“This project would not have been possible without the expert guidance and the help of several individuals whom I thank warmly for their endeavors; who in one way or another contributed and extended their valuable assistance to bring this project to fruition.�
*
Prof. Ranjana Dani who undertook to act as my supervisor despite her many other academic and professional commitments. Would like to thank for her kind concern and consideration and unfailing support as my project advisor. My project mentor in office, Ishan Khosla himself for being a part of the project without whose valuable inputs and guidance; the project would not have been completed. My team at Ishan Khosla Design, who participated in this project with all their interest and enthusiasm. A special mention to my family for their support and to my friends for their help during this documentation.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
INTRODUCTION
6.
SYNOPSIS #finding a project #initial thoughts #opportunities #experience learning As
the month of June began; it started the hunt
Next came the eventual challenge of understand-
the fest. With that, I observed, that for a person to
for design studios which would give me the
ing the final brief given to us as it catered to the In-
understand a different culture, on needs to under-
opportunity to do my graduation project along with
dian audience, from an Australian point of view. It
stand their lifestyle, music, food, literature, sports,
giving wings to my thinking.
required, the necessary balance to create a design
their cinema and even their humor; which was all
Simultaneously, I was also planning a self initiated
which would be appreciated by the Indian audience
well planned for the festival.
project; but always wanted to explore a real world
and will also depict the Australian dynamism, there-
On thing for sure, I was impressed with the immacu-
scenario which would give me realistic working sce-
by, appealing to the Australian predilection.
late planning of the events by the Australian Gov-
nario, timelines and feedbacks. It would help me un-
Creating an identity was the first step, but creating a
ernment; and appreciated the Australian foray into
derstand the working of the design industry at a grass
brand, is much more complex, which needed to be sus-
India.
root level and therein help me plan my future work
tained in the audience’s mind. Also, the project didn’t
Overall, the project was well explored; with a lot
scenarios. It would be also a test of my competence/
contain itself to just this. It involved a series of stra-
of learning and the outcome of all put together
performance/skill and credibility as a designer and
tegic steps needed to cement the festival’s emotion
created a sense of accomplishment.
help me figure out my position in the same world.
to the audience. Proper marketing and timing of the
***
collaterals was required in order to get the maximum impact, which in time, was well catered to.
I
undertook my project under Ishan Khosla,
***
based in New Delhi; at the time of where a pitch for Australia’s festival in India, handled by the
During the project, there were a lot of constraints
Australian High Commission (under the Austral-
and limitation, in terms or color usage and a few in-
ian Federal Government) was in motion. A small
structions/directions which contradicted the brand-
brief was set out by them and were inviting
ing ideals These were discussed and were carefully
proposals from several design studios. With more
presented; but after client’s adamant rejection of
than 70 events happening all over the country, the
such suggestions, we continued edging a refined ap-
occasion provided the necessary motivation to be a
proach.
part of it.
The
Nevertheless, as I joined the team I realized that key
understand
challenge in the start was to win this project in hand
alone with their sensitivities towards their own
before we could start working on the real deal. With,
culture.
out fingers crossed and a strong positive attitude, we
myself got a glimpse of what Australian culture is
set out to secure the project. Later, in short duration
about. This added an advantage as I was able to bet-
of time, we managed to get the project and immedi-
ter my understanding of what the audience wanted
ately started planning the time ahead of that.
and was more equipped to cater to the ideology of
project
created the
With
its
opportunity
Australian events
art and
for and
me
to
culture,
performances,I
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
INTRODUCTION
8.
OZ FEST Introduction to the festival #festival name #focus #culture #line up Oz
Fest, as named by the Australian Government
itself, was a part of government’s exploitation of the potential of cultural diplomacy. Its a wide ranging festival that will, over four months (October 16, 2012 to Feburary 6, 2013) take the Australian culture on a traveling roadshow through 18 towns and cities. It aims to showcase the creativity, dynamism and diversity focusing on music, art, food, films, innovation, literature, dance, comedy, sport, ideas and much more. It will be the biggest Australian culture festival ever staged in India. Oz Fest is also expected to build partnerships and networks between Australia and Indian in arts, business, education, science, research, etc. “We have had contact at the cultural level before but not on this scale. The reason why we are putting emphasis on culture is that if you want to build strong connections between the two countries, it has to do much with the prospect of long-term relationships. It is a public diplomacy initiative,” envoy Varghese said. The festival, parallely, seeks to explore India`s potential as a culture and entertainment market for Australian businesses and further in time the overall people-to-people contact.
The festival had its events pre lined up; with its launch at Delhi’s Punana Qila, an ancient fort by Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. The event included Aborginal singer Gurrumul Yunupingu, Mark Atkins and sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar. With the consequent events over the four months, the festival aims bring to India a snapshot of the Australian contemporary culture.
Musical acts such as Karnivool, Aston Shuffle and Big Scary taking the stage during the Bacardi NH7 Weekender music festival in Pune and other cities. Events with Australian movies included the critically acclaimed ‘The Sapphires’ screening, premiere of Australian feature film ‘Save Your Legs!’ at the Mumbai Film Festival and appearances of Fearless Nadia who was a Bollywood stunt actress of yesteryears. Contemporary dance performances by Chunky Move and Deep Blue Orchestra Food events involved a tour of the famous Masterchef Judges, Gary Mehigan and George Calombaris over Delhi and Mumbai. A roadshow by the Melbourne International Comedy Festival A match between the Jaipur and West Australian Polo teams and some cricket matches with Aborginal team of Australia with teams from Delhi and Mumbai. Architectural events with showcase of Australia’s possible future urbanism. Appearances by Australian children’s author and illustrator Frane Lessec at the Bookaroo Children’s Literacture festival in Delhi and Chandigarh. The festival ends with a grand finale; a concert with the International music sensation, Gotye, in the early Feburary
“Oz Fest India is the Australia International Cultural Council’s focus country program for 2012. The program aims to strengthen and deepen ties with specific countries through integrated arts and cultural events and activities.” Australia’s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard at the launch event of Oz Fest.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
9.
INTRODUCTION
“Oz fest is one of the most exciting cultural festivals to ever be witnessed in india. The goal of the branding is to not only promote australian culture, but to create a spirit of togetherness between the two countries. The brand will help create anticipation before the festival; excitment and interest during the festival and will help build a lasting memory in the minds of the people attending the festival.�
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
INTRODUCTION
10.
OBJECTIVES/GOALS #defining aims #deductions #constraints #goals Communication needs to be goal
pinned out the by the client itself and other were
necessary to find out what the festival aims to
driven. We communicate to achieve
meant to be formulated during the research.
achieve. After severals talks and discussions
Before the initial phase of study and research about
over meetings/emails/phone calls the,following
the Australian culture, their art forms, etc it was
few key goals were deduced downn.
or changes something; hence it was necessary to define communications objectives properly in advance. At the same time, it is not sufficient for a project to define its objectives as “to raise awareness” or “to communicate our activities and results”. Communications objectives need to be clearly defined, detailed, achievable and measurable. Along with figuring out the major objectives, an conscious attempt of identifying the constraints, parallel, was needed. Some of these constraints were
• An identity which is not only mark; but characterize the Australian culture strongly. • Contains/Revels out the ethical value of the same. • Focuses the partnership and the networks between the two countries. • Embraces the dynamism and the diversity of major events. • Leaves an impression as a simple and describable remembrance of the festival. • In terms of it working; it relates to all the events in entire festival line up. • Targets all kinds of spectators. • The identity then later transformed into a brand that is memorable for the people its catering to.
RESEARCH #australian culture #aborginal #dot painting #colors The culture of Australia is essentially a Western cul-
Colours of such paintings were mined from ‘ochre
When viewed in monochrome other symbols can
ture influenced by the unique geography of the Aus-
pits’, being used for both painting and ceremo-
look similar, such as the circles within circles, some-
tralian continent, the diverse input of Aboriginal and
nies, with ochre also traded between clans and at
times depicted on their own, sparsely or in clustered
Torres Strait Islander peoples, the British colonisation
one time could only be collected by specific men
groups. When this symbol is used and depending
of Australia which began in 1788, and the various
within the clan. Other pigments were made from
on the Aboriginal tribe you belong to, it can vary in
waves of multi-ethnic migration which followed.
clay, wood ash or animal blood. There were varia-
meaning from campfire, tree, hill, digging hole, wa-
Aboriginal people are believed to have arrived as
tions in the symbolic representation of some rock
terhole or spring. Use of the symbol can be clarified
early as 60,000 years ago, and evidence of Aborigi-
art and paintings, depending on the tribe or region
further by the use of colour, such as water being de-
nal art in Australia dates back at least 30,000 years.
of Australia that you belong to, which is still evident
picted in blue or black.
Several states and territories had their origins as pe-
today in the modern art work of Aboriginal artists.
Many paintings by Aboriginal artists, such as those
nal colonies, with the first British convicts arriving at
The dotted motifs of much of today’s Aboriginal
that represent a ‘dreamtime story’, are shown from
Sydney Cove in 1788. Dot painting consist of various
modern design work has become the trademark
an aerial perspective. The narrative follows the lie of
paint colours like yellow (the sun), brown (the soil),
of the contemporary Aboriginal Art movement. Its
the land, as created by ancestral beings in their jour-
red (desert sand) and white (the clouds and sky).
iconic status developed from a culture stretching
ney or during creation. The modern day rendition is
Dot paintings can be painted on anything though
back into the history of an ancient land, evolving
a reinterpretation of songs, ceremonies, rock art and
in aboriginal times they used to paint dot pictures
and weaving into desert dreamtime stories.
body art that was the norm for many thousands of
on rocks, caves etc. Mostly indigenous Australians
Certain symbols within the Aboriginal modern art
years.
painted nature like animals or lakes and of course
movement retain the same meaning across regions,
the dreamtime. They used to paint stories and leg-
although the meaning of the same symbols may
ends on caves and rocks to represent their religion.
change within the context of the whole painting.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
11.
INTRODUCTION
KEY STRATEGY #dynamism #organisation #constraints #goals Over a long period of research and trying to understand by reading and watching about the Australian culture, it was noted that the aboriginal art and culture is of the utmost value. Its something that most Australians could relate to and also visually the style of it could be related with some art forms of India. This, along with the pre discussions with the client acted as the firsts steps to move in a direction.
TARGET AUDIENCE #youth #elderly #cultured #goals Over conversation with the organizing members at the High Commission, it was told to us that Oz Fest caters to a younger audience in India. Most of the public
• Dynamism is the major key word in the whole system. • An accessible visual language that’s acceptable to the cultures of both the countries. • The brand needs to hold the festival together creating unity between all the events. • Division/Segregation of the huge list of events into categories and creating an model of identification and distinction for it in order to avoid information overload. • Different target groups are reached by different tactics and different media; hence a careful separation is required. • Messages/content needs to be tailored to be appropriate for different target groups. • As the festival is happening for the first time in India; use of strong imagery would communicate more than abstractions. • Keeping in mind its an governmental project certain level of sophistication needs to be taken account of. • Proper organizing in order to focus on all the collaterals along with planning their launch time.
events; especially the music events in collaboration with NH7, some comedy events, etc would agreeably fall under the younger category. But it didn’t constrain itself to just there. Some of the events in the festival included some leading lights. Also, some of the events also focused the comparatively older cerebral minds, which had equal importance as the events meant for the younger crowd. Hence, if seen, an overall perspective, Oz Fest catered to all kinds of people; kids, adults, older people; low and high tier segment of people; and also to people who are very much into culture and others who are comparatively less.
These key strategies were based on pre thoughts and structured the ground aims. As the project progressed, more points were constantly devised in order to achieve the penultimate aim.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
15.
FIRST PITCH
1.
2.
#dynamic #experimental #energetic
#minimal #symbolic #vibrant
*
The intial start was a challenge in inself as there was a lot of abstraction and less guidelines to follow. One had to show the extreme possibilities; but yes keeping a control on practicality. The constant back and forth required a lot of disscussions and brainstroming sessions before we got to final concepts to be pitched.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
FIRST PITCH
4. #landscape #dimentions #expressive
18.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
19.
5. #joyfulness #scenic #ornate
FIRST PITCH
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
FIRST PITCH
20.
6.
7.
#elegent #minimal #experimental
#cultural #carnival #expressive
*
This one was an internal licking along with as a persnal favorite; but this concept always had skeptical direction as it might not be very approachable for the Indian audience.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
21.
FIRST PITCH
8. #art #abstract # exploratory
*
The intial start was a challenge in inself as there was a lot of abstraction and less guidelines to follow. One had to show the extreme possibilities; but yes keeping a control on practicality. The constant back and forth required a lot of disscussions and brainstroming sessions before we got to final concepts to be pitched.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
FIRST PITCH
24.
10. #art #aborginal #cultured
*
This concept we thought that would be the most appreciated by the Australian High commission as it has a major influence from their aborginal art form.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
25.
11. #bold #fresh #modern
12. #culture #humanistic #expressive
FIRST PITCH
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
33.
IDENTITY
FINAL IDENTITY #selection #guidelines
The final identity; was somewhat inspired from Australian aboriginal art with a blended sense of Indian art forms like the goond art. Also, it characterizes the amalgamation of the two cultures in a dynamic structure. The identity also fosters the future connections
Eagle
between the two countries, which was one of the
ABCD 1234
major aims of the festival along with its cultural promotion. The colors are picked from the Australia Unlimited,
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
brand color palette (as directed by the Australian High Commission), carefully, in order to balance the emotion from the two countries. Eagle, the primary font, was chosen because of its bold, jubilant and high-spirited emotion. The tapering forms of the font with smooth edges make crisp and legible. Historically, its an american font made in
Gotham
ABCD 1234
the 1800, but gives out a unbiased look to the festival catering the Australian and Indian spectators. It also has high visibility and is easily recognizable, thus, considering all the collaterals, it works strongly.
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
Gotham, friendly but never folksy, confident but never aloof, was choosen to be the secondary font, majorly as a body font which integrates generously with the primary font. The san-serif looks softer than Helvetica and is visually more neutral; approachable and communicative along with with its fresh and new look.
Pantone C30 M20 Y20 K20 R0 G0 B0 #000000
Pantone 166C C0 M78 Y100 K0 R255 G56 B0 #E35205
Pantone 144C C0 M65 Y100 K0 R255 G89 B0 #F58400
Pantone 1235C C0 M35 Y100 K0 R255 G166 B0 #FFBE00
PMS Gray C0 M0 Y0 K80 R89 G89 B91 #58595B
PMS Cool Gray C0 M0 Y0 K70 R109 G110 B113 #6D6E71
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
37.
2. #art #decorative #vigerous
VISUAL LANGUAGE
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
41.
VISUAL LANGUAGE
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
VISUAL LANGUAGE
9. #type #trail #ornamental
44.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
VISUAL LANGUAGE
SOUNDS #sound waves #ripple #speaker
ART + DESIGN #abstract #composition #craft
STAGE #surface # auditorium #discussions
52.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
WEB COLLATERALS
54.
WEBSITE #information & calender #tabular seperation #portable #reversable
The website was an invaluable tool for the project. It acts as a first source of information, so it needs to contain the right information in a clear and accessible design and structure. It aims to give an overview of the festival, its progress and results.
The information sorrting in a website is vey impor-
Dedicated attention was kept in mind to make the
highlights were carefully exercised. Highlights of
tant, For the same a design system was planned
design and usability very user friendly and practical,
similar events were suggested to create interest for
where the the whole viewing profile primarily was
aiming with intuitive system of links to all key pages.
user; and overall the website offered useful informa-
divided into two major divisions; information & tools.
Information sorting was well managed and we used
tion for the reader thats quick and easily accessible
The information bit was followed the by the strong
the system of ‘endless scrolling’ to give emphasis
with compromising the visual essence of it.
image language. Big imagery on the homepage and
on the hugeness of the festival but with segregated
other places triggers people to connect with event
simple menu on the top to ease the complexity. The
than reading about it; also making it vibrant and dy-
tool section catered for calendar related queries.
namic and user friendly for all the young and old.
Content was was aimed to be short and simple and
*
Website coding had a lot of issues as we were not dealing with our regular coders. The coders were commissioned directly by the client; which was rather disappointing as we constantly questioned their expertise.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
WEB COLLATERALS
56.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
59.
WEB COLLATERALS
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
PRINT COLLATERALS
60.
GENERAL BROCHURE #information & calender #tabular seperation #portable #20,000 Printed on Shiro Echo paper, general brochure cater to a wide audience and was printed huge in number. This also acted as a major portable promotional medium for the festival and hence required priority information. This focused the prime/most important festival in each genre, with a schedule of all. It also highlighted the homologous events of each with little hint of the genre pattern to keep the visual focus and relation. This brochure followed the tabular division of genres for easy understanding; along with the language of strong imagery.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
61.
PRINT COLLATERALS
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
63.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
PRINT COLLATERALS
64.
FOLDER/PRESS KIT #press information #festival as a whole #vivid The folder was a part of the press kit given at the press release containing the official documents to organisers of the festival with details of all the events. To give a collective impact a combination of all genre patterns was included on it; so as on the bag.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
65.
PRINT COLLATERALS
BAG #promotional merchandise #festival #5000
Embroidered Oz logo on the bag
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
PRINT COLLATERALS
OVERVIEW #everything together #experience #emotion #responce Once all the collaterals were finished; it was time to see them all put together. Conscious efforts had been made to keep the consistency of the visual language throughout the project. Most of the planning was process driven but yet there was some sense of intuitiveness. The brand was significantly highlighted with the colors of orange and black. The other two colors of the palate did play an important, role but not as notably as did the other two. We were a bit skeptical about the intensity of the colors but with a rational choice of papers; the overall look of the colors stood out well and communicated the festiveness with a subtle look. The bold imagery expressed the events vividly and the genre patterns added to the emotion and created engaging triggers in all the collaterals.
72.
OZ FEST branding & strategic marketing
73.
PRINT COLLATERALS