Shape Library
and Shape Activation
2023
Project Overview
Category: Banking
My Role: Brand Strategy Team - Designer
Timeline: 3 Weeks
Team: Solo
1. Understanding the problem
Fifth Third Bank actively engages diverse audiences through its comprehensive social media, advertising, and marketing campaigns. These initiatives are carefully curated not only to spotlight the bank's wide range of services and products but also to highlight its significant impact within the communities it serves. Despite these concerted efforts, the marketing design team faced a notable challenge: many of their posts and campaigns relied heavily on the outline shape of the logo emblem, resulting in stagnation. Recognizing the need for fresh ideas and more dynamic options, leadership sought innovative solutions to revitalize their campaigns. Additionally, the team grappled with inefficiencies and excessive time spent on designs, regardless of whether they were tasked with developing expressive or understated campaigns. In response, leadership took proactive measures to streamline processes, empowering designers to efficiently manage multiple projects within tighter timelines.
Problem Recap:
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Marketing design team faced challenge: reliance on logo emblem outline shapes leading to stagnation.
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Leadership recognized need for fresh ideas and dynamic options in campaigns.
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Team experienced inefficiencies and excessive time spent on designs.
Previous use of logo emblem
My Role:
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Establish a diverse shape language that will be activated through social channels
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Enable designers to seamlessly integrate design shapes and elements for maximum impact
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Establish a consistent and dynamic visual identity across various verticals
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Develop a flexible shape library adaptable for both reserved and expressive campaigns
2. Doing the research
I initiated my process by thoroughly analyzing Fifth Third Bank's prior marketing endeavors, advertisements, and social media footprint to steer my approach. Notably, the bank frequently incorporated the distinctive outline of their 5/3 Bank logo emblem across various social media campaigns and posts. This encompassed utilizing the emblem outline either independently or embellishing it with intricate patterns or gradients. Moreover, the design team adeptly integrated the 5/3 logo emblem as a backdrop for textual content.
Drawing upon my extensive experience in shaping libraries and social templates, I consistently delve into the nuances of logo shapes, meticulously examining each line and curve. This method often unveils numerous opportunities for innovative shape creation and the potential to blend diverse shapes to curate a comprehensive library. I identified potential avenues to infuse the designer's library with variety and options.
I probed the design team regarding their preferred platform for crafting social channel designs. They disclosed that they employ a combination of Illustrator and Sketch to meticulously craft and finalize their design posts and campaigns.
3. Ideation
Time to shape up!
Seeking innovation within familiarity, I delved into the lines of the Fifth Third logo to conceive fresh and captivating ideas. Below, you'll find the current logo emblem for reference.
Front and center
The initial opportunity to innovate presented itself blatantly: utilizing the fraction slash, also recognized as a stroke, solidus, forward slash, or by various other historical or technical terms, such as oblique and virgule. I commenced by crafting a grayscale version, opting for simplicity with shades ranging from 1 to 4 greys. This streamlined approach facilitates the review process for the design team.
Just the slash
Slash with crossing line
Multiple slashes as rectangular shapes
Slashes in abstract way for quotation post design
Adding color
Witnessing the shapes evolve as colors from various verticals were added infused them with depth and vibrancy.
Emblem curves
The subsequent step involved a meticulous examination of the emblem's shape and lines. I sought opportunities to extrapolate from the emblem's form and contours, envisioning possibilities to generate fresh shapes and designs.
Emblem curves only
Curves with colors
Looking at the numbers
Upon closer inspection of the curves and lines within the figures 5 and 3, I found no immediately apparent creative application for the sideways, half-circle shapes in their current state. Consequently, I opted to rotate them by 90 degrees, and incorporating an additional layer for enhanced depth and complexity.
Shape Combinations
Having meticulously scrutinized each line and curve individually, I ventured into the realm of amalgamating these elements to forge novel combinations. This exploration involved intertwining curves, lines, and shapes to fashion innovative amalgamations that could potentially redefine the visual identity.
Spectrum & Mock-ups
While crafting the shapes stands as a pivotal aspect of the project, the subsequent phase involves showcasing their versatility and applicability within the broader context of campaigns. This requires seamless integration of the shapes with headers, paragraphs, quotes, images, and logos to vividly illustrate their potential activation and impact across various marketing initiatives. Furthermore, I've taken into consideration that Fifth Third Bank will utilize this shape library across a spectrum of design styles, from reserved to expressive, as demonstrated in the examples below.
Spectrum
Shape Activation Mock-Ups
4. Review
During the collaborative review session with the Brand Strategy team and the marketing design team, we evaluated the shape library I meticulously curated. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with a particular emphasis on the diverse array of shapes and the vast potential they offered across different verticals for engaging with various audiences on social media platforms. However, one notable suggestion emerged from the discussion: the inclusion of patterns to imbue each shape within the library with added depth and dimension. Coincidentally, creating patterns had already been on my agenda for projects to be completed during my contract term with Fifth Third Bank, making this a seamless and opportune addition to the ongoing task at hand.
Example of shape combined with pattern
Shape activation guidelines
Recognizing the abundance of shapes and the myriad potential combinations within the shape library, establishing shape activation guidelines seemed prudent. Here are the guidelines that the team and I devised:
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In the depicted range, angular shapes or crops are preferable for designs on the reserved end of the spectrum, while rounded or intricate forms are more suitable for expressive designs.
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Layouts possess the flexibility to combine and overlap anywhere from 2 to 6 shapes, enabling the creation of captivating and innovative compositions.
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When applying the color palette, emphasize the utilization of primarily blue(s) and green hues to uphold consistency and enhance brand cohesion.
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During the activation of shapes within layouts, ensure deliberate and purposeful alignments to convey a sense of intentionality. Avoid arbitrary placement of shapes to preserve visual coherence and maximize effectiveness.
Shape additions
The brand strategy team also sought to incorporate the fundamental shapes of the brand emblem into the shape library, providing the design team with essential building blocks for their creative process.
The Fifth Third Brand Strategy and marketing teams conveyed their heartfelt appreciation for my contributions to the development of the new Fifth Third brand guidelines and system. They expressed profound gratitude, emphasizing that the impact of my work will resonate for years to come. They commended the meticulous attention to detail and the dedicated effort invested in constructing the extensive shape library. They highlighted how this resource facilitates the design teams' efficiency and provides them with a plethora of options to create engaging content across all social channels.
Below, you'll find examples showcasing the utilization of the shape library across various social platforms.
Conclusion
It's truly gratifying to have contributed to the creation of a comprehensive shape library for Fifth Third Bank, enabling their design team to craft captivating and purposeful social posts and campaigns for years to come. Completing the entire project in just three weeks was an exhilarating journey. Throughout this process, I gained valuable insights into the simplicity of developing shapes for a brand by focusing on its core principles. By allowing the lines, curves, and layers to serve as guiding elements, I discovered that building a shape library can be a straightforward yet immensely rewarding endeavor.
One of the most challenging aspects of the project was determining which shapes and combinations best suited the reserved to expressive spectrum. I learned that simplicity reigns supreme for the reserved end of the spectrum, while more intricate shapes or layered compositions are better suited for the expressive end. Embracing this challenge, I drew upon my experience working with Western Union to inform my approach and execution. Overall, navigating this project was a delightful journey of exploration and creativity, culminating in a valuable asset for Fifth Third Bank's branding endeavors.
Once again, the brand team expressed their admiration for the caliber of my work, particularly noting its exceptional quality given the demanding timeframe within which their objectives were met.