McGehee Process Book

The Garden Club

SENIOR PROJECT PROPOSAL DARIAN mCgEHEE SCHEDULE Jan. 27 Proposal Due Branding Thubnails, moodboard, style guide, begin computer work.

Feb. 3 Present work on branding, and collateral. Fully finish branding after crit.

Feb. 10 Review #1 Make appropriate changes after review.

Begin website.

Feb. 17 Present collateral updates and website.

Feb. 24 No class. Just work.

March 2 Get everything 95% done and make changes after crit.

March 9 Review #2 Make appropriate changes after review.

March 16 Spring Break Make final changes.

Work on powerpoint.

March 23 Thesis paper due.

April 6 Final Review April 13-24 Production!!!!

April 25 Show opens!!

My topic of choice for this project is to create an extensive brand campaign for a women’s social club and to research on how I can incorporate history within the brand itself. It is widely known that, even in this day in age, women are not always seen as equals in many cases, especially the business world. I believe the subject matter is appropriate for this project because I can show how a communal and diverse space for women to come together and collaborate can be designed with every woman in mind.

The specific area of design that I will be focusing on within this project is branding. The impact it will have on the design field, as well as other disciplines, will be a positive one as it will show how to create a successful brand that can reach a wide and diverse audience takes much more than one good designer, it takes a community of creative minds. This investigation will contribute to my personal growth as a designer because it is research that I am really passionate about and interested in, and I am positive that is going to be expressed in my work and push me to be a better designer and show me how I have grown.

The methodology I plan to pursue within this investigation is researching on women all throughout history and incorporating elements of our past within the design and branding. This methodology is a new level of investigation for me because even though I have referenced art history in the past as inspiration for design elements, this time I will be drawing the inspiration from history that isn’t already design related and referencing actual events within the work. The issue I foresee myself having is creating an identity that would appeal to a diversity of women without pandering or being stereotypical, but I believe that with the right amount of research and remembering what I have learned as a graphic designer over the past four years will help me keep it in check.

THE GARDEN CLUB Darian McGehee ART 448 Spring 2020

McGehee 2 INTRODUCTION The topic of choice for this project was to create an extensive brand campaign for a women’s social club and to research on how history can be incorporated within the brand itself.

It is widely known that, even in this day in age, women are not always seen as equals in many cases, especially the business world. This subject matter was an appropriate choice for this project because it showed how a communal and diverse space for women to come together and collaborate can be designed with every woman in mind. The specific area of design that was focused on within this project is branding and publication design. The impact it will have on the design field, as well as other disciplines, will be a positive one as it will show how to create a successful brand that can reach a wide and diverse audience takes much more than one good designer, it takes a community of creative minds. The methodology pursued within this investigation was research on women and design all throughout history and incorporating elements of the past within the design and branding. The problem solved with the research throughout this investigation was creating an identity that would appeal to a diversity of women without pandering or being stereotypical.

THE HISTORY Because this is a women’s social club, something that has been around since the late 1860’s, this brand already has so much history behind it that needs to be thoroughly researched before it is even created. The women’s club movement of the late 19th century and early 20th century unfolded alongside the suffrage movement. Women’s clubs were revolutionary destinations

McGehee 3 where women could work, gather and learn alongside one another and, in some cases, plot their next moves in the fight for equality.1 “A few brave women in New York and Boston challenged these constraints in the late 1860s and soon persuaded the general population of middle-class American women to form voluntary organizations in their neighborhoods to defy custom, undertake serious study of intellectual topics and current events, and organize for social reforms at the local, state, and national levels. All this well before they saw the right to vote to effect change at the ballot box!

In the years between the 1870s and 1920s, women’s clubs became the major vehicle by which American women could exercise their developing talents to shape the world beyond their homes. Although the twentieth century would deliver increasing educational, professional, and business venues for women to make use of their intellect, training, and creativity, hundreds of clubs continued to function in this country into modern times, providing members with regular meetings in order to network, learn about social issues, identify civic problems, and devise solutions through volunteer power.”2 Although today’s social clubs parallel those in the past by no longer meeting in parlors and community spaces but instead in a Brooklyn warehouse or Soho loft with plush velvet sofas and large windows, much like The Wing, it does not mean that today’s clubs are defined by their

1

Graham, Ava, and David M. Dismore. “The Feminist Legacy of Modern Women's Clubs.” Ms. Magazine, July 16, 2018. https://msmagazine.com/2018/03/20/feminist-legacy-modern-womens-clubs/.

2

“Women’s Clubs.” National Women’s History Museum, March 17, 2014. https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/womens-clubs.

McGehee 4 financial prosperity as their core and founding values are evocative of the original women’s clubs.

“In this age of tech and Internet isolation, women’s clubs offer a real-world destination for women to congregate, work, learn and build connections offline. An 1899 report of the International Women’s Council Congress declared that women’s clubs’ ‘interchange of ideas must cultivate breadth of view, as one’s world is enlarged by seeing it from a neighbor’s hilltop.’ A century later, these spaces are still being established on the pillars of equality and community.”3 The new generation of women’s clubs are not only a recurrent trend or an appearance of circumstance, it is a reflection of our society.

THE BRAND When creating a brand of this nature, there are a lot of elements to consider and none of them should be overlooked or taken lightly. Once all of the research is complete, it must all be used effectively, but also be modernized at the same time. In the very early history of women’s suffrage, women would put up posters and ads in the paper advertising meetings for clubs such as book or sewing clubs, but they were actually meetings to work towards gaining their rights as women. They would put up these fronts to fool their husbands and the general public into thinking that they were doing stereotypical pass times while they were actually defying the social norms of their time.4 It was this bold act of defiance from history that inspired the name of the women’s social club in this project. The full name is ‘The Garden Club: A League of

3

Graham, Ava, and David M. Dismore. “The Feminist Legacy of Modern Women's Clubs.” Ms. Magazine, July 16,

4

2018. https://msmagazine.com/2018/03/20/feminist-legacy-modern-womens-clubs/.

Sheppard, Alice. "Suffrage Art and Feminism." Hypatia 5, no. 2 (1990): 122-36. www.jstor.org/stable/3810160.

McGehee 5 Disobedient Women’, the main title eluding back to the types of meetings that the suffragettes would pretend they were having and then the tagline giving insight of what the real voice of the club is actually like. This is also portrayed in the typeface choices used for the logo of the brand with the display type, Bely Display, with the beautiful variation of thick and thin width and its sharp points on its ends, illustrating a beautiful but dangerous woman.

Another popular aspect that needed to be incorporated into the brand were the use of suffrage graphics. Suffrage graphics originally were cartoons that called women to action by depicting a view of women in a certain social context and focused on the perspectives of women during that time. Some would portrayed emotional appeals that were expected to transform the nation while others featured slogans from main leaders of the movement, but in only just a few years the art created by feminist cartoonists transitioned from occasional efforts to rapid expansion using more sophisticated cartoon techniques and styles. “The art of the suffrage campaign contrasts with modern feminist art on several points.

First, its ideology was distinct, though the rationale gradually shifted from principled to expedient grounds. The majority of suffragists reaffirmed their nineteenth-century upbringing and its belief in psychological gender dimorphism. Women were morally superior, had mothering instincts, were concerned with the public welfare, all of which could only enhance the world of politics. Socialists, in particular, failed to observe the contradiction between a Marxist view that human characteristics and consciousness are embedded in social and economic relations and belief in a higher ethical sense, presumably innate, attributed to women.�5

5

Sheppard, Alice. "Suffrage Art and Feminism." Hypatia 5, no. 2 (1990): 122-36. www.jstor.org/stable/3810160.

McGehee 6 Another issue with the more traditional feminist graphics used during that time was that their feminism was limited to just legislative changes such as being able to vote or the legalization of birth control. Lastly, suffrage art fails to speak to modern artists because they are confused by the backhanded references and are embarrassed by the sentimentality, class/race perspectives, and outdated psychology. To make sure that the brand encompasses a diverse group of women, a spin had to be taken on the traditional suffrage graphics so that not only one group is portrayed and that they also show women fighting for all women, not just themselves.6 To accomplish this, the brand uses real photos from throughout history, rather than illustrations, of women coming together and fighting for their rights. The images portray women of all races, backgrounds, and ages and doesn’t show them in any particular social setting other than rebellion. Since some of these images are lower quality because of their age, the decision was made to bitmap all of the images, turning them into halftones so that the detail can be preserved while also adding another element of grit to the brand. To accompany these images, the only information that is seen with them are the club logo or a spunky slogan to draw in the viewers attention while also speaking to the “disobedient� aspect of the club and a call to action.

This design element was inspired by the Guerilla Girls and their unique way of taking subjects no one wants discuss anymore and presenting them in a way that is hard to ignore.7 Another important aspect in establishing the overall feel of the brand is the color palette, because it is very easy just to go with very stereotypical feminine colors without putting much

6

Sheppard, Alice. "Suffrage Art and Feminism." Hypatia 5, no. 2 (1990): 122-36. www.jstor.org/stable/3810160.

7

"Transgressive Techniques of the Guerrilla Girls." Getty Research Journal, no. 2 (2010): 203-08. www.jstor.org/stable/23005421.

McGehee 7 thought into it and these colors needed to more modernized and be feminine without being overly redundant. The color palette is a pale take on pastels, inspired by paper goods like stationary and cards, classic ways of communicating. The main brand color is pink, reclaiming a polarizing color for many women, but in a cool and modern hue. Then to contrast, a deep green to relate back to the greenery that would be associated with the garden club and gold accents to make it pop.

THE COLLATERAL Once the brand was established the next thing that needed to be worked on is the overall collateral for the project to go along with the branding. The goal of the collateral is to give the brand substance and personality, while also serving a purpose. The first piece of collateral that was created for The Garden Club was a tapestry that is meant to hang above the reception desk at the entrance of the club. This idea came from looking into more traditional male social clubs that would have the club’s crest embroidered onto it and it would be a nice spin on that element. It also stemmed from suffragettes who would create tapestries and banners as their signage with their messages of protest on them. These tapestries were very much type heavy and had a more hand done quality about them. It was because of this aspect that rather than just having a tapestry with the club logo, it was decided to create a creed that spoke to the club’s core values and that would adorn the tapestry instead. Using The Garden Club’s brand colors, a felt tapestry was designed with hand-lettered type for the creed, with the help of the manufacturing company, Oxford Pennant.

As more research was done into the business side of the club rather than the historical one, another piece of collateral that seemed to be an important and valuable addition was a new member welcome box. The club has already made a great initial impression and has convinced

McGehee 8 someone to become a member, but after that their needs to be another “first” impression as a member rather than a potential candidate. With the box, a new member would feel like the club is organized and prepared for their arrival, excited even. It would also make the new member feel special and like they are officially apart of the club.8 This box could also be used to promote brand awareness and encourage new members to post and share images of their welcome boxes on social media, thus drawing the attention of potential members to the club. The Garden Club could even promote themselves with the box by sharing what they give the new members in a blog or social media post.

Since the box could be a vital tool in the promotion of the club, the contents of it are very important. It would need to contain more than just official papers like contracts and agreements and whatever is put into the box and how it is designed instantly shows new members a small glimpse into the club and of how the club views them. It is important that it shows that it is designed and put together with care, rather than just throwing something together last minute in a plain box, so that the new members feel like they are valued and welcomed and not seen as last minute burdens that need to be taken care of. This is where design and contents really come in to play and where the brand really needed to be developed so that everything is cohesive and stays true to the brand and the mission of the club itself.

“Welcome kits are not only a bunch of merchandise – they are also powerful tools to engage new members, introduce them to the company and create an unforgettable first impression. A welcome kit that is designed well – from colors and fonts to packing – will give new members an idea of the company’s culture. If done well, it will make them feel 8

Wilson, Mark. “How Welcome Kits Make New Employees Feel Like Part of the Team.” Packlane, February 4, 2020. https://packlane.com/blog/employee-welcome-kits.

McGehee 9 like they are already a valuable team member. This is one moment where you get to set a precedent for how new members will feel about your brand. The little things matter.

Smart companies invest in internal branding in their welcome kits. One way to do this is by including the company logo or design elements in the welcome kit.” 9 The new member welcome box would include standard materials like their membership card, a brochure or handout welcoming them and giving them more detail about the club and the amenities that are now available to them, a list of people who could be contacted for various different reasons concerning questions about their membership or the club, and a copy of the membership contract that they had signed. But it would also include more fun items like a branded t-shirt and stationary items, stickers, tote bag, poster, and a copy of the club’s most recent issue of their monthly newsletter. All items within the box expressing the brand’s personality using branded colors and bold slogans like are used in the club advertising.

THE PUBLICATION For the project itself, it needed just one more major aspect other than just the branding.

Similar to the new member box, it needed to serve a purpose to the overall club. When the decision was made that this part of the project would be a publication, it was natural instinct to instantly want to design it like a newspaper. The newspaper was a pivotal point in graphic design history as the design rapidly changed in the advertising world and it would also be something nostalgic for the club in the sense of the medium chosen but would obviously need to be modernized respectively.

9

Wilson, Mark. “How Welcome Kits Make New Employees Feel Like Part of the Team.” Packlane, February 4,

2020. https://packlane.com/blog/employee-welcome-kits.

McGehee 10 First, research was done into standard newspaper layout and design as this is something that needed to be stayed true to in some degree and before it can be altered and modernized, the standard needs to be understood.

“The foundation of graphic design is formal structure. Functional structuralists have enumerated and described the conventions and codes for arranging the ‘graphic elements’, such as typography, line art, and continuous-tone art, on the page in order to move the reader’s eye through a layout. The fact that these graphic elements are meaningful aspects of communication usually is not emphasized by functional structuralists; form, rather than content, is the central focus of analysis and discussion.

The graphic elements are described as forms with ‘visual characteristics,’ such as shape, weight, size, pattern, texture, position, and color. Through these graphic elements, visual characteristics, and design principles such as balance, sequence, contrast, unity, proportion, etc., designers impose visual order on a layout.” 10 Once the traditional layout and design of newspapers was understood then came figuring out how the publication could be modernized to fit into the brand of The Garden Club while also still being its own distinct brand. For this, research took a turn back to the Guerilla Girls. The Guerilla Girls did a lot of things that had also been done by past feminist groups, these women managed to do it with a different style and language that appealed to a younger generation of women starting in the 1970’s and still continuing today in 2020.11 Their style was also very

10

Craig, Robert. "Ideological Aspects of Publication Design." Design Issues 6, no. 2 (1990): 18-27. doi:10.2307/1511433.

11

Chave, Anna C. "The Guerrilla Girls' Reckoning." Art Journal 70, no. 2 (2011): www.jstor.org/stable/41430728.

McGehee 11 fitting for the type of publication because their work is primarily typographical with the use of occasional images and they also fight for a similar cause that boils down to the equality and advancement of women.

With the design and style of the publication established, the work began on the publication. The decision was made in a group meeting that the publication would become a monthly newsletter that is released by The Garden Club and that one issue would be created for the project and would consist of twelve pages. This would also be a newsletter that, in theory, would be free to the members of the club but also be available for non-members to subscribe to so it was important that the content wouldn’t just have member specific content and would also be targeted towards non-members as well. Since this would also be seen by non-members, advertising for the club itself would also need to be included in the newsletter as well.

The newsletter is titled Bombshell, taking what is considered to be a derogatory term commonly used towards women and reclaiming it as something that is their own. It consists of ten articles that utilize a combination of bold text and bitmapped images, similar to what is used in The Garden Club advertising, but only utilizes two colors throughout the entire publication which are black and pure magenta. This allowed for the Bombshell brand to be similar enough and fit into The Garden Club brand but also be separated enough to be its own. The overall size of the newsletter is traditional newspaper size but isn’t produced traditionally, rather it is printed in a digital printing process to be cost effective, could be reproduced in larger numbers at a faster rate, and also allow for full bleeds across the center margins when necessary, like is used in the newsletter. The very center spread of the newsletter is a poster used to advertise The Garden Club and is meant to be a collectable item for the members and non-members that are subscribed to the newsletter.

McGehee 12 CONCLUSION The Garden Club is a project that consists of so many different elements of design such as branding, advertising, package design, and publication design. Researching on how history can be incorporated within the brand itself and then modernizing it was one of the main challenges within this project, along with designing a brand that can appeal to a diverse range of women without being overly and annoyingly feminine. After the full research and designs are done and the ideas are fully fleshed out and have come to life, the project successfully solved those problems and a creative and interesting way.

McGehee 13 REFERENCES Chave, Anna C. "The Guerrilla Girls' Reckoning." Art Journal 70, no. 2 (2011): 102-11. www.jstor.org/stable/41430728.

Craig, Robert. "Ideological Aspects of Publication Design." Design Issues 6, no. 2 (1990): 18-27. doi:10.2307/1511433.

Graham, Ava, and David M. Dismore. “The Feminist Legacy of Modern Women's Clubs.” Ms. Magazine, July 16, 2018. https://msmagazine.com/2018/03/20/feminist-legacy-modernwomens-clubs/.

Sheppard, Alice. "Suffrage Art and Feminism." Hypatia 5, no. 2 (1990): 122-36. www.jstor.org/stable/3810160.

"Transgressive Techniques of the Guerrilla Girls." Getty Research Journal, no. 2 (2010): 203-08. www.jstor.org/stable/23005421.

Wilson, Mark. “How Welcome Kits Make New Employees Feel Like Part of the Team.”

Packlane, February 4, 2020. https://packlane.com/blog/employee-welcome-kits.

“Women’s Clubs.” National Women’s History Museum, March 17, 2014. https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/womens-clubs.

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AS WOMEN, THE GREATEST SERVICE WE CAN DO IS TO HELP EACH OTHER RISE AND TO SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER.

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