisements either through a third party or a dedicated advertising team. Finally, I would start finding ways to incorporate the Heyday Experience pop-up at as many on-brand events as possible, monitoring how sales were from the pop-up itself and how many people engaged with it using hashtags.
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