CHALLENGE
I worked on this project while I was a second-year advertising student at OCAD. The goal of this project was to develop an integrated advertising campaign for the Toronto music store Soundscapes Music while maintaining a unified visual style. This contained a brochure, a newspaper ad, and an OOH ad.
INSIGHT
In contrast to their physical location, which is quite lively with music and music posters filling every corner, Soundscape Music's social media and website did not adequately depict their business. They were out of date and monotonous. According to my research, I found a study stating that younger generations purchase vinyl at a higher rate than older ones. Due to the growing popularity of vintage and "indie" styles online, Gen Z consumers are now more interested in older forms of music streaming than online streaming.
IDEA
I made the decision to focus on Gen Z and young millennials for this campaign. Additionally, I wanted to design a campaign that is more vibrant and energetic to accurately capture the brand's identity of Soundscape. I also wanted to incorporate both contemporary and vintage elements into the visual of the advertisements to both represent Soundscape's history and appeal to Soundscape's younger demographic.
EXECUTION
Transit Advert
Newspaper Advert
I considered the meaning that concerts and music had for me as I developed this campaign. I wanted to demonstrate to the audience the associations we have with various songs, bands, and memories made at concerts.
Brochure
During the time this project took place, non-essential shopping was prohibited, which negatively impacted many small businesses such as Soundscapes. I created the "Soundscapes Music Club" for this reason. Customers can enroll in this program and pay a monthly fee to have a music bundle full of goodies delivered to their door. Since Soundscapes doesn't have any programs like this, I created a panel just for the music club to raise awareness of it and encourage consumers to join. This club is a great new method to encourage customers to listen to new music while supporting Soundscapes. Curbside pickup is another option for non-essential shopping that Soundscapes did not offer yet, so I also dedicated a panel to that as well.
WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME
Looking back on this project from my second year, there are many things I would change about the design. In order to soften the black from looking too stark against the background and to maintain consistency, I would convert the primary headings to white and add a light gradient to the background of my transit and newspaper advertisements to match the brochure. Adding a stronger statement would also help to condense the copy. I would modify the copy in my brochure design to white, increase the font weight to make it easier to read, and adjust the body copy's tracking and leading for consistency. We had to produce a brochure for the project, but if I had more creative control, I would turn the "Soundscapes Music Club" into an online newsletter to advertise it on websites and social media platforms where it could reach a wider audience.
On the right is a rough concept of what a redesigned poster would look like.
