Redefining Consumer Experience for THOA : Graduation Project 2020

‘Redefining Cosumer Experience for THOA’ An Internship report submitted to Department of Fashion Communication NIFT-Bengaluru In partial fulfilment of the degree of Bachelor’s of design in Fashion Communication

Guided By Mr. B. Raja Assistant Professor Submitted by Antra Singh BD/16/136 Semester - VIII

Department of Fashion Communication National Institute of Fashion Technology Bengaluru - 560102

Originality Certificate I, Antra Singh, Daughter of Mr. Yogesh Chaudhary, a bonafide graduating student with Roll No. BD/16/136 of NIFT Bengaluru campus, hereby certify that the work in this Graduation Design / Research Project Report / Dissertation with title dated ‘Redefining Cosumer Experience for THOA’, submitted by me for the partial fulfillment of the UG degree in B.Des. (Fashion Communication), Batch 2016-20 has neither previously submitted for a degree / diploma nor has it been submitted as a part of requirements for a degree/diploma by self or anyone else, except as fully acknowledged within the text of this report.

I also certify that the report has been originally and completely authored by me under the supervision/guidance of my project guide/mentors Ms. Niharika Sonavane, allotted by the Industry. Any help that I have received in my design / research project / dissertation and the preparation of the same has been acknowledged.

In addition, I certify that all the creative and research works / intellectual content presented in this document are original and all information/data sources- textual, numerical and visual nature, other literature used are indicated and due credit has been given in the report.

Certified by:

Mr. B. Raja Signature & Name (of the Student) Date: 19th July 2020 Place: Gurugram, Haryana

Verified by:

Mr. B. Raja (Associate Professor) Department: Fashion Communication Date: 19th July 2020 Place: Bengaluru, Karnataka

Joining Letter

Completion Certificate

Antra Singh O N T H E 7 T H , M AY 2 0 2 0 AT T H O A , I N D I A F O R C O M P L E T I N G T H E G R A D U AT I O N P R O J E C T T R A I N I N G F R O M 6 T H , J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0 T O 6 T H M AY 2 0 2 0 .

Acknowledgement The satisfaction that accompanies the successful completion of task would be incomplete without the mention of the people who made it possible, whose constant guidance and support crown all the effort with success. So first and foremost, my enormous gratitude is due to Ms. Shineel Tilani (CEO & Founder) for giving me this opportunity to work for her company and for her invaluable guidance. Secondly, I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Niharika Sonavane, for her constant support and valuable feedbacks. I do owe a great sense of gratitude to my mentor Mr. B. Raja (Assistant Professor) for all his time and effort and pushing me into the right direction throughout my internship. Lastly I am grateful to my family and friends for supporting me and having my back always.

Graduation Project Report//2016-20

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//Contents

CONTENTS ABOUT THE BRAND Company profile & Business Model

.....06

TEAM STRUCTURE

.....10

About the founders, Roles & Responsibilities

PROJECT OVERVIEW

.....12

Project brief and my take on the project

CONSUMER EXPERIENCE (CX)

.....14

Basics of CX and its applications

BRANDING- PROJECT 1

.....22

Understanding & Designing Branding Collaterals

PHOTOGRAPHY- PROJECT 2

.....40

Effect of photograohy on Consumer Behaviour

UNBOXING- PROJECT 3

.....54

Redefining Tertiary packaging of the brand

LEARNING OUTCOME

.....76

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About the Brand & Brand Operations THOA is a lifestyle brand based in Gurugram, Haryana. It was founded in 2016 by Shineel Tilwani and Varun S Arora. The USP of THOA revolves around ‘imperfections’. It sells handcrafted products and works with local artisans. It is a omni-channel business which focuses on the online experience & the touch and feel impact through offline. THOA has wide product range which includes Kitchen & Dining, Jewellery, Decor, Gourmet and Stationary.

THOA is about all things handmade, sustainable & imperfect! It stand for things that are unusual, off-beat, eccentric and unconventional! They create the most unique products that are imperfect by design! For its these ‘imperfections’ that makes one different from the other!

They care about the process as much as product, Being conscious of the environment, the maker and the imperfections that come along with it! They have set out to change the way the world looks at imperfections, Because imperfection is not a flaw, It’s a gift!

VISION ‘To inspire every single person to celebrate who they really are, with all their imperfections!’

MISSION ‘To be the world’s favourite brand for unique, sustainable & handmade products.’

NORTH STAR 1. To build the most powerful empowering brand empowering brand.

2. To be profitable & sustainable without compromising on growth.

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//About the brand

BRAND VALUES Inspire Authenticity : THOA inspires authenticity by choosing to be open, vulnerable & honest; consistently, forever, always. And to let our true self be seen no matter what.

Their are so comfortable to celebrate our own imperfections and proud enough to inspire people to do the same. Their authenticity is their ‘genie’ creating all the magic. and it wants everyone to have their own!

Be More : Rising above yourself with all your imperfections! THOA choose to be more. More enthusiastic, more involved, more inspiring, more audacious. More than you they we are. closer to who they can be!

Create Exceptional Customer Experience : Spreading magic through love, care and effort! They are always excited about making their customers feel special. They go out of the universe to make their customer’s experience meaningful. Enchanting them with stories of each and every product and experience. An experience that makes consumers feel like the hero of the story always!

Do right when no one’s watching : Showing integrity no matter what! We build trust by doing the right thing even when no one’s watching, doing it consistently and keeping its commitment regardless of how difficult the decision maybe.

Be obsessively grateful : Appreciating who we are, what we have and where we mean to be. They are grateful for how far they have come, for every person who has believed in them. For every success and failure that has made them wiser. They are happy to be alive and to be leading this movement of inspiring people to celebrate who they are with all their imperfections.

Be tasteful beyond perfection : Perfection’s epitome is to capture the original, original’s epitome is to capture the imperfection. They value the details that differentiates the original from the ordinary.

The details that make it unique. The details that make it more exclusive. They derive status from this exclusivity! This status that is built on the solid foundation of having the eye for those imperfections that makes it original & real.

BRAND CULTURE THOA believes in creating a tribe of people who believe in being the truest version of themselves.

They understand that its their imperfections that makes them different from the rest of the world.

They value authenticity, sustainability, being more of who they are, and value the status that comes from understanding what makes a thing original.

Gratefulness is an important virtue for a THOAN. They are grateful for who they are and excited about who they are becoming!

RELATIONSHIP THOA sees itself as a leader who inspires every single person to celebrate who they are with all their imperfections! The customer draws inspiration from THOA to be more self aware, conscious of the environment they live in, be proud of who they are & flaunt their imperfections because it’s what makes them unique & different from the rest of the world!

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BUSINESS MODEL THOA has a both (B2B) Business to Business and (B2C) Business to Consumer model and it operates through a omni-channel approach to sell their product and maximise their market presence. It has varied product categories which includesKitchen & Dining : Ceramic crockery, unique wood finishes products like olive wood bowl & servers, wooden platters, trays, spoons, glasses, coasters, etc.

Jewellery : Up-cycled nickel jewellery and jewellery made from semi precious stones.

Decor : Tea-light holders, ablone shell piece, Himalayan pink salt holders, wooden vases and decor pieces.

Gourmet : Exotic flavours of uni-floral honey like lychee, coriander, fennel, etc. Sun dried tisanes, flavoured salts & sugar Limited Edition : Tetsubin iron teapot, portable

laptop stand, handmade ceramic amplifier, etc.

Stationary : Pocket diaries, up-cycled handmade notebooks, planners, etc.

THOA’s omni-channel sales approach that provides the customer with an integrated customer experience. Omni-channel experience is a multi-channel approach to marketing, selling, and serving customers in a way that creates an integrated and cohesive customer experience no matter how or where a customer reaches out.

It’s partnership with various offline and online channel has increased its distribution channel which in in turn helped them to penetrate and reach additional markets. This also helped them to gain a larger customer base and gain brand recognition. Another aspect of the business that stands out, is the fact that all the artisans who work in the company are salaried and do no work on an ad-hoc basis, which is usually the norm.

THOA has been incubated by NASSCOM and accelerated by Upaya Social Ventures.

OMNI- CHANNEL APPROACH Online Partnerships Co-branding Affiliate Marketing Sponsorships

ONLINE

Social Media Marketing

OFFLINE

Online Marketing SEO/SEM/PPC Modern Retail Spencers, BigBasket, etc

Events, Exhibits, Pop-Ups & Trade Shows

Limited Edition Marketing Concepts Cafes, Luxury Resorts & Restaurants Blue Tikoi, Cafe Noir

Figure 1: GTM Strategy by THOA 08

//About the brand

BRAND ASSOCIATIONS

ONLINE PARTNERS

OFFLINE PARTNERS

TARGET AUDIENCE At THOA, we aim to target the Innovators and the Early Adopters. They are the risk takers, crazy about in fresh concepts and look forward to change. Although they make up to 16% of the total population, they are the tribe we lead & then eventually they lead the rest of the people on the curve!

Innovators : believe in new and want to be the first to try an innovation. They are venturesome and interested in new ideas. They are very willing to take risks, and are often the first to develop new ideas. They usually comprise of 2.5% in the total population.

Early Adopters : believe in better. They enjoy leadership roles, and embrace change opportunities.

They are already aware of the need to change and so are very comfortable adopting new ideas.

Demographics : THOA primarily caters to the women falling into the age group of 25-55 years with an annual income of over 35 lacs per annum globally! With that said, our demographics are a clear depiction of how we want to tap into a certain niche within the premium market.

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Team Structure & Responsibilities

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Shineel Tilwani Founder & CEO

Varun S Arora Co-Founder & COO

Niharika Sonavane Visual Designer

The Visionary and Leader at The House of Artisans; Shineel is passionate about both art and the stories of people who have created it.

She is closely involved in the product creation process, design and communication to ensure that every story of our work and the artisan reaches the customer. She ensures that great work is at the core of THOA and that everyone thrives to make each day their master piece

He takes the ‘The House of Artisans’ offerings to the world, making sure that they reach their customers before the promised time. His inputs help the team build the best designs that customers across the world would love.

He also look after ensuring that our ever increasing number of artisans are taken care of with an adequate income for their family’s general and education needs.

Niharika aka Vane is part of the THOA family for over a year. She takes care of the Visual Design, and aesthetics of THOA. She loves design, art, colours and her motto for everything is, ‘less is more’.

Niharika is closely involved in marketing and handles social media for the brand.

She is also closely involved in almost every aspect of THAO from product creation stage to how it will appear on the website and other platforms.

//Team Structure

TEAM STRUCTURE THOA has a small team with a which is the core of the company where every individual promotes creativity and have a good balance of different personalities and abilities in order to work optimally. Although, the company mostly works with the interns right now but it still consists of people who believe in the vision of the company.

As CEO of the company, Shineel mostly takes care of the design, collaborations and public relations.

Where as Varun, the co-founder and COO uses his managerial skills to govern all logistics and accounting department. Shineel and Varun makes a

combine effort for the marketing of the company.

THOA follows line organisational structure. Line organisation structure is of the simplest types of organisational structure. Its authority follows from top to bottom. The chain of command or mangers have control over their departments. The main advantage effective communication.

Design Team: Design team is further divided into Product design and Visual Design which is handled

by Niharika. Design team was assigned weekly task which were planned by Niharika and Shineel.

Shineel Tilwani

Varun S Arora

Founder & CEO

Co-Founder & COO

Marketing Team

Devanshi Vyas

Sandeep Kumar

15 MBA Interns

Merchandising Intern

Accountant

Niharika Sonavane

Rafiq

Deepak

Visual Designer & Manager

Inventory & Shipping

Accountant

Visual & Graphic Design

Product Design & Development

Antra Singh

Yashika Gaur

Visual Design Intern

Product Design Intern

Shreyasi Pareek

Jayashree Venkatesh

Visual Design Intern

Product Design Intern

Figure 2: Team Structure of THOA 11

Graduation Project Report//2016-20

Project Overview & Workflow Process The project that I have worked on during the course of this internship focused on Consumer Experience and Visual Design. The objective was to understand the gap between the brand and customers, investigate customers’ brand perception, and develop an understanding of each design touchpoint for better customer experiences. This project is divided into four segments: Branding & visual aesthetics | Photography | Packaging | Event These projects have been developed based on a customer’s journey with the brand - through the stages of awareness, recognition, conversion and brand advocacy. After thorough research about the brand’s SWOTs (strength, weakness, opportunities and threats), I have enhanced, optimized and redefined the customer experiences at all design touchpoints. These touchpoints are cited throughout the marketing funnel - from initial awareness and research to conversion and retention.

MY TAKE ON THE PROJECT

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The project required me to study and understand the brand as a user first, and later as a designer.

The consumer experience is a wide topic to study and understand. It incudes all touch-points and interaction a consumer has with the brand which goes beyond design. So, I studied articles and blogs to study what roles design plays in consumer journey. I learned about how different touch-points affect your brand.

about archetypes or personas, their activities, interactions and principles. Then I mapped out touchpoints, talked to the existing and potential customers of the brand to understand which part needed attention or rework. I tried to find the gap between customers’ expectation and what THOA currently offers so as to design a consumer experience that is not only desirable but also advocates brand values.

I needed to identify all the offline and online touchpoints that could enhance a customer’s experience from a design perspective. For eg., brand visuals, communications, social media platforms, product packaging, etc. Later, after analysing the brand and its platforms, I studied

Apart from the consumer experience, I was also required to understand the look and feel of the brand to develop visual aesthetics that not only align with the brand but also attract customers with the given resources.

//Project Overview

Workflow Process A systematic time-based process was followed throughout the internship. Briefings were held every Monday followed by weekly progressional reviews. Starting with research about the brief in terms of design, communication, aesthetics, marketing amongst other criteria; every project expanded through brainstorming before being narrowed down in a specific direction and visual language. This decision was then reflected through mood boards and inspiration boards. Based on these advancements, design developments were done. They played an important role in expanding the project once again before narrowing it down with shortlisted

iterations. Every project’s time span varied on the basis of the its scale. For smaller projects, the process culminated into review presentations within a week. Whereas, the various steps from research to design development were divided over a period of multiple weeks in case of medium to large-scale projects. Review meetings were followed by a democratic discussion and feedback that were later used to revise the project and its artworks. After the final modification, the creatives and artworks were delivered to the design manager, and later to the company head.

Project Brief

Research

Project brief given by mentor or project head

Research about the given topic or project

Project Direction

Ideation

Finalising on project direction & design language

Brainstorming, Mood boards or Inspiration boards

Developing Designs

Presentation

Developing design iterations for the project

Presentation of design drafts to the mentor

Final Delivery

Feedback

Final delivery of the creatives or artwork

Getting feedback and making corrections

Figure 3: Workflow Chart 13

Graduation Project Report//2016-20

Customer Journey & Experience (CX) Customer experience, also known as CX, is a customers’ holistic perception of their experience with the business or brand. CX is the result of every interaction a customer has with the business, from navigating the website and receiving the product/service they bought from the brand to talking to their customer service. Everything that a brand does impacts the customers’ perception and their decision to keep coming back or not—so, great customer experience is a key to success.

Delivering a great customer experience is hugely important for any business. The better experience customers have, the more loyal customers and positive reviews a brand will receive, while simultaneously reducing the friction of customer complaints and returns.

The benefits of great CX are many including increased customer satisfaction which in turn will increase customer loyalty and better word-of-mouth marketing, positive reviews, and rrrerecommendations.

NEED FOR CONSUMER EXPERIENCE Customer experience is the most exciting opportunity for businesses as it impacts all areas of a business. Many researches have shown, that consumer are willing to pay a little extra to have a better or desired experience.

CX Statistics suggest that Customer experience is set to be the number one brand differentiator in 2020 (and beyond). Stats show that 1 in 3 customers will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience. And, 49% of buyers have made impulse purchases after receiving 14

a more personalized customer experience. So, it is extremely important that we focus on the experience brands deliver to their customers.

There is no single universal checklist to follow to guarantee good customer experience; every business is unique and so are its customers.

It is imperative to understand the brand’s target group and be empathetic towards them. By identifying the customers’ touchpoints and laying out a consumer journey, one can find out the problem areas and act upon them.

//Consumer Journey & Experience

CONSUMER JOURNEY Consumer journeys are focused solely on how a user engages with your brand. It is a walk in the user’s shoes, so to speak—from their online search for your brand, product category, all the way through your landing pages, shopping carts, checkout process and payment partners.

By breaking down each interaction into a single step on a longer journey, you can uncover friction points in the conversion process as well as identify areas of opportunity to improve the user experience. Consumer journey involves understanding the shopping habits of a brand’s target audience segments, determining what hinders their experience, understanding behaviour patterns as they shop and analyzing their likes and dislikes.

With a smartphone in the pocket or hand at

all times, there has been a deep impact on the consumer journey process. Brands must understand this shift in the balance of power between brands and customer and build on their consumer experience to thrive in today’s market.

Earlier, consumer journey was defined as AIDA sales funnel (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) which doesn’t work anymore. In the old sales funnel, everything culminates in ‘Action,’ which translates to The Purchase. But the ultimate goal isn’t a single purchase—brands need loyal customers who will continue buying as well as steer other customers towards the brand. The traditional funnel represents the old marketing mindset of volume & attrition, which did not consider things from the customers’ point of view.

CONSUMER JOURNEY FUNNEL High Hanging Fruit Harder to reach

Low Hanging Fruit Brand Awareness, Specific need to meet, Found online

PLAN Developing a strategic plan with measurable impact

ATTRACT Buyer stage : Exploration & Education

NURTURE

Buyer stage : Decision Making

CONVERT

Customer / Purchase

ENGAGE Advocacy Champion

Figure 4: Consumer Journey Funnel 15

Graduation Project Report//2016-20

BRAINSTORMING Examine, Evaluate & Review

Archtypes

Actions

PLAN

Interactions Identifying Problems

Branding Organic Search

AWARE

Reviews

Videos Visuals

Social Media

CONSIDER & CONVERT

Communication

ENGAGE

Events Social Media

NURTURE Offers Social Media

After Sale exp.

Email Support

Figure 5: Brainstorming about various touchpoints in the consumer journey 16

//Consumer Journey & Experience

COMPONENTS OF CONSUMER EXPERIENCE For a better understanding of customers’ experience we need to understand the three components required to build one. These components are as follows- Archetypes (Personas), Activities and Interactions. Each of these components is a puzzle piece in the customer experience framework.

Archetypes: A great consumer experience relies on a organisation’s deep understanding of their customers. So to get this deep level of understanding, organisations use insights from contextual research to create archetypes.

Archetypes describe pattern of behaviours, attitudes and motivations shared between people. It was a marketing technique adapted by design led businesses to truly empathise with their customers. That’s why, while creating archetypes we seek higher order needs like affiliation, belonging, or self-fulfillment. With clear descriptions of archetypes, organisations are better equipped to understand and appreciate what their target customer values. In other words, it helps businesses to see the brand from customers’ perspective.

Activities: Designing a great consumer experience requires an organization to have perspective, and to understand all the steps

a customer goes through across their end to end journey. The important touchpoints that define consumer experience can only be derived via the activities performed. Activities give organizations an expansive picture of what their customers are doing. And since, customer experience is about cumulative interactions over time, really understanding the full arch for the customer is critical. Each activity represents a potential opportunity for organisations to deepen their relationships. These activities are mapped out to create an experience map.

Interactions: These are moments when a brand engages with a customer. And with more ways to engage than ever before, companies needs to ensure that apps, websites, physical products, and even in-person service interactions that they create are both consistent and meaningful.

To have a consistent and meaningful experience certain principles are set. These principles are the criteria to be built from customers’ needs which will guide interactions and enable organisations to make decisions that customers will find meaningful. While experience principles can be built from any type of need, they are most impactful when they index more heavily on higher order ones, like the need for affiliation, motivation, or social impact.

Archetypes or Personas

The Authenticity Seeker Hobbies: Baking, Hiking, Travelling, DIYing, Yoga Traits: Bold, Experimental, Messy, Whimsical She is purposeful and wants to be her most authentic self whether it is embracing her natural body or refuting the need to be ‘likeable’. She values things that are bold, eccentric and different. She doesn’t like to fit in a mould of identity that is shaped by brands and not her!

She takes pride in the imperfections that come as a proof of something being handmade!

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Graduation Project Report//2016-20

The Authenticity Seeker Hobbies: Playing Squash, Hosting Parties, Collecting Antiquities Traits: Social, Picky, Ambitious, Bold She is a confident woman, super ambitious, who loves to make her own choices! She values how she is seen in her social circle and wants to stand out of the crowd. To her a brand is a way of expressing her identity to the people who matter to her the most!

The Responsible Shopper Hobbies: Volunteering, Reading, Travelling, Painting Traits: Organised, Social, Opinionated She is a confident and a self assured woman who understands that her personal actions have an impact on the world! She is conscious of her choices and inspires others in a circle to be more responsible too. She expects a level of social responsibility from the brand.

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//Consumer Journey & Experience

ARCHTYPE’S ACTIVITIES WITH THE BRAND The activities that consumers have with the brand and their experiences form a web of interconnected interactions. These touchpoints don’t exist independently. They are all part of the same story, all linked to the brand’s core promise. For example, a purchasing experience on the brand’s website doesn’t end there. It extends into unboxing, setup, and regular use. It continues through ad campaigns and customer support. It endures on social media. Finally, it breathes new life with the choice to make, or not make, another purchase. Identifying the activities or interactions that a customer will have with the brand helps them to further empathize with the customer and understand their needs. Laying out these activities as a journey plan will help in identifying the gaps.

SOCIAL MEDIA

CONSIDER

PURCHASE

To inspire, introduce, engage, endure and create buzz

evaluting product by reading reviews & photos

smooth checkout procedure

DELIVERY

UNBOXING

SHARING

on time delivery and options for urgent delivery

hassle free and smooth unboxing & product protection

Sharing experience through social media and website reviews

RETURNS & REFUND

E-MAIL SUPPORT

easy and hassle free returns and refund policy

For queries & complaints, delivery status, billing and offers

Principles

Interactions

Activities

ACTIVITY, INTERACTION & PRINCIPLES BROWSING

PLANNING

PURCHASE

DELIVERY

UNBOXING

RETURN

SHARING

Get Inspire or Purchase Motivation

Purchase Consideration

Checkout Procedure

Product Delivery

Unboxing Expereince

Easy Return & Refund Policy

Review Experience

Social Media

Website

Website

Delivery Partner & E-mail Support

Packaging

Website & E-mail or Text Support

Social Media & Website

Authentic

Authentic

Authentic

Authentic

Authentic

Authentic

Authentic

Unique

Unique

Unique

Unique

Unique

Unique

Unique

Story Teller

Story Teller

Story Teller

Story Teller

Story Teller

Story Teller

Story Teller

Premium

Premium

Premium

Premium

Premium

Premium

Premium

Responsible

Responsible

Responsible

Responsible

Responsible

Responsible

Responsible

Table 1: Activity-Interaction touchpoints table of THOA’s customer while making an online purchase 19

Graduation Project Report//2016-20

EXPERIENCE MAPPING STAGES

MOTIVATION

FINDING WEBSITE

Acitivities

Wants to buy a unique piece of dining ware collection

Search for keywords on search engine

Clicks on the website and explores the landing page

Excited for the puchase

Happy to see many options, Confused about how to choose

Analyse and browse the page to search for desired product

Search for products through relevant category

Feeling Happy Satisfied Unhappy

Experience

Table 2: Experience Jounery Map of THOA’s customer while making an online purchase

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Satisfied with categories and given options but wishes for more products in the category

//Consumer Journey & Experience

EVALUATES PRODUCT

PAYMENT

DELIVERY

EXPERIENCE

Opens a product page to check for product details, photos, and customer reviews and look for return/refund policies

Process to pay a preferred product

Product delivery and delivery options

Product unboxing

Product usage and experience

Happy to see the product details and artisans story but not very convinced with the product photography

Annoyed with no option to checkout as guest and no cash on delivery options

Happy with the on time delivery of the product and regular delivery status

Satisfied with protective tertiary packaging

Happy with the products quality

Sharing experience by leaving product reviews on website and social media

Leaves a review to promote handmade artisans products

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Graduation Project Report//2016-20

Visual Branding & Recall Value Brand is experience, experience is brand. Two parts that inform and support each other.

Consumer decisions and behaviors aren’t only driven by rational evaluations of the products and services,but also by the emotions that a brand evokes. A strong branding not only helps to connect with the audience but also acts as a guideline for customer experience. It sets the direction, answers the insight, and translates the business strategy into tangible actions. But all this will only make sense when your brand is recognised by people. The main reason that companies endeavour to better their branding is to make people aware and to help them in recognizing and recalling their company. To create an effective brading, it is crucial that the brand designer has a big-picture knowledge of the company’s customer journey—all the ways that their customers interact with the company and perform activities over time.

RECOGNITION, RECALL & ENGAGEMENT Brand consistency is the pattern of expression that affects what people think about the company. The more consistent a brand’s messaging, the more consistent is the branding whether via words, design, offerings or perspective. It build awareness and develop trust and loyalty with customers.

Although there are other factors that influence the recall value of the brand but the primary factor is brand consistency.

Brand consistency isn’t just a customer-facing imperative. After spending considerable time and effort to cultivate a brand voice that will 22

resonate with customers, the brand experience delivery has to match. We can safely say a good branding can act as a differentiator which will make consumers choose one brand over the other.

Engagement measures a customer’s relationship with a product or company. Feelings and relationships may be fickle, but they thrive on consistency.

THOA has an effective communication style and branding language but it lacks consistency which leads to lower recall value futher creating barriers in customer retention.

//Branding Project

UNDERSTANDING BRAND DESIGN IDENTITY The power of design goes beyond visuals, words and colours. It’s about creating a narrative so bold that it inspires and transports people to a space where you want them to be. THOA celebrate imperfections, and that’s their narrative. Design is a strong medium to bring this narrative to life.

At THOA, design is looked as one of the most powerful tools to create the empowering and inspiring brand envision. THOA is a unique personality with strong values and design is the medium that gives THOA its unique personality; it makes it more real, more authentic, more of everything we believe in. Their goal of design is to, create buzz, generate sales & build loyalty.

COLOR PALETTE The THOA palette includes three colours; blue, golden and charcoal. Fundamentally, they are all equally strong and carry their own individuality. This makes the palette alive. It is a free spirit that has the ability to showcase a different personality and create a different mood by altering mere proportions.

RGB : 7 71 91 CMYK : 95 58 42 36 HEX : 07475b

RGB : 197 171 122 CMYK : 23 28 25 7 HEX : c5ab7a

RGB : 60 60 59 CMYK : 0 0 0 90 HEX : 3c3c3b

Secondary Colours The secondary colour palette is an extension of the primary colour palette with variation in tints.

This is to maintain relevancy with evolving content. This palette will also ensure that the look of the brand is not monotonous yet consistent.

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80%

60%

40%

20%

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80%

60%

40%

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60%

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Graduation Project Report//2016-20

PROPORTION & APPLICATION Blue (Bloothe) is the colour of THOA. It captures the essence of the brand, hence it is essential for it to be used dominantly in any creative. The dominance of colour will not necessarily come from the amount but the application. It’s important to remember that dominance can not only come from quantity, but also quality. For instance, the logo in blue on a white background brings importance to the logo through the most important brand colour. Use of logo in blue makes the colour important Golden is primarily for accentuation. It is a representation for the finer details, intricacy and status.

Too much use of gold will hence take away from the luxury.

Charcoal on the other hand adds depth. It is raw and grounded when used correctly. The use of charcoal is to be kept at a bare minimum.

TYPOGRAPHY Geo Sans: The header font. This is a sleek and composed san serif font. It is in alignment with the logo to add a dash of modernity. The intent of using Geo Sans is to add that contemporary touch to headers and distinguish content.

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 12345678 90 !@#$%^&*() Fontin: The body font. This is a semi serif font with charisma. It is directly extracted from ‘Celebrating Imperfections’. Since it is designed specifically to be used in small sizes, it makes it perfect to be our tag line and body text font.

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 12345678 90 !@#$%^&*() 24

//Branding Project

Bouncy Castle: The script font. This is a fluid script font. The main focus of using the font is to spread the magic, give a special touch and feel of handmade.

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz 12345678 90!@#$%^&*() DESIGN ELEMENTS

Dots : A dot is where it all begins. From dot to line, line to shapes and shapes to everything. They create every single piece of design. So, we start right from the core and create this magic. THOA use dots primarily in golden but they can also be used in blue, charcoal and white.

Line Pattern : This pattern captures the essence of THOA. It draws inspiration from so many things that are a crucial part of our brand.

It is visual representation of the concepts of celebrating imperfections, audacity of the maverick, magic of the magician, authenticity of a creator and details of a connoisseur.

The pattern is a visual notion for you to draw inspirations from! The usage of the pattern is not limited to direct placement, but is open to finding smaller elements from the same and interpreting them. Nonetheless, in the process of interpretation, it is important to still follow the visual language of our brand and maintain the look and feel.

TEXTURES Texture is the surface quality or the feel of an object. We associate them with the way some things feel. Sensations and experiences are created through the right use of textures.

The THOA textures are raw and organic, powerful and intense! They add vividness and warmth.

The blue texture is used as the primary texture followed by charcaol and white.

Textures act as a background, so it is important to still create a contrast in the foreground with colours and/or elements, so that the texture does not overpower the design.

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DESIGNS PREVIOUSLY USED BY THOA

Visiting Card Design - Front

Visiting Card Design - Inside Problems identified: Thoa has undergone multiple rebranding, but there was a lot of incosistency in the design language and collateral design. The fluid lineart and textured backdrops that weaves the brand’s organic and earthy aesthetics were very dominant that it is decreasing the legibility of the design. The design language was not very capable of creating a strong brand identity that attracts customers attention. There was need to establish a visual dialogue with the consumer through consistent branding across all online and offline platforms. It also needed to some serious work on spacing and legibility of design.

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//Branding Project

Labels and Card Designs

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EXPLORATIONS WITH BRAND’S DESIGN ELEMENTS

me!

ur thoa with us!

very person is uniqueness that t from the rest of ame uniqueness make a dent in niqueness is the says ‘do it’ even norms of the the society you n!

a.store

me!

ur thoa with us!

very person is uniqueness that t from the rest of ame uniqueness make a dent in niqueness is the says ‘do it’ even norms of the the society you n!

a.store

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www.thoa.store

//Branding Project

ITERATIONS WITH APPROVED DESIGN LANGUAGE

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BRAND WEB BANNERS

Website Banner Template Size : 4906 x 2304 pixels Typeface : Heading 1- Bouncy Castle Sub Heading : Geosans Light Font Size : Heading 1- 52 pt Sub Heading : 24 pt

Responsive Banner Template (for Youtube Channel) All established platforms now have responsive website or different interface for each screen type. This calls for a need to design a banner which adapts to this feature. This will result in consistent brand experience at all channels and platforms.

Size : 2560 x 1440 pixels (for TV Screens) Typeface : Heading 1- Geo Sans Light ; Point size : 100 pt 30

//Branding Project

CELEBR ATIN G I MPER FECTIO N S

Size: 2560 x 423 (Desktop)

www. t h o a . sto re

CELEBR ATIN G I MPER FECTIO N S

Size: 1855 x 423 (Tablets)

www. t h o a . sto re

CELEBR ATIN G I MPER FECTIO N S

Size: 1546 x 423 (Mobile)

www. t h o a . sto re

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POSTER/SOCIAL MEDIA DESIGN LANGUAGE

THE PUREST

IN THE WORLD

w w w. t h o a . s to re 32

//Branding Project

THE PERFECT DRINK FOR A

w w w. t h o a . s to re

The packaging aims to set a visual dialogue with the consumer with consistent branding elements like logo, colour theory against a fluid lineart in the backdrop that weaves the brand’s organic and earthy aesthetics into the customer’s initial interaction with the product. Here, information like catchphrases and repeating information like website URL is also considered to improve brand recall value. Since the brand has undergone multiple rebranding, consistency among packaging products of different sizes became significant. Hence, packaging types and their resepective label iterations were resolved.

Recycled paper has been kept in consideration for the packaging to complement the brand’s sustainable choices. However, low-cost sticker sheets are currently in use to meet the overall packaging budget. As evident in the prototype images, the label placement further creates a minimal and clean, yet unceasing appeal.

Size: 29.7 x 42 cm Typeface: Bouncy Castle & Geo Sans Light Usage & Placement: Aware & Promote; At stall, office, resized verison for social media.

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BRAND COLLATERAL Brand Collateral is the collection of media used to promote the brand and support the sales and marketing of a product or service. It’s the tangible evidence of the brand, designed congruent with the brands core values and personality. Typical collateral materials include- Business card, letter head, envelopes, stickers, badges, notebooks, brochures, advertising layouts, manuals, magazines, social media content, banners, etc.

Since THOA got rebranded 3 times, there was a lot of inconsisteny in their branding material. There were some collaterals which were following the old branding, while the other collaterals have new branding. Such inconsistency in branding can act as a huge disadvantage for the brand.

VISITING CARD A visiting card, also known as a calling card, is a small card used for social purposes. Designs for visiting were developed following the brand design language with base colour as blue and accent colour as golden. Visiting card is one of the great opportunity to leave an impact on people and with strong brand identity, it can create a recall.

Size : 3.5 x 2 inches Typeface : Fontin Heading (Name) : 11 Sub Heading : 8 Body Text : 7.5 pt Paper : Natural Evolution (280 gsm) Iteration 1- Vertical Format

Iteration 2- Horizontal Format

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Iteration 3- Horizontal Format

www.thoa.store

Final Design - Front

I invite you to journey into the world of THOA,where we believe in celebrating you‌completely!

SHINEEL

Co-Founder & CEO

Celebrating you with all things that make you odd, peculiar and eccentric, because it’s those exact things make you an original!

+91 99301 63292 ceo@thehouseofartisans.com

love & light

THOA, 3225, Sector-23, Gurugram, Haryana-122027

Final Design - Inside

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LETTER HEAD

36

Iteration - 1

Iteration - 2

Iteration - 3

Iteration - 4

//Branding Project

Size : A4 (8.27 x 11.69 inches) Typeface : Fontin Body Text : 10.5 pt Paper : Natural Evolution (120 gsm)

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INVOICE

Phone: E-mail: Address:

ITEM DESPCRIPTION

Invoice no.: Account no.: Date:

PRICE

QUANTITY

Sub Total: Tax (Vat): Payment Info: Master/Rupay/Visa

GRAND TOTAL

www.thoa.store

Size : A4 (8.27 x 11.69 inches) Typeface : Fontin 12.5 pt Geo Sans Light 11 Paper : Natural Evolution (120 gsm) 38

TOTAL

//Branding Project

INVOICE ITERATIONS

Iteration-1

Iteration-2

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Internship Report//

Photography & Recognition Never underestimate the power of visuals. You can create a brand, tell a story, establish credibility and engage with your customers through photography. They are more than a mere piece decoration and have the power to make or break a user’s experience.

We often miss the role of images in building a great CX & UX. Often as designers, we pay more attention to the structural information and other parameters, pushing images to a secondary thought. But we often overlook the fact that compelling images have a unique ability to inspire and engage your audience. Photographs have the supreme power of directly connecting with a user in a flash. Using them correctly, you can drive CX with immersive storytelling skills, a sense of context, and eventually humanize the entire experience.

PHOTOGRAPHY INFLUENCE CONSUMERS No matter what industry it is, from fashion to tech, cultural goods, B to C services. It needs to stand out and find creative ways to do so.

Among the different strategies one can think of, there is one that has a huge impact on buying behaviors: product photography. One of the major pain point of online shoppers is the lack of ability to see and touch products in person before purchasing them. This is why quality product photography is so important!

Photographs can be a powerful way to seize users’ attention and communicate the value for the product. Moreover, majority of people (upto 65%) are visual learners. According to CrowdRiff infographic, people who shop on their phones find photos to be the key feature. 63% of 40

consumers say that images are more important than product descriptions, while 53% believe that visuals are more significant than ratings or reviews. This clearly indicates the importance of photography in today’s digital world of business.

Good product photography is essential for convincing consumers to buy products.

According to Justuno’s Commerce Statistics about Consumer Psychology, 93% of consumers consider visual content to be the key deciding factor in a purchasing decision. So, photography not only helps in attracting the customer but also helps in the conversion rate. Thus, it is one of the most important factors in the entire customer experience.

//Photography Project

CONCEPTUALISATION As mentioned before, If imagery on the website resonates with clients’ mood it will result in high conversion rate and customer retention value.

So, it is important to understand what type of visuals will attract consumer’s attention and also aligns with the brand attributes.

Since THOA’s key principle is story telling. So it becomes quite evident that photos have to be shot in lifestyle setup. The essence of the photo should tell a story that adds an extra layer of meaning. A photography style that conveys the brand voice and builds an emotional bond with the consumers should be established. Lifestyle photos of the product grab attention and show consumers how to interact with the products.

A product photoshoot in a lifestyle setting helps people envision how the product would fit in with their lifestyle. Not only that, lifestyle images are also extremely useful to repurpose your social media posts. People use social media for artistic inspirations and by appealing to

consumer emotion and imagination, brands can develop a loyal following.

Another important thing is consistency. After finalising on the photography mood and aesthetics, it is important to ensure that it remains consistent on every platform of the brand. The key feature of consistent aesthetics is color. Smartly incorporating brand colours in the photographs and having consistent aesthetics and background colours will trigger recall value.

Apart from this, photographs have the potential to increase sales and gain popularity on SEO index. To efficiently and smartly use photographs, it is wise to embed information in them. If the photograph is correctly renamed with brand name and keywords it will have better chances to appear in a search engine’s organic results. And by embeddig information in photos posted on social media (like instagram or facebook shop), it can result in increased sales.

STYLING & SOURCING The whole idea is about crafting an image that inspires the customer to envision the product in their hands. So, I simply started by listing down everything your product might interact with or its complimentary products. After that I started to mine that list for potential styling concepts and props. I tried finding those products in the brand’s product range or basic products that were available readily. If common products are used as prop in an aesthetic setup, the photos look more cohesive and credible. People will be able to resonate more with the photos and with the brand.

For e.g. If the product is ceramic cups. I decided go with a nice breazy breakfast table shot. So, the props used were from the brand’s tableware product range with some coffee, eggs and bread. It was not only convicing for the customers but also an economically viable option for the brand.

SHOOT DETAILS Camera & Lense: Nikon D5300 with 18-55 mm kit lense Shoot Lighting : All product shoot were done under natural light. To avoid any sharp shadows a white fabric (like skim) was used. The fabric helped to create diffuse lighting and even exposure for the shoot.

Camera Angle: The camera angle changed in accordance with the product. Most of the shots were taken at eye-level, but prdoucts like bowls and plates were either taken at 45 degrees or overhead depending upon the product.

Editing: The desired look and feel of the photo was natural and raw. So minimal editing was done.

Firstly, what I did was colour correction, to remove any blue or orange hues in the image that made it look unnatural. Then I adjusted basic settings such as exposure and contrast to have a well-lit image.

After that I removed any spots, dust or other disturbing elements from the photo.

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HOW RIGHT VISUALS CAN MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

BEFORE

AFTER Visuals from THOA’s website

Through, above example one can see how photos make the diffrence. Just by changing a visual the enitre feel of the website changed. Photos that were earlier used by the brand were not upto the stanadards, and hence they weren’t creating the desired effect on the customers. There was also a lot of inconsistency in the photography which was acting as a great disadvantage for the brand. Like previously mentioned, it is very important to capture the right photos for the brand as they are a major part of visual communication.

The photos should not only look visually appealing but it should also provide a clear view of the product. If customers are not see the product clearly and can’t understand the dynamics, they will just not buy the product.

42

//Photography Project

BEFORE

AFTER Visuals from THOA’s Instagram Account

Through this example I wanted to explain the importance of product styling. If product is styled with the motive of just making it look pretty, it will not be able to convince the customers. Aesthetically are highily important but so is functionality. The motive of lifestyle photography is to convince the customer. A photo that will help people to envision how the product would fit in with their lifestyle will have the power to build an emotional bond with the customers.

Through above example, it is loud and clear that people prefer a thoughtfully styled product that shows consumers how to interact with the product. And such photos perform well on social media, because people seeks inpiration on social media. The key is resonate with the customers’ mood, if one is able to pull that off wins the game.

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STYLING & PROP REFRENCE

44

//Photography Project

LIGHTING & TEXTURE REFRENCE

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Product image by THOA

1/120 sec. f/16 29 mm ISO 100 46

BEFORE

AFTER

//Photography Project

Product image by THOA

1/160 sec. f/12 29 mm ISO 100

BEFORE

AFTER 47

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Product image by THOA

1/200 sec; f/12 24 mm’; ISO 100 48

BEFORE

AFTER

//Photography Project

Product image by THOA

1/180 sec; f/12 29 mm; ISO 100

BEFORE

AFTER 49

Internship Report//

Product image by THOA

1/200 sec; f/12 24 mm ; ISO 100 50

BEFORE

AFTER

//Photography Project

Product image by THOA

1/180 sec; f/12 29 mm ; ISO 100

BEFORE

AFTER 51

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Product image by THOA

1/80 sec; f/16 29 mm; ISO 100 52

BEFORE

AFTER

//Photography Project

Product image by THOA

1/80 sec; f/16 29 mm; ISO 100

BEFORE

AFTER 53

Internship Report//

Unboxing Experience Rapidly growing e-commerce is changing the customer expeirence as unboxing of the product can add value at every touchpoint. It’s no secret that the appeal of beautiful packaging can instantly influence buying decisions, and the increasing popularity of “unboxing experience” has been proving that notion to be correct on an even larger scale.

Packaging creates an excitement by the clever and attractive presentation of consumer items.

It takes on the positive attributes of the brand itself; attention to detail, high value, and a great service experience. This is what turns customers into repeat business.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? It’s been proven that people are naturally drawn to products and packaging that looks good.

Out of any of our senses, visual stimuli has the greatest impact on our perceptions. But with cut-throat competition in the market, unbonxing experience is moving from being a differentiator to must have.

Unboxing is no longer just about making your products look good; it’s about crafting your brand’s narrative. Refining your unboxing experience will go a long way to help in crafting a powerful brand narrative.

Packaging is a briliant opportunity where a brand can give customers a tangible proof of it’s values instead of just words. Like previously mentioned, unboxing of the product can add 54

value at every touchpoint. Because by this time the brand already has customer’s money so this extra effort falls into that all-important ‘value-added’ category. This can help the brand in building loyalty and trust factor with its customers, which will further result in repeat purchase and customer retention.

With increased trend of social media, a pretty packaging has a high potential to be shared by people online and create bvvuzz. Unboxing has become its own genre with a cult following on sites such as YouTube and Instagram. This might be a potential ‘word of mouth’ promotion which can help the brand to reach entirely new markets, which may have been difficult to reach or discover otherwise.

//Unboxing Project

SHIPMENT PACKAGE CYCLE DELIVERY Protection of the product while the product is in transit

ORDER

Unboxing

Package is a part of value proposition.

Opportunity for personalisation

Unboxing is a part of product experience & key to satisfaction.

SHARE Satisfaction shared via personal/ public network

Figure 5: Shipment Package cycle expalining each stage

CONCEPTUALISATION The tertiary package is the first tangible touchpoint for THOA’s customer which they will experience off screen. This is the point where all the brand’s promises or brand attributes can turn into something that serve as an emotional bond with its customers. This is point where where customers can empathise with the artisans’ story and further with the brand. Everything from the color of the packaging to the texture of the material being used can consciously or sub-consciously leaves an impression on the customers.

According to a study on the influence of color on consumer behavior by Insights in Marketing, feelings dictate majority of decisions and actions that buyers make. They explained that people don’t live in a “thinking” state, but rather a “feeling state”. The primary motive is to create an unboxing experience that helps in crafting a powerful brand narrative. THOA’s brand attritube is to inspire authenticity and celebrate imperfections and the same should be reflected in the look and feel of its packaging. The desired feel of the package was a natural & raw yet premium and sophisticated.

So it is imperative to make sure that the entirety

of the package is designed in such way that it builds realationship with the people and compliments the brand’s story. Each and every element of the package had to be strategically selected to evoke the desired emotions in its customers. A memorable impression doesn’t always have to come from elaborate packaging.

Sometimes, all it takes is a personal touch to show that you care. Creative messaging on inserts like thank you notes, promotional cards and custom letters is an inexpensive yet impactful contribution to the experience. While redefining such experiences it is more relevant to identify problems in the current packging or where it’s lacking. Customers might not be able to connect with the experience if it is changed drastically overnight. So, it better to connect the dots and fill the gaps first.

It is safe to say that colours act as one of the major factor for recall value. And it is no surprise that every brand incorporates their brand colours where ever possible. This was something that was missing in THOA’s tertiary packaging or shippment parcel which needed attention. It also needed conisitency and a more organised look.

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Internship Report//

Evaluating the current shipment parcel of different products

Understanding the packaging requirements of different products

Stage-1 Conduct a Qualitative Survey with the customers for empathy

Stage-2

Observing how people interact (unbox) with the current packaging

Assembling or arranging the different elements of current packaging to understand how it changes the experience

Stage-3 Stage-5

Selection of elements to be used in new packaging

Presentation & Evaluation of final shipment package

Stage-4 Finalising on new carton sizing that fits all the products.

Designing and prototyping new shipment parcel Figure 6: Process or stages of developing packaging for the brand 56

//Unboxing Project

STAGE-1: EVALUATION OF EXISTING PACKAGE THOA had three types of packaging according to the size of the products.

Type 1- THOA used 3-ply cardboard boxes for tertiary packaging. The product was wrapped in bubble wrap from all sides and layer of tape to hold the bubble wrap in place. The bubble warpped product was then placed inside the cardboard with newspaper padding on the bottom and hay on the top. The box was then sealed with a 3 inch wide branded tape.

After that a shipment label was placed on top of the box.

Type 2- The shipment parcel for this was also a 3 ply cardboard box which was sealed with a 3 inch wide branded tape. But the bubble wrapped product was packed inside a sturdy Kraft brown cardboard lid box.

Type 3- The product that didn’t fit any of the

available cartons was first bubble wrapped and then, they were wrapped with corrugated sheet and shipment label.

Package Evaluation: 1. The size and type of packaging were not strategically planned which was creating an inconsistency in the package design.

2. Lack of branding.

3. Inconsistent branding: The branding tape had old logos while the collateral inside the package like coupons and thankyou cards had new logo.

4. Interesting use of materials like hay and brown kraft lid box.

5. Too much of tape on the package and unnecessary layer of tape on the product.

6. Good amount of protective layers.

7. Low aesthetic value.

Image Courtesy: India Mart

Image Courtesy: India Mart

3-ply Shipment Carton

Brown Kraft Box

Image Courtesy: Amazon

Image Courtesy: India Mart

3-ply corrugated sheet

Hay as protective layer 57

Internship Report//

Image Courtesy: THOA

Image Courtesy: THOA

B2B Shipment parcel

Corrugated box to be used if Kraft box isn’t available

Image Courtesy: THOA

Image Courtesy: THOA

B2B Shipment parcel

Corrugated box to be used if Kraft box isn’t available

58

//Unboxing Project

STAGE-2: CONDUCTING QUALITATIVE SURVEY THOA has a very niche target audience, so we decided to conduct a qualitative survey over a quantitative one. Because qualitative data looks deeper and gives insight about attitudes, feelings and behaviours. It also encourages people to expand on their responses and open up new topic areas not initially considered. Qualitative survey collects deep meaningful data that helps to empathize with the customers and identify key touchpoints to work with. Second part of it was conducting observational study. They are called observational studies because the investigator

observes individuals without manipulation or intervention. This was to done to understand how a customer interacts with the shipment parcel. Consumers may not understand their motivations very well, or can’t be certain about how they would react in a situation until they are actually faced with it. Consumer will only be able to point out things that deeply affected them.

This is where observational study fills the gap as it collects information as the action is taking place—so nothing gets lost in the time gap.

DATA COLLECTED FROM PERSONAL INTERVIEWS Factors reflecting upon the areas of improvisation in Product Packaging

Ergonomics (Difficult Unboxing Experience)

Unorganised Packaging Box

Customers in agreement

Low Brand Recall Value (Package Branding)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Figure 7: Graph representing area for improvisation in overall packaging.

Packaging attributes contributing to overall Brand Image Brand Sustainability

Product Delivery

Artisan Awareness

No. of Satisfied Customers

Promotional Marketing Strategy

Packaging Box

0

20

40

60

80

100

Figure 8: Graph representing packaging attributes favoured by customeres 59

Internship Report//

OBSERVATIONAL SURVEY Stages of Unboxing

Open up the package

Finds note and coupon

Removes protective layers

Finds the product

Evalutes the product

Acitivities

Receives the package and checks for order details

Finds collaterals like thankyou note and discount coupons

Removes the protective layers like hay, bubblewrap and newspaper

Finds the product after removing all the safety layers

Evaluates the product quality

Excited to receive the product but isn’t very clear about which order it is because of lack of branding.

Opens the package with two easy cuts.

Happy to receive the thankyou note and sees coupon

Feeling Happy Satisfied Unhappy

Experience

Annoyed with the layer Annoyed after of newspaper, bubble finding the product wrap and hay spreading in another untidy every where. and thick layer of butterpaper and tape

Checks the product for any damages and happy to see the quality of the product

Table 2: Experience Jounery Map of THOA’s customer while unboxing package (type 1) with no kraft box

Package Type-1: Simple 3 ply carton package Stages of Unboxing

Open up the package

Finds kraft box inside with coupons

Removes protective layers

Finds the product

Evalutes the product

Acitivities

Receives the package and checks for order details

Finds lid box with discount coupons and thankyou note

Removes the protective layers like hay and bubblewrap and newspaper

Finds the product after removing all the safety layers

Evaluates the product quality

Excited to receive the product but isn’t very clear about which order it is because of lack of branding.

Opens the package with two easy cuts.

Happy to receive the thankyou note and sees coupon

Seems somewhat intriguied with the lid box packaging

Not very happy after finding the product in untidy and thick layer of butterpaper and tape

Checks the product for any damages and happy to see the quality of the product

Feeling Happy Satisfied Unhappy

Experience

Table 2: Experience Jounery Map of THOA’s customer while unboxing package (type 1) with kraft box

Package Type-2: Kraft box Shipment package

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//Unboxing Project

STAGE-3: WORKING WITH EXISTING PACKAGING We can’t deny the fact that packaging can get quite expensive. Before redefining the entire packaging from the scratch, it was necessary to effciently utilize the existing packaging material available with the company. Since THOA is still in its early stages and in the process of setting its foot in the market, it was very important to work with economically viable options. The packaging material were in good condition and if packaged thoughtfully, they could make a lot of difference.

The first step of it was providing branding on the shipment box and make it look consistent.

I wanted to have the branding to be directly

printed on the box, but we had to utilize the 700 hundered un-branded box that the company owned. Second problem that needed attention was the unnecessary protective layers. THOA’s product were mostly ceramics and fragile in nature. So it was very well understood that it needed good amount of protective layers to secure the product but overdoing it was making the parcel look shabby and unorganised. So, I started eliminating those extra layers. Finally the challenge was to make it look nice and organised. A package that is thoughtfully packed without compromising on the product’s safety.

BRANDING ON THE SHIPMENT CARTON & KRAFT BOXES Placing a sticker on the carton was an economically viable option as it was only increasing the cost of packaging by 1.5-2 INR. Placing a sticker on the carton also gave design liberty and added colour to the packaging. THOA takes pride in selling handmade artisanal products and the revised packaging aims to complement the brand’s vision. Authentic, unique, bold, storyteller and responsible - are characteristic elements that are considered as they are also suggestive of the brand’s principles.

File mouckup courtsey; Freepix

Iteration - 1

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BOX CURATION WITH EXISTING MATERIAL Collaterals Corrugated sheet used to create a separation Collaterals for clean & oraganised look, and to hold the Tightly compressed hay instead of loosley spreading it around.

Neatly wrapping the product in 3 layers of bubblewrap with sticker or tape Tightly compressed hay instead of loosley spreading it

Providing a thick layer of newspaper neatly covered with branded butter paper Sticker branded label Digital sketch of box curation prototypes with protective layers and all other packaging elements

Finalised Box curation with no kraft box.

62

//Unboxing Project

Prototypes for testing label size and material

Prototypes for box curation & butter paper

Prototype 1: Box label

Prototype 2: Box label

Prototypes for testing protective layers & box curation

Prototyping for diy alternative option for di-cuts.

Prototype 3: Protective layers with hay & butter paper

Prototype 3: Protective layers to absorb shock

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Internship Report//

ITERATIONS & DESIGN FOR CARTON LABEL

File mouckup courtsey; Freepix

Iteration - 1

File mouckup courtsey; Freepix

Iteration - 3 64

//Unboxing Project

FINALISED DESIGN FOR LABEL The idea was not only to provide branding to the package but also to convey the brand’s message to the customers. THOA wanted to establish a friendly, excited and optimistic tone with its customers.

So, I decided to put a message on the label that says ‘thankyou for ordering’. The message also talks about recycling the materials in the package to highlight ‘responsible & sustainable’ attributes of the brand. The designs was adjusted on four sizes to be used on 9 different boxes.

Hey there! We hope that opening this package makes you really very happy. We are excited to create unique, meaningful and handmade products, just to see that smile on your face. This package is thoughtfully packed with recyclable materials, please put them to good use.

www.thoa.store

www.thoa.store

Design for square carton box

Label Size: 11x11 cms; Box size: 18x18x18cm ; Paper: AD

Hello there! We hope that opening this package makes you really very happy.

We are excited to create unique, meaningful and handmade products, just to see the smile on your face. This package is thoughtfully packed with recyclable materials, please put them to good use.

www.thoa.store

www.thoa.store

Design for square carton box

Label Size: 20x6 cms; Box size: 28x15x12cm Paper: AD sticker

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Collaterals

Corrugated sheet used to create a separation for clean & oraganised look, and to hold the Kraft Box’s Label

Kraft Box Hay

3-ply carton shipment Shipment Label Box

Digital sketch of box curation prototypes with protective layers and all other packaging elements

Finalised Box curation with kraft box.

66

//Unboxing Project

ITERATIONS FOR KRAFT BOX LABELS

Iteration - 1

Iteration - 3

Iteration - 2

Iteration - 4 The dotted line represents paper folding 67

Internship Report//

PHYSICAL PROTOTYPES : LABEL

Top view of the kraft box label

Prototypes of Kraft box label selected design to finalize the more efficient

Top view of the kraft box label

Prototyping was done not only to see what works best with package, but also to understand the dynamics of the product, and how the packaging can add value. It also helped in developing an understanding of consumer behaviour and how they interact with the product.

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FINALISED KRAFT BOX LABEL

www.thoa.store

Design for rectangular kraft box

www.thoa.store

Design for rectangular kraft box

Label Size: 11x11 cms; Box size: 18x18x18cm ; Paper: AD

Label Size: 11x11 cms; Box size: 18x18x18cm ; Paper: AD sticker Paper The packaging aims to set a visual dialogue with the consumer with consistent branding elements like logo, colour theory against a fluid lineart in the backdrop that weaves the brand’s organic and earthy aesthetics into the customer’s initial interaction with the product. Here, information like catchphrases and repeating information like website URL is also considered to improve brand recall value. Since the brand has undergone multiple rebranding, consistency among packaging products of different sizes became significant.

Hence, packaging types and their resepective label iterations were resolved. Recycled paper has been kept in consideration for the packaging to complement the brand’s sustainable choices. However, low-cost sticker sheets are currently in use to meet the overall packaging budget. As evident in the prototype images, the label placement further creates a minimal and clean, yet unceasing appeal.

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Internship Report//

STICKERS AND BUTTER PAPER

Finalised stickers design to be used on packaging

Sticker Size: 5x5 cm ; Paper: AD sticker Paper

Prototype of branded butter paper and sticker

Custom butter papers and stickers were made to further enhance the memorable branding story while also serving as an additional protective layer. Also, stickers were used in place of regular adhesives like tape

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FINALISED MESSAGE CARDS

Something is not truly itself unless it accepts itself exactly the way it is. Acceptance is also not enough. One has to grip it and celebrate each fragment of his being.

THOA celebrates the imperfections that come as a proof of something being handmade.

We bring love to light the hidden behind the drapes, we enhance and not reform! We are the ones who not only embrace the imperfections but also celebrate it.

After all, a tale is not complete without a few swells of sobs. A memory is not beautiful without a few scars, even a chunk of gold is not true without a few scratches and, Art is not art without its story being told by its aws.

www.thoa.store

Design for square rectangular kraft box

Label Size: 11x11 cms; Box size: 18x18x18cm ; Paper: AD

www.thoa.store

www.thoa.store

Something is not truly itself unless it accepts itself exactly the way it is. Acceptance is also not enough. One has to grip it and celebrate each fragment of his being.

THOA celebrates the imperfections that come as a proof of something being handmade.

We bring love to light the hidden behind the drapes, we enhance and not reform! We are the ones who not only embrace the imperfections but also celebrate it.

After all, a tale is not complete without a few swells of sobs. A memory is not beautiful without a few scars, even a chunk of gold is not true without a few scratches and, Art is not art without its story being told by its aws.

www.thoa.store

www.thoa.store

Design for square rectangular kraft box

Label Size: 11x11 cms; Box size: 18x18x18cm ; Paper: AD

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Internship Report//

STAGE 4: REDEFINED BOX CURRATION

Packaging prototype from jute

Front & back view of packaging prototype from corrugated sheet

To bridge the gap between design and production, basic prototypes were made from readily available recyclable materials. These included envelopes made from corrugated sheets and inexpensive burlap bags formed from jute sacks. They were used either for products that could not be fit it the existing kraft boxes due to sizing issues or for the extremely low budget products where using kraft boxes was not economically viable.

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Sticker Branded butterpaper, that goes around all the layer and gets sealed on top with a sticker.

Sticker

Di-cut tray for holding the product in place & absorbing shock; Ensuring product safety

Thick corrugated sheet walling inside the box as extra protective layer to absorb shock.

Hay

Branded 5-ply shipment carton Shipment Handling icons

New Box curration arragement

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Internship Report//

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Interation-1

Interation-2

Interation-3

Interation-4

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FINALISED SHIPMENT CARTONS

File mouckup courtsey; Freepix

Anything custom costs more money, but with the right information and planning, we can earn a return on our investments if we succeed in building unmistakable custom packaging. So, to squeeze a little bit of extra branding on the shipment cartons, we decided to go ahead with the above depicted mock up since printed branding on boxes gives a sense of ownership and has an egde over stickers as it looks more professional. These were made by screen printing and to make them more cost effective, I segregated the different-sized boxes being used into groups so that a single screen could be used on a batch of boxes. This reduced the number of screens used from one for each box to only a few that would work for every box.

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Learning Outcome Consumer Experience was a relatively new topic for me. Consumer journey is an extensive field in itself to learn, understand and practise. So, I could only touch its basics along with the design aspect. There is a lot of research that went into this project because I was in the process of learning about consumer experience while working on the live project at the same time. I already knew that good design is when a designer empathizes with the consumer’s need, but through this journey, I have learned its real value while working on this project. This was because you have to keep yourself in the shoes of the consumer at every stage of the journey to understand multiple variables and touchpoints. While doing this project, I’ve developed a deep understanding of consumer behaviour.

This project was quite fascinating because all the parts of this project were so diverse but had the same motive, i.e. to enhance consumer experience. Although, I have worked on branding, photography and packaging projects earlier. But, through this project, I could see how they all are co-related and interdependent. I learned how visuals communicate about brand narrative. I learned how consumers behave when they interact with products, packagings, photos, etc. This entire project is more of my understanding of the topic than just a documentation of my work at THOA.

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Reference Links • • • • • • • • • • •

https://uxmag.com/articles/customer-experience-is-the-future-of-design https://medium.com/@goodrebels/consumer-experience-a-methodology-beyond-the-hypeef471372ef0f https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/customer-experience#:~:text=Customer%20 experience%20(CX)%20design%20is,nurture%20strong%20customer%2Dbrand%20 relationships https://www.i-scoop.eu/customer-experience/ https://blog.depositphotos.com/how-to-use-photography-to-influence-consumer-behavior.html https://www.meero.com/en/news/e_commerce/511/How-Great-Product-PhotographsInfluence-E-Commerce-Websites-Conversions https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/unboxing-experience/#what-a-great-unboxing-experiencecan-do-for-your-brand https://ux.stackexchange.com/questions/28517/ux-research-can-i-improve-conversion-rateswith-the-use-of-lifestyle-over-still https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/fromtouchpoints-to-journeys-seeing-the-world-as-customers-do https://www.spectos.com/en/how-to-improve-customer-experience-for-ecommerce-definitionof-touch-points/ Online courses for a deeper understanding of the topic from LinkedIn Learning like Design Thinking by Geoffrey Schwartz, Service Design & Consumer Experience by Chris Nodder.

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National Institute of Fashion Technology, Bengaluru 16th Cross, Street, 27th Main Rd, Sector 1, HSR Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560102