cam records - creative brief

NPO Creative Brief: CAM Records

CAM Records

Skye Sant, Angie van Broekhuizen, Lucia Ulc

Design rationale version 2.3

Last modified September 1, 2011

OverviewAbout CAM Records

Current Website

NPO Design Identity Design Studio 3 - Michelle Carpenter last modified 8-28-11

CAM Records Creative Brief

CAM Records is a class at the University of Colorado Denver in the College of Arts and Media department. The purpose of the class is to give music business students practice in choosing and promoting a local band. The class promotes a previously-chosen band by giving the bands the opportunity to play for Spring Fling/ Fall Fest and other small local concerts on campus. In addition, the CAM Records class also makes available to the student body USB wristbands that hold music and can be re-loaded the next semester with new music. The class also researches local bands and chooses the new talent for the next semester’s class.

The website is currently used in at least 6 ways:

1. By current students as a tool for recording artifacts of their experience and process (inconsistent);2. By current students as a bulletin board (obsolete/not applied);3. By recently graduated students as a resume builder and record of their efforts;4. By the class, as a means of disseminating event information via calendar and news page;5. By the class, as a means to advertise the bands and sell CDs/wristbands;


AUDIENCE


The audience for CAM Records itself is the students, current and prospective, that are interested in an applied class like this. CAM Records is an entity in itself and should have a strong corporate identity. Stationary items and website should keep this audience in mind.

The secondary audience is the intended recipients for the CAM class’ efforts: the current student body of the tri-institutional Auraria campus. All the marketing materials should have this secondary audience in mind.

The tertiary audience is music business people, both professionals in the field and prospective students. The website should keep this audience firmly in mind.

Purpose

Value



The purpose of the CAM Records class is to practice critical evaluation as well as receive practical experience in music promotion.

The purpose of the website is to be a tool for and in behalf of the students of the CAM Records class - a place for them to record their experience and a resume builder once they graduate.

The purpose of the marketing materials is to sell product to the Auraria campus students.

The CAM Records class offers a unique opportunity to practice critical music business skills in a real-world situation. This program is unique in Denver and one of a handful of student-run music labels in the USA. CAM Records gives the local bands represented free publicity and other marketing assets - a great value to an up-and-coming band.


Goals

Contact


CAM Records should be a stable entity with goals, values, purposes and a strong corporate brand. CAM Records branding should not change regardless of the type of band or music represented and should be constant across every class that goes through it. Because this is a student class, the website should be professional in order to attract potential students and the respect of the wider public and the music industry. Alumni should be able to use the website for a strong resume builder.

Secondary to this is the goal of the class itself: to market bands to the Auraria campus.

Storm Gloor

[email protected] 303.556.2795

Issues

Recommendation



CAM Records currently has no cohesive identity for the entity of the music label itself. The website is in disrepair with links broken, an inconsistent grid, infrequent usage and an unprofessional front. There is no clear statement of goals, value or purpose. Institutional knowledge is being lost when each class exits, resulting in inconsistent delivery of information and potentially lower quality of performance. There is no consistent message, call to action or branding with the exception of a logotype. The branding that does exist has little connotation and therefore name/brand recognition is low.

CAM Records is in need of user-centered design to become a stable entity in its own right. Before any artifact is made (such as website, CD packaging or sticker) CAM Records should have a clear idea of its audience, competition, unique value, and the needs of its students.

BudgetTo our knowledge there is no budget for user experience research or website design or maintenance; for this reason it is important that the website and assets are designed in such a way that they can be easily changed and updated by the class’ students or advisor.


Deliverables:

Wireframe Website

Graphic Identity

Branding Guideline document

Design Framework


This group will create wireframes for the CAM Records website based on the information discovered in the design framework and the guides in the branding document. Upon approval, we will make a website to these specifications.

Using the Branding guidelines, a network identity motion piece will be made. This piece will be used as a “moving logo” to identify CAM Records in videos and other motion assets.

Based on the information obtained and the recommenda-tions given in the Design Framework, the Branding Guidelines document will hold logotype, color, typography and image guides for the new, strong CAM Records corporate identity.

The group will conduct limited interviews and research in order to define important branding parameters. Included in this document will be information regarding the target users and industry practices. Also included will be a list of recommendations with an eye toward strengthening and solidifying the CAM Records brand.

Timeline

Design Framework / Branding Guideline Documents Approval

Website Due

Storyboard for Network Identity

Presentation of Deliverables

Revisions done - FINAL DELIVERY

Creative Brief

Research/Interviews



8-23 through 8-30

8-30 through 9-8

9-8

9-15

9-15

9-29

10-4