Highlights_Visual Strategy Guide//604 student project

VISUAL STRATEGY GUIDE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Brand History

Timeline

BRAND HISTORY

We are an American children’s magazine. It began publication in June 1946, started by Garry Cleveland Myers and his wife Caroline Clark Myers in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. They both worked for another children’s magazine, Children’s Activities, for twelve years before leaving to start Highlights. Since its inception Highlights has carried the slogan “Fun with a Purpose”.

Highlights magazine reflected their philosophy that children become their “best selves” by using their creativity and imagination; developing their reading, thinking and reasoning skills; and learning to treat others with respect, kindness and sensitivity.

Highlights is geared mainly toward elementary school students; it contains stories and puzzles for children ages six to twelve years old. One aim of the magazine is to encourage kids to read and has something for preschoolers in every issue. Highlights’ illustrations feature people of all colors and its stories also cover diverse communities. Its February 2017 issue included a family with two dads, the first depiction of a same-sex relationship in the magazine’s 70-year history.

“Fun with a Purpose”

BRAND TIMELINE

1946

In a little two-room office, husband and wife Garry Cleveland Myers and Caroline Clark Myers, filled the monthly magazine for children ages 6 to 12.

1986

Highlights was the most popular children’s magazine in the United States, having close to two million subscribers, with 95 percent of the copies mailed to homes.

2005

“Ask Arizona” is a story series featuring a girl named Arizona who writes an advice column for other children, similar to Dear Abby or Ask Ann Landers. The article depicts real-life experiences and appears in every issue.

1948

First appearing in Highlights ，Goofus and Gallant is a cartoon feature created by Garry Cleveland Myers and drawn by Anni Matsick.

1995

At this year, Highlights’ circulation had grown to 2.8 million, with most subscribers still being families.

2012

Now

Right now, Highlight will provide enrich, knowledgeable content for every generation of children and parents, also allow them to explore everything through different ways.

2007

This children’s magazine is for preschoolers ages two through six. The goal of High Five is to help children develop and to give parent and child a fun and meaningful activity to do together each month.

Highlights announced that Hello magazine, which is offered in several subscription packages is designed specifically for babies (0–2 years old).

2016

In September 2015, Highlights announced a partnership with Fingerprint based startup company involved in the development of edutainment Apps. The subscription service, Highlights Every Day, officially launched in April 2016

RE-BRAND DESCRIPTION

Potential

Highlights have been educating children for a long time, and the magazine content covers many subjects. These contents are very professional, and what they have to do is how make audiences access these contents faster.

Expansion

In Highlights, all employees of the company enrich the magazine’s content with new knowledge every day, and are constantly exploring new ways to serve a new generation of children and parents. This brand can develop online education, e-zine, and handicraft, art box. It ensures that children can quickly learn knowledge and interact with parents and classmates.

KEYWORDS

Enrich

Highlights thinks rich, professional, and interesting content is the key to retaining loyal customers and attracting new ones. The staff will develop content more in line with the characteristics of the new era based on the original IP.

Knowledge

Highlights provides high-quality content and educational tools for children to learn. In this way, children can acquire knowledge through interaction and play.

Explore

The courage to explore and keep trying new things can make the brand more dynamic. Brands will use children’s curiosity to spark their spirit of discovery. At the same time, it will also create a good platform for children and parents to explore knowledge together.

BRAND MISSION

Our mission is to inspire and enrich the curiosity, pursuit of knowledge, and exploration of each generation in different ways.

BRAND GRID / CURRENT Highlights

Today, we still believe that children are the world’s most important people — and we’ve grown our family of products to find new ways to help children become Curious, creative, caring and confident individuals.

BRAND GRID / FUTURE

In the future, Highlights will provide enricing, knowledgeable content for every generation of children and parents, and also allow them to explore everything in different ways.

Highlights

03

PERSONAS

Introduction:

Understanding your target audience is the essential step to design a successful re-brand. A persona is an early stage that helps designers understand the brand more. The personas will show their demographic and ethnographic traits to give a better understanding of how the people relate to this brand. Persona plays a significant role in brand development because designers could consider audiences’ needs before the design has started.

“Little Artist”

A. Because Tilford is very fond of drawing and is very observant. She draws every day to document the interesting things she finds on her way to school.

A. Tilford dares to try new things, so she paints with different materials.

B. Tilford likes to read picture albums, so he is very familiar with the paintings of famous artists, and she will copy famous paintings in his own way.

B. In addition to looking at catalogues, Tilford goes to the museum on weekends and holidays to see the latest exhibitions and participate in the museum’s fun activities.

C. Because of participating in many art activities and classes, Tilford has met many children who also like to draw, and they will often communicate with each other.

C. Painting becomes Tilford's window into his mood output, so she expresses her thoughts through paintings.

Areas of concern we focus on:

A. Explore new things / B. Absorb knowledge / C. Communicate emotions

Tilford Smith / 6 years old / Oakland, CA

“Little Imitator”

A. Hua Xing Ma is an international student from China. He came to study in the United States because he wanted to experience the difference between Western education and Chinese education .

A. Hua Xing likes to do chemical and biological experiments because he thinks there will be many new and interesting things during the experiment.

B. Hua Xing spends some time on reading every day because reading with prolonged concentration allows him to lean knowledge faster and more efficiently.

B. Hua Xing browses scientific videos online in his spare time because online course are very convenient.

C. Hua Xing likes leave a message under some scientific videos on the Internet because he thinks that he can understand the thoughts and opinions of different people all over the world.

C. Hua Xing participated in many extracurricular clubs because he likes talk with friends face to face.

Areas of concern we focus on:

A. Explore new things / B. Absorb knowledge / C. Communicate emotions

Hua Xing Ma / 12 years old / New York City, NY

“Energetic Teen ”

A. Because Emily is interested in very interesting things, she arranges herself to learn a musical instrument, painting, sports, etc. that she has never learned before.

A. Emily likes to go camping with her friends or parents because she believes that camping allows her to learn show to survive and explore the unknown.

B. Because doing experiments helps Emily memorize and master more difficult knowledge .

B. Emily spends two hours reading online because there are many books that are cheap and convenient.

C. Emily posts her daily life on social media because she likes to record and share her life and impressions through the social media.

C. Emily thinks that her parents are her friends who will help her with some problems she can’t solve.

Areas of concern we focus on:

A. Explore new things / B. Absorb knowledge / C. Communicate emotions

Emily Brown / 17 years old / Austin, TX

“Experienced Dad”

A. Parkash likes to take his three children to go camping outdoors because he believes that camping allows children to learn how to survive and explore the unknown.

A. Parkash takes children to do an interesting experiment every weekend because he feels that the experiment process is to cultivate children’s ability to explore knowledge by hands.

B. Because he wanted to prepare experiments for the child, Parkash checked the relevant materials online in advance, prepared the materials, and learned the relevant knowledge.

B. Parkash spends two hours reading every day because the children ask him many interesting questions every day.

C. Parkash created a Facebook group with parents of children and teachers and classmates so he could communicate with teachers and classmates’ parents about their children’s emotional issues in a timely manner.

C. Parkash and the children have a notebook for chatting, so that some embarrassed words can be said to the children in writing.ps.

Areas of concern we focus on:

A. Explore new things / B. Absorb knowledge / C. Communicate emotions

Parkash / 45 years old / Salt Lake City, UT

“New Dad”

A. James is going to a new job because he wants to provide a better living environment for his kid.

A. James likes to go hiking in different parks because it allows him to relax and discover the difference things.

B. James reads some parenting books every day, because he believes only by understanding the development of babies can he take better care of his kid.

B. James takes a online program of education because he thinks a good family education is conducive to the healthy growth of children.

C. James spends some time every day talk with his wife because he thinks special care is needed for new mother.

C James goes to parents' club every Saturday because talk with other parents can get a lot of practical tips.

Areas of concern we focus on:

A. Explore new things / B. Absorb knowledge / C. Communicate emotions

James / 35 years old / Seattle, WA

“Photographer Mom”

A. Ritsu Satoh came to work in the United States six months ago because she wanted to be exposed to more advanced technology, which would be more conducive to her career development.

A. Ritsu Satoh is taking a photography class because she thinks photography can help her discover and record the beauty in life, and at the same time cultivate children’s interest in photography.

B. Ritsu Satoh is taking an English class because she wants to learn about the local culture faster.

B. Ritsu Satoh takes her children to the library on weekends because the library has many English books that can help her children and her to improve English.

C. Ritsu Satoh some times take her children to attend activities because these activities can make her and kids integrate into the local life quickly.

C. Ritsu Satoh is learning how to communicate with a child because her kid resisitant to unfamiliar places.

Areas of concern we focus on: A. Explore new things / B. Absorb knowledge / C. Communicate emotions

Ritsu Satoh / 28 years old / San Francisco. CA

“Kind

Grandpa”

A. David learn how to surf the Internet and shoot videos on a mobile phone because he thinks it can bring the young people closer together.

A. David likes to do an interesting experiment with his grandchildren because he feels that the experiment process is to cultivate children’s ability to exploreknowledge by hands.

B. Because he wanted to prepare experiments for the child, Jamses checked the relevant materials online in advance, prepared the materials, and learned the relevant knowledge.

B. David reads newspapers, magazines or books every day after breakfast because he feels that some books have more in-depth knowledge than those on the Internet.

C. He goes to the park every day to chat with someone because he feels it can feel people’s emotions directly.

C . David makes weekly video calls with his children and grandchildren because it's easy to learn about distant relatives.

David / 67 years old / Boston, MA

“Dynamic Teacher”

A. Ansuya is taking her masters degree in mathematics online. Because she believes that knowledge is constantly changing, and only continuous learning can impart the latest knowledge to students.

A. Every summer, Ansuya will go to different countries for study tours because she can get in touch with a lot of new things and knowledge.

B. Ansuya browses the web pages of some educators every day because she can learn some teaching methods from them.

B. Anusuya goes to the library on weekends because the library has many books that can help her to learn more knowledge.

C. Anusuya some times attend activities because these activities can make her and student integrate into each other quickly.

C. Ansuyan is learning how to communicate with student because some teenage don't know how to talk with their teacher.

Areas of concern we focus on:

A. Explore new things / B. Absorb knowledge / C. Communicate emotions

Ansuya / 31 years old / Orlando, FL

CURRENT COMPETITORS

Current competitors are companies that Highlights would currently be seen as in competition with, who was competing in the children’s magazine space. The brands listed below are currently the same as the services provided by Highlights.

Cricket Media, Inc. is a global education company creating high-quality print and online learning products for children, families, mentors, teachers, and partners that improve learning opportunities for everyone.

Issues of Girls’ Life contain information and advice on topics such as fashion, cosmetics, hairstyles, relationships, peer pressure, time management, stressrelief, and self-esteem.

National Geographic Kids is a children's magazine published by the National Geographic Society. It provide science education for children through different media.

Reptiles magazine is a magazine devoted to the reptile and amphibian pet hobby, specializing in the keeping and breeding of these animals.

Science World is an educational magazine published by Scholastic Corporation targeting primarily children between grades 6 and 12 and covering many aspects of science

The Week Junior reports news directly to kids ages 8-14—providing the facts behind what’s happening in the world and empowering Gen Alpha to develop and voice their own point of view.

Honest History is to share important, well-researched stories that inspire kids to make a positive impact on history themselves. We encourage children to conduct their own research and unearth stories long lost, supported by verified facts and accompanied by an eager sense of adventure!

Owl kids is originally a science and nature magazine – OWL stands for “Outdoors and Wild Life”[3] – in recent years, like sister publication Chickadee, the magazine has come to encompass a larger variety of topics.

Ranger Rick is a magazine that introduce animal. It also provide game and video for children to lean some knowledge about animal.

Kazoo celebrates girls, ages 5 to 12, for being strong, smart, fierce and true to themselves. They pack every 64-page, ad-free issue with science, art, comics, games, crafts, recipes, stories—and inspiration. There’s no other magazine like Kazoo.

ADJACENT COMPETITORS

Adjacent competitors are companies that provide a service that is somewhat close to Highlights. Some people who don’t like reading can use the services of these brands to gain knowledge in other ways.

Pinkfong is a children’s educational branch of The Pinkfong Company. It is the global product development company has more than 4,000 children’s videos, songs, games and apps.

Cocomelon (stylized as CoComelon) is an American YouTube channel and streaming media. Cocomelon specializes in 3D animation videos of both traditional nursery rhymes and their own original children’s songs.

It’s geared toward kids ages 8-13, and they can learn subjects like social studies, language arts, math and science. Kids can also personalize their avatars and “homes.”

It calls itself the most comprehensive learning site on Earth for kids ages 2 to 7. Your kiddos can read or listen to books and music, play games and color as they accelerate through customizable learning levels designed by teachers and experts.

Epic! is an American kids subscriptionbased reading and learning platform. It offers access to books and videos for children ages 12 and under.

PBS is a online educational platform that kids learning through games. The educational site also has a huge library of printable for your child to work on.

Curious World is designed to prepare kids for kindergarten. Tiny tots learn not only math and reading readiness skills, but also social skills.

Capstone is passionate about inclusivity, equity and accessibility in support of all kids. It is a trusted children’s publisher and interactive content producer rooted in education.

This app is like having your very own library right at your finger tips. Kids can choose from picture books, chapter books, graphic novels, in addition to fun joke and song books.

Kaplan Early Learning Company has been a champion for play. From our research-based curricula to enriching classroom environments and innovative technology solutions, Kaplan’s products and services inspire a lifelong love of learning in children and educators..

ASPIRATIONAL COMPETITORS

Aspirational competitors are companies that Highlight would like to be seen in competition with after a successful rebranding initiative. After rebranding, Highlight want to be a platform where every generation can happily learn and explore knowledge.

Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online courses, certifications, and degrees in a variety of subjects.

Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization. Its goal is creating a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short lessons in the form of videos.

Disney animation, publishing, streaming and theme parks provide people with a full range of learning and entertainment

TED Conferences is an AmericanCanadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan “ideas worth spreading”.

YouTube Kids provides a more contained environment for kids to explore YouTube and makes it easier for parents and caregivers to guide their journey.

Duolingo is a fun, casual way to learn a new language whenever you have a couple of minutes to spare.

Babbel is a subscription-based language learning app and e-learning platform, available in 14 languages.

Tinkergarten helps families get outside to make the most of their kids’ early learning years. Designed by education experts and loved by all families, our play-based outdoor curriculum guides parents in raising healthy, confident, and capable kids.

Bitsbox exists to make STEM education a crazy fun part of kids’ everyday lives—at home, at school, and everywhere in between. We focus on the three C’s because that’s where we think we can do the most good.

With over 2,000 expertly designed projects to inspire the next generation of innovators and problem-solvers, KiwiCo has got awesome down to a science.

COLOPHON

Design+ Strategy Qi Jin Disclaimer This is a non-commercial project, just for educational purposes and is not intended to represent or replace the original brand Image Source Unsplash Google Image Typography Adelle Adelle Sans