Marketing for Change - Holiday Coasters
Marketing For Change creates holiday coasters every year for their clients and friends. This year, I was appointed the task of creating the coasters. The chosen theme focused on encouraging positive behavior change for the new year. The coasters include a list of tasks that promote a healthier well-being. When a person has completed a task, they check it off and continue using it as a coaster.
My Role: Graphic Designer
Projects Goals & Deliverables: Come up with a theme that reflects the M4C brand and design letterpress coasters.
EXPLORING IDEAS
The theme had to be Fun, Easy, and Popular, in true M4C spirit. The yearly coasters exemplify change through metaphors direct symbolism. This year I wanted the coasters to represent change in a unique way. Prior to creating a theme, I drew out several mind maps to determine how we (M4C) define change, and how we help clients promote behavior change.
SKETCHES
My first sketches focused on the symbolism of change, like metamorphosis and phases of the moon. Considering the coasters, and their intended purpose to keep tables ring-less, I sketched some ideas with a witty phrase that would encourage more coaster use.
COAST TO COASTER
The design team liked my "Coast to Coaster" idea — it depicts M4C's passion to help our clients create behavior change throughout the United States. The coasters are printed on letterpress, so I wanted the illustrations to be detailed. Creating the illustrations for this theme was challenging, but fun. After researching letterpress printing, I chose a line stroke approach, to accentuate the texture.
CHANGE WISHLIST
"Coast to Coaster" was a great design, but we felt it didn't promote behavior change, so we decided to start over. We came up with the "Change Wishlist" theme that would help people make better choices in the office. I went back to the drawing board and created this design for the team to look at.
FINAL DESIGN
Eventually, our copy writers helped me create a more robust "wish list" that was less demanding and more friendly and approachable. I designed supporting icons that reflected some of the wish list items, and changed the typefaces, being careful to follow the M4C Branding Guide, while creating a nice balance. The feedback on the coasters was very positive, and our hope is to have encouraged people to prioritize positive hobbies, inspiring a happy and less stressful 2019.
