TSR
1
VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE
Visual Strategy Guide / TSR inc.
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRO
page i
1
BRAND DEVELOPMENT
WHAT IS TSR?
3
BRAND HISTORY
4
TIME LINE
6
NEW MISSION STATEMENT
10
REBRAND OBJECTIVE
11
KEYWORDS
12
2
4
PERSONA DEVELOPMENT
BRAND COMPETITION
VIABLE PERSONAS
20
CURRENT COMPETITION
46
NON-VIABLE PERSONAS
32
ADJACENT COMPETITION
48
ASPIRATIONAL COMPETITION
50
3
5
BRAND GRID
RESOURCES INDEX
CURRENT GRID
40
FUTURE GRID
42
SOURCES
54
Visual Strategy Guide / TSR inc.
INTRO Throughout my life, I have always thought back to simpler times. Times when things didn’t have so much weight to life’s decisions. I suppose I’m talking about being young. You know, the days when your main concerns were hoping that your mother would come home from the grocery store with your favorite breakfast cereal. Not having to file your income tax return before the deadline was what grown ups concerned themselves with. Through growing up, occasionally real life concerns reared their ugly head and would confront you. Life seemed to get a little more complicated as the years went on. Now, one recalls the easier days when things like not missing Saturday morning cartoons were not to be missed. As time flies, one can always reminisce on these simpler times. Maybe its the favorite toy or getting to ride your best friends go-cart through the neighborhood streets. The Saturday morning cartoon you set your VCR to record. The sitcom you religiously watched week after week. The books you read in school and the comic books you read at home. All these early attachments seemed so important to you as they brought you happiness in getting through your day. Now, fast forward to today. Becoming a
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responsible adult takes up most of your life, with little of it to spare, you try to relieve these early days by reacquainting yourself with that Saturday morning cartoon. You find yourself perusing the cereal isle at the grocery store or you wonder what ever had happened to your local neighborhood video rental shop. Nostalgia becomes an important part in maintaining some of your long forgotten notions of what is truly important. So in this project, one of great responsibility and having a significant amount of pressure, I look for nostalgia to inspire and kick start my imagination. For one, imagination helps to ease the mind of your adult life challenges. It helps you refocus and recharge your responsibility batteries, while keeping you in the game. When looking for new ways to approach a problem such as this assignment, I reach for that things that bring me back to a time when my mind was filled with the joy for simpler things in life. Then, it might have been your He-man collection or your baseball cards. For me today, however, its commonly entertainment such as movies, books, and video games. So when asked to think of a solution to a problem and solve it, I approach it from the angle of nostalgia. Having to pick a now defunct company for this re-brand assignment
took some thought. I wanted to enjoy the process of developing the ideas and concepts in the assignment, so I chose to reach into my nostalgic past to discover a company that I would enjoy working with and one that could conceivably take on the new brand directions I had in mind. I I narrowed my choices down, and eventually decided on TSR inc. as the great brand that revolutionized gaming with Dungeons & Dragons. Influenced by my forays into entertainment. Mainly a book I recently read titled Ready Player One, I drew similarities with the premise of the book and the re-branding possibilities of TSR inc. In the book a company very similar to TSR had a product that revolutionized how people lived through the help of science and advances in technology. Reading the book, I made comparisons with the brands founder with the founder of Tactical Studies Rules, Gary Gygax and Dave Arenson. It was almost like it was meant to be. Here I was finishing up a book that I drew inspiration from. A book about nostalgia of things I loved when I was young. Things like TSR’s D&D. It just feels right when things line up through inspiration and the imagination. Qualities I hope to convey within this re-branding assignment within these pages.
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Dungeons & Dragons gives you a feeling of nostagia. Early Concept illustration by the great Larry Elmore (left). Ernest Cline’s best seller, Ready Player One (above), delves into many ideas similar to the concept of this rebrand project.
Visual Strategy Guide / TSR inc.
1
BRAND DEVELOPMENT
A brief history that describes the brands founders and their revolutionary vision that changed an industry forever.
Brand Development 01
WHAT IS TSR?
03
MISSION STATEMENT
10
Familiarizing the brand with people unaware of who or what the brand was and what their contributions had been.
With the brands soul in mind, We look to what the new brands intentions are moving forward.
BRAND HISTORY
BRAND OBJECTIVE
04
11
A brief history of the brand and its founders Gary Gygax, and Dave Arenson. A look at its early development to its inception.
Where will the brand be in the future? What will be the new directions in industries TSR looks to be involved in.
TIMELINE
KEYWORDS
06
An illustrated overview that highlights important key moments throughout the companies history.
12
Words that capture the brands initial soul and overall brand objectives.
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Brand Development 03
WHAT IS TSR? TSR was founded by fans, for fans of fantasy, science fiction. Gary Gygax and Don Kaye’s love for strategic games and the worlds created by fantasy and science fiction authors came together to make a strategy role-playing game. Through many ups and downs, the company managed to look for other media outlets to further the world of fantasy gaming. Adding new products to their ever expanding catalog, TSR hosted annual conventions to promote their flagship product D&D (Dungeons & Dragons). With growing sales, TSR made the choice to diversify their product line and tried their hands at delivering their vision in various forms. With success in book publishing, comics, and film. Their 1983 debut into Saturday morning cartoons lasted 3 seasons.
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BRAND HISTORY Tactical Studies Rules was formed in 1973 as a partnership between Gary Gygax and Don Kaye, scraping together $2,400 for startup costs, as a means to publish formally and sell the rules of Dungeons & Dragons, one of the modern role-playing games. They first published Cavaliers and Roundheads, a miniature game, to start generating income for TSR. The partnership was subsequently joined by Brian Blume and (temporarily) by Dave Arneson. Blume was admitted to the partnership to fund publishing of D&D instead of waiting for Cavaliers and Roundheads to generate enough revenue. In 1974, TSR (with Gygax’s basement as a base of operations) ran off 1,000 copies of Dungeons & Dragons, selling it for $10 and the extra dice needed for another $3.50. TSR published Blume’s Panzer Warfare in 1975, a World War II based miniature wargaming set of rules for use with 1:285 scale micro armor. At its inception, TSR sold its products directly to customers, shipped to game shops and hobby stores, and wholesaled only to three distributors which were manufacturers of miniatures figurines. In 1975, TSR picked up one or two regular distributors. In 1976, TSR joined the Hobby Industry Association of America and began exhibiting at their annual trade show, and began to establish a regular network of distributors. Tim Kask was hired in 1975 as TSR’s first Publications Editor, and the company’s first full-time employee. When Don Kaye died of a stroke in 1975, the Tactical Study Rules partnership was dissolved.
Brand Development 05
The essence of a role-playing game is that it is a group, cooperative experience.
— GARY GYGAX
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TIMELINE OF
TACTICAL STUDIES RULES It all began...
10/1973
Gary Gygax and Don Kaye founded Tactical Studies Rules in Gygax’s basement on a ping-pong table.
Brand Development 07
05/1976
The first Dungeons& Dragons tournament is held.
08/1978
A new and improved version of the D&D game is released. The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game is a big hit.
01/1975
Don Kaye unexpectedly dies, leading Tactical Studies Rules partnership to restructure into TSR Hobbies, Inc.
09/1975
Tactical Studies Rules dissolves and is restructured into TSR Hobbies.
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12/1982 TSR Hobbies breaks the 20 million mark in sales.
02/1980
To meet growing international demand,TSR, Ltd. is formed in England.
02/1990
08/1983
The company changes its name to TSR, Inc.
Develops entertainment series of science-fiction, horror, and action/adventure comic books.
Brand Development 09
...This is the end.
02/1997
TSR inc. on the brink of bankrupt. Wizards of the Coast purchases them.
...or is it?
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NEW MISSION STATEMENT To revolutionize how people interact with technology and social media in ways that helps them realize their true potential.
Brand Development 11
REBRAND OBJECTIVE With the brand solidified in pop-culture by revolutionizing an industry, the rebrand objective is to keep its legacy in mind when approaching new ways of promoting self realization and creative contributions in cooperative atmosphere. It will collaborate with industry leaders in cutting edge technology and social connectivity.
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KEYWORDS As TSR has identified its new mission statement, we can better comprehend this direction by solidifying keywords that put into action the new direction TSR is moving towards. These new values are reflected in the core of the brands dna. By immersing people in an inspirational direction, and grouped with like minded people they can achieve great things through tapping in to each an everyone imaginative problem solving abilities.
Brand Development 13
IMMERSE Actively engage one’s senses, creating an enhanced self realization in new ways.
Visual Strategy Guide / TSR inc.
COOPERATE Involving mutual assistance in
working toward a common goal.
Brand Development
IMAGINE Forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
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Brand Development 17
OPPORTUNITIES DON’T JUST HAPPEN, SO WE CREATE THEM.
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PERSONA DEVELOPMENT
To further the narrative, created here are fictional characters based on research to represent the different user types that may or may not use the brands products or services.
Persona Development 19
VIABLE PERSONAS
20
With traits and interests that align to the business’s identity and intentions. The ideal users of the brand.
NON-VIABLE PERSONAS
32
These Personas don’t fall within the brands spectrum of potential users. Yet they are presented to show where the line is between them and the viable Personas.
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PERSONA
A
ABOUT
STEVE GOMEZ { con man }
36
Age:
MALE
Gender:
SINGLE
Marital Status:
BRAND CONNECTION
HIGH SCHOOL
Education: Income:
Steve has always loved a good story. As a child, he devoured book after book, a habit he continues to this day. He loves all things fantasy and frequents 3 Fantasy conventions a year. Co-splay and RPG conventions take up the rest of his free time when he’s not reading. His introduction to tabletop role playing games was through TSR games. His first campaign was Advanced D&D. John’s taste in RPG’s evolved over time. He no longer plays D&D, but still appreciates his early experiences with the game system that Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson invented.
.
$48,000
Plays Video Games
Regular User of Social Media
Avid Reader
Trying to improve diet habits
Steve is an early user of TSR brand games starting with AD&D in 1992. His father introduced it to him.
CURRENT BRAND AWARENESS
Steve has always loved a good story. As a child, he devoured book after book, a habit he continues to this day.
Persona Development 21
As much as I love playing video games, nothing beats real life table-top gaming.
•
Steve grew up in a small suburb of Harrisburg Pennsylvania where he still lives to this today.
•
His main group of friends all share similar interests in Role Playing Games because its an escape from their mundane lives.
•
Steve manages his local Pizza Hut and recently offered the position to manage an additional Pizza Hut location in the next town over because he works well with others.
•
He draws inspiration from the many fantasy novels because it helps him when creating his own RPG campaign that he makes specifically for his group of friends.
•
Steve publishes a bi-monthly zine that he sells at Fantasy and RPG conventions he attends throughout the year.
•
Recently he traded in his Honda Accord for a new one. He has been driving this model of car since high school.
•
His passion for gaming was born out of his love for adventure novels he read as a kid. He would spend hours reading these novels because he felt immersed in the stories he read..
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PERSONA
B
ABOUT
DIANE LEVY { con woman }
34
Age:
FEMALE
Gender:
SINGLE
Marital Status:
BRAND CONNECTION
HIGH SCHOOL
Education: Income:
Diane graduated high school and enrolled into the armed forces immediately. After serving four years in the United States Navy, she decided return to her hometown where she began taking nursing classes at the community college. She currently works with her boyfriend at her local Pizza Hut. When she’s not studying for her exams, she’s joining her boyfriend in playing RPG’s with him and his friends.
.
$32,000
Plays Video Games
Regular User of Social Media
Avid Reader
Trying to improve diet habits
Diane heard of TSR through her boyfriend when she was first introduced to his circle of RPG friends.
CURRENT BRAND AWARENESS
She only recognizes the brand logo as older publications of vintage gaming.
Persona Development 23
War strategy was a big thing in the military. We were always reminded of its importance.
•
Diane learned to sow in The United States Navy where her main duty was to repair parachutes and flight gear.
•
With regret, she recently enrolled in an online class at school because she perfers the face-toface interactions one gets from onside classes.
•
Recently falling in love with her high school sweetheart, she spends every moment she can with him when shes not studying.
•
She constantly keeps up with her friends on social media, because she a very social person and loves to think back to the good times she had with them.
•
Diane loves watching super hero movies and recently attended her first Co-splay convention where she dressed up as The Baroness from G.I.Joe.
•
Her pride and joy is her BMW M3 which she just finished paying off.
•
Her and her boyfriend just had a kitchen remodel party because they new that getting more people to help demo the walls and floors would get the job done quicker.
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PERSONA
C
ABOUT
RECINA GREEN {Professor}
42
Age:
FEMALE
Gender:
MARRIED
Marital Status:
BRAND CONNECTION
MFA
Education: Income:
Recina teaches Economics at Harrisburg Community College. She is always looking for new ways to engage her students to better help them absorb her lesson plans throughout the year. During her winter and summer breaks, she spends as much time as she can being with her family and her aging mother who lives next door to her. Her two children just entered middle school. As a teacher, she keeps her kids in check with their studies and closely monitors their study habits.
.
$55,000
Plays Video Games
Regular User of Social Media
Avid Reader
Trying to improve diet habits
Recina has confiscated some TSR guide books from one of her bright students, as he was distracted in class by the materials illustrations which the found to be obscene.
CURRENT BRAND AWARENESS
Recina has no understanding of the brand an or its merchandise. She can vaguely recall seeing the logo once before.
Persona Development 25
•
Recina loves watching live sports because she used to go to the local games every weekend with her family.
•
She uses social media because she needs to stay connected with other professors. She keeps up with her students and what they are engaging in online in hopes to give her insight and new ideas and ways to convey her lesson plans.
•
She loves reading because it gets her imagination going after a long day at work
•
Once a month she host her neighborhood Book of the Month club.
•
Her and her husband monitor their children’s activity online because she is aware of how immersed and distracted they get from spending too much time connected.
•
They try to balance tech play with traditional play because she knows the importance of cooperative play and interactions.
•
Recina loves camping with her family because it brings them closer together.
I get my kids hands dirty when learning. Physically connecting the dots helps them retain information.
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PERSONA
D
ABOUT
PAUL STINE {Gameboy}
42
Age:
MALE
Gender:
MARRIED
Marital Status:
BRAND CONNECTION
MFA
Education: Income:
Keith is a History Professor at Harrisburg Community College. His passion is War history and loves collecting War memorabilia. He also runs a local War gaming club where he spends most of his time developing and authoring games for the local club. He loves to paint miniatures and build scale models of scenery for the games he runs. He has two Golden Retrievers and loves to fish.
.
$60,000
Plays Video Games
Regular User of Social Media
Avid Reader
Trying to improve diet habits
Keith has been a avid gamer since middle school. AD&D was the stepping stone into the world of Role Playing games and Miniature figurines for him.
CURRENT BRAND AWARENESS
As a hobbyist, Keith still looks out for TSR products on the secondary market like E-bay and Craigslist and the occasional estate sale.
Persona Development 27
•
Keith attended the community college he currently teaches in because hes well connected with the faculty there and they helped get him his position.
•
He loves running games at his local gaming chapter because they have much more space then his basement offers.
•
When gaming, he makes sure his fridge is stocked with Mountain Dew, Pepsi, and 15 year old aged Scotch.
•
As a history professor, he loves reading about War history because draws inspiration from it when imagining gaming scenarios.
•
Keith keeps a blog about him and his friends gaming because he wants to stay connected with his gaming community by keeping them updated and entertained by his posts.
•
He recently gained 3000 followers on his Youtube channel where he discusses topics of interest when developing characters for role playing games he plays. .
•
He’s been driving the same car since high school. A 1993 Mitsubishi Galant.
I use rules of percentages and dice rolls in my classroom when discussing battlefield tactics.
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PERSONA
E
ABOUT
LEWIS MARTI {Code Guru}
46
Age:
MALE
Gender:
SINGLE
Marital Status:
BRAND CONNECTION
BFA
Education: Income:
Lewis has a degree as a software engineer. He spends every waking hour on his laptop. If he’s not at work coding, he’s at his local coffee shop getting work done. His job is his obsession and his only hobby. He lives to code and rarely does anything else on his free time. He is currently working on a VR project that is pushing the boundaries of what he knows. Although it is a challenge, he lives for opportunities like these to learn and grow as an engineer.
.
$130,000
Plays Video Games
Regular User of Social Media
Avid Reader
Trying to improve diet habits
Lewis has a nostalgic recollection of playing RPG games in school. He recalls the enjoyment he got out of the game as it was a great excuse to get together with his friends.
CURRENT BRAND AWARENESS
Lewis has long since picked up a TSR game. His latest remembrance of TSR was the release of the awful Hollywood flop for Dungeons & Dragons.
Persona Development 29
•
Lewis was always a great student because he always took advantage of studying with his friends on a regular basis.
•
His parents tell him that he should get a puppy because they think it would help him find a nice girl that he can spend time with.
•
He just built a salt water tank and got some new aquatic life because he finds fish to be relaxing and help him come up with creative ways to solve problems while coding.
•
He generally doesn’t go out much as he always seems to want to talk about work, which some find annoying.
•
Lewis programmed his romba vacuum cleaner to clean up after his scheduled fish feeding times as he often drops food flakes all over his carpet.
•
He loves purchasing all the latest gadgets because he feels the need to stay up on technology as he works in the technology industry in some capacity.
•
His big ticket purchase this year was his Tesla. He mainly loves the cars UI and could care less about its economic efficiency.
TSR popularized RPG’s so that ordinary people could pick up the game.
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PERSONA
F
ABOUT
JADE COLE {Tween}
20
Age:
FEMALE
Gender:
SINGLE
Marital Status:
BRAND CONNECTION
AAS
Education: Income:
Jade recently graduated with a degree in Visual Display and Design and just moved from New York to Harrisburg Pennsylvania to begin her new job working for Macy’s, Inc. where she heads the department stores display department. She loves fashion, and design. She pay close attention to fashion trends and keeps a journal for her own personal enjoyment and for inspiration for her work. Every other weekend she returns home where she spends the weekend with her siblings and parents.
.
$65,000
Plays Video Games
Regular User of Social Media
Avid Reader
Trying to improve diet habits
Jade recalls watching Dungeons and Dragons the cartoon when she was very little with her older brother who loved to watch it every Saturday morning.
CURRENT BRAND AWARENESS
Jade has no regular connection to the company or brand. She does fondly recall watching the cartoons however.
Persona Development 31
D&D’s Saturday morning cartoon was a big hit in my house when I was growing up.
•
Jade loves to travel. When visiting new places, she likes to see how the towns Chinatown is because she like to compare it with the Chinatown she grew up in.
•
In addition to working full time, she sells vintage clothing on her online store
•
Her passion is bargain shopping because she findsall kinds of inspiration in the thrift shops.
•
She recently adopted a special needs dog and is currently looking for a wheel chair for his back legs.
•
Jade loves throwing parties. Because of this, shes looking to fill her apartment with board games and vintage video game consoles.
•
Jade just earned her drivers license before she moved. Previously she never really needed a license because she relied on public transportation.
•
She has magazine subscriptions to The New Yorker, Vogue, and Time.
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PERSONA
G
ABOUT
LISA URGO {Retired}
62
Age:
FEMALE
Gender:
MARRIED
Marital Status:
BRAND CONNECTION
MFA
Education: Income:
Lisa and her husband recently retired from their jobs where they worked together. With their pension, they bought and RV and have been travelling the United States for the last 9 months. Lisa and her husband love to read read the same books and talk about the novels they share. She recently returned to Pennsylvania to visit her sister and her family where she will stay for a week before getting back on the road. Lisa suffers from type 1 diabetes and needs to be mindful of her diet.
.
$50,000
Plays Video Games
Regular User of Social Media
Avid Reader
Trying to improve diet habits
Lisa recalls a time when RPG’s seemed to be getting attacked by the media. She recalls being concerned after watching news reports about the negative influences it has on children
CURRENT BRAND AWARENESS
Lisa is unaware of brand and is unfamiliar with any of the companies products.
Persona Development 33
Didn’t Pat Robertson go after RPG’s in the 80’s saying it was evil propaganda aimed at the youth?
•
Lisa pays close attention to her diet. Because of her recent diagnosis of having diabetes, she spends a lot of time researching her food choices.
•
She loves being retired. After 28 years at the same job, she was happy to retire with her best friend and husband.
•
When visiting new locations across the United States, she will pick up literature on the historical significance of the local community.
•
She has taken up painting as a hobby because she feels inspired by the landscapes she sees.
•
Lisa loves to read because she didn’t read much while she was working a fulltime job and raising a family. On average she reads three books a month.
•
Her and her husband plan to ship their RV to Europe next year where they plan to spend two years exploring everything the EU has to offer.
•
She enjoys wine. Not the healthiest choice, but she can’t help it.
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PERSONA
H
ABOUT
APRIL CANN {Vegan Mom}
40
Age:
FEMALE
Gender:
MARRIED
Marital Status:
BRAND CONNECTION
MFA
Education: Income:
April is a busy stay at home mother of 3 children. Although she feels the stresses of motherhood, she loves every moment of it. Her and her husband are also committed to raising their children off grid. They recently completed a second home on their twenty acres of land that also has a large garden and farm with chickens, and goats. The hope to home school their kids to teach them how to live a self-sufficient life. Living this lifestyle doesn’t come cheap, therefore her husband works from their on grid home at the front of their property as a is a software engineer.
.
$120,000
Plays Video Games
Regular User of Social Media
Avid Reader
Trying to improve diet habits
Aprils husband was a fan of TSR games. She has heard him speak of playing them when he was younger.
CURRENT BRAND AWARENESS
April has no understanding of the brand.
Persona Development 35
•
April was raised on a farm in rural Idaho. She feels the lessons she learned growing up on the farm would benefit her children while growing up.
•
She recently invested in farming bees for honey because her family try to rely on as much home grown food as possible.
•
April is a published author of a healthy dietary book on natural ways of eating slow food.
•
Once a week she accesses her on grids home Internet connectivity to promote her upcoming book about urban gardening because she hopes to educate others on the benefits of healthy diet habits.
•
Lisa loves to read. On average she reads four books a month.
•
Lisa enjoys walking her property with her kids where they explore all the wonders nature has to offer.
•
When she has time, she distills corn into moonshine and sells it at the local markets in town. This hobby has brought in additional income to help maintain their self reliant philosophies.
Teaching our children about the world in a more traditional and earthly way develops character.
Marcus Schutzenhofer / 0 3 75 5 5 1 4
41
CHARACTERS CAN’T BE DEVELOPED WITH EASE. ONLY THROUGH EXPERIENCE OF TRIAL AND ERROR CAN SUCCESS BE ACHIEVED.
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3
BRAND GRID
To visually portray an overall tone that the business hopes to convey. By Juxtaposing an older visual language with a new look, will better illustrate the progression and changes the company aims to make.
Brand Grid 39
CURRENT GRID
40
Imagery aspiring to a more prestigious era when analog and conventional means where steeped in history and tradition.
FUTURE GRID
42
Imagery still portrays that of strength and tradition but with a more clean and contemporary sheen to them that evolves the brand to what is to come.
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TSR inc.
CURRENT
Visual Strategy Guide / TSR inc. 42
TSR inc.
FUTURE
WHAT THE MIND OF MAN CAN CONCEIVE AND BELIEVE, WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR REAL.
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4
BRAND COMPETITION
Showcasing TSR inc. competition throughout, alongside, and beyond the brands evolution. Here we begin to understand future projections as to the brands potential direction.
Brand Competition 45
CURRENT COMPETITORS
46
A list of current competitor business’s that offer similar products and or services which helps push innovation within the business’s market space.
ADJACENT COMPETITORS
48
A list of businesses that don’t fall directly in the standard definition of competition These company offerings are aligned due to similar brand messages.
ASPIRATIONAL COMPETITORS
Highlighting businesses that will be direct competition based on the new direction the rebranding takes the business into.
50
Visual Strategy Guide / TSR inc. 46
CURRENT COMPETITORS A list of current competitor business’s that offer similar products and or services which helps push innovation within the business’s market space.
Games Workshop is a British miniature war gaming manufacturing company based in Nottingham, England. Games Workshop is best known as developer and publisher of the tabletop wargames.
White Wolf published several different but overlapping games set in the “World of Darkness”, a “modern Gothic” world that, while seemingly similar to the real world.
Palladium Books is a publisher of role-playing games perhaps best known for its popular, expansive Rifts series (1990–present). Palladium was founded April 1981 in Detroit, Michigan
FASA Corporation was publisher of RPG games, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001, after which they closed publishing operations they became an IP holding company under the name FASA Inc.
Parker Brothers was an American toy and game manufacturer which later became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883.
Wizards of the Coast is an American game publisher, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games. Was popularized by the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering.
Brand Competition 47
The Milton Bradley Company was an American board game manufacturer established in 1860. In 1920, it absorbed the game production of McLoughlin Brothers, formerly the largest game manufacturer in the United States.
Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that specializes in war games and strategic board games. It has also published the miniature war gaming rules, and had a popular line of sports simulations that popularized the brand.
Fantasy Games Unlimited first publications were the war games Gladiators and Royal Armies of the Hyborean Age. Upon the massive popularity of Dungeons & Dragons, the company turned its attentions to role-playing games.
Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) produced RPG’s, board, miniature, and card games since 1980. ICE’s products were related to Tolkien’s world of Middle-earth.
Target Games was a Swedish publisher of role-playing games active from 1980 until the year 1999 when they went into bankruptcy proceedings.
Chaosium Inc. is one of the oldest publishers of role-playing games still in existence. Established by Greg Stafford in 1975, its first title was the board game White Bear.
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ADJACENT COMPETITORS A list of businesses that don’t fall directly in the standard definition of competition These company offerings are aligned due to similar brand messages.
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California, and is a subsidiary of the American company Activision Blizzard. The company was founded on February 8, 1991.
Marvel Comics Group, a publisher of American comic books and related media. In 2009, The Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment, Marvel Worldwide’s parent company and distributor.
Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology.
Hasbro is an American multinational toy and board game company. It is the largest toy maker in the world in terms of stock market value, and third largest with revenues of approximately $5.12 billion worldwide.
DesignerCon is an annual art and design convention that smashes together collectible toys, customs, plush, designer apparel and so much more with urban, underground and pop art!
San Diego Comic-Con International is a multi-genre entertainment and comic convention held annually in San Diego, California, United States.
Brand Competition 49
LucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game publisher. Until 2013, it was also a video game developer. Best known for its graphic adventure games, as well as games based on the Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Disneyland, is the first of two theme parks built in Anaheim, California, opened on July 17, 1955. It is the only theme park designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt Disney.
LARP Alliance, Inc. was a non-profit organization based in the US, which was established in order to improve communication, support, and education regarding Live Action Roleplaying (LARP) throughout the general public.
Nintendo Co., Ltd is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company head-quartered in Kyoto. Nintendo is one of the world’s largest video game companies by market capitalization.
HarperCollins Publishers L.L.C. is one of the world’s largest publishing companies and is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies.
Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy and science fiction and erotica.
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ASPIRATIONAL COMPETITORS Highlighting businesses that will be direct competition based on the new direction the rebranding takes the business into.
LinkedIn, LinkedIn is a business and employment oriented social networking service that operates via websites and mobile apps. A social media that revolves around employment.
Oculus is an American technology company founded by Palmer Luckey, Brendan Iribe, Michael Antonov and Nate Mitchell in July 2012 in California. It specializes in virtual reality hardware and software.products.
Facebook, is an American online social media and social networking service company based in Menlo Park, California.
Immersion Corporation of San Jose, California, is a developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, also known as haptic technology. It was founded in 1993 by Louis Rosenberg.
Flickr is an image- and video-hosting website and web services suite that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo on 20 March 2005..
Ultrahaptics creates tactile sensations in mid-air. No controllers or wearables are needed: our patented “virtual touch” technology uses ultrasound to project shapes and textures directly onto the user’s hands.
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Ekso Bionics is a pioneer in the field of robotic exoskeletons. For over 10 years we have been committed to developing the latest technology and engineering to help people rethink current physical limitations and achieve the remarkable.
Nintendo Co., Ltd is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company head-quartered in Kyoto. Nintendo is one of the world’s largest video game companies by market capitalization.
WeWork is an American company that provides shared workspaces, technology startup subculture communities, and services for entrepreneurs, freelancers, startups, small businesses and large enterprises.
Chuck E. Cheese’s is a chain of family entertainment centres and restaurants. Serving pizza and other menu items, complemented by arcade games, amusement rides, and animatronic displays as a focus of entertainment for the entire family.
Moniker is a corporate trip planning agency, focused on helping companies put together imaginative trips, retreats, and offsites around the world.
Pixar is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California that is a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group.
WHAT THE MIND OF MAN CAN CONCEIVE AND BELIEVE, WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN FOR REAL.
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SOURCES
Sources 55
WEB REFERENCES unsplash.com facebook.com shutterstock.com
BOOK REFERENCES NASA Visual Standards Manual New York City Transit Graphic Standards Manual UPS Brand Identity Design Guide
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All content for TSR inc Visual Strategy Guide was collected, conceived, written and designed by M Marcus Mitch Schutzenhofer
DESIGN CONSULTATION
Hunter Wimmer, GR 604 Nature of Identity
Copyright Š 2018. MARCUS MITCH SCHUTZENHOFER The images in this book are used in accordance with the Creative Common License. This book is a non-commercial work produced as a student project for educational purpose, and as such is considered a derivative work under the Fair Use Clause of U.S. Copyright Law.