Overview
Current brand identity is not captured to stand out in a competitive music industry.
Visual consistency needs to be maintained on multiple social media platforms.
Promotional content should adapt to trends with limited resources while resonating with target users.
Designing a memorable and flexible logo.
Developing cohesive branding materials that align with the brand’s mission.
Creating engaging social media content.
UX Researcher, Graphic Designer
To revolve the brand improvement and marketing strategies, the design contents included following parts:
Branding
During the initial logo design phase, our team conducted a brainstorming session to generate diverse creative concepts. Key was to embody the core essence of the company spirit, industrial element and combine simplicity and modernity.
After discussion, we picked one logo among 10+ drafts, and decided to use vibrant, avant-garde colors for the brand logo to reflect the company's creative energy. The typeface retained the original style to maintain design consistency. We also integrated the letterforms with graphic elements to create a reimagined icon - a disc motif that builded an immediate connection to the main services of company and the music industry.
User Research
Use SWOT analysis to provide a detailed overview of our company - Elevate Creation's current standing, highlighting key areas for strategic focus and potential growth. Also, take researches on the competitors, help identify our unique strengths and opportunities while understanding the competitive landscape better.
In the questionnaire, different questions were customized according to the different identities of the target users, which were divided into professionals (musicians, industry insiders, etc.) and general audiences (fans, listeners, etc.). Overall goal is to refine strategies for supporting musicians and engaging fans more effectively.
For Musical Professionals
The survey seek to understand their professional needs, challenges, and preferences to shape collective support, collaboration opportunities, and targeted content.
For General Audiences
The survey aimed to identify what engages fans, their content consumption habits, and how collectives can better connect with them to grow a loyal fanbase.
What are musical professionals' needs?
What are general audiences' preferences?
How they feel about music collective?
Through the built-in analysis tool of questionnaire platform, it showed that many respondents were not familiar with music collectives, with several mentioning they didn’t know any by name. However, there is an interest in the concept of collectives and an openness to exploring their benefits.
Participants mentioned that collectives could provide support, a sense of belonging, and new platforms for emerging artists. They also valued different sounds, perspectives, and promotional opportunities. Some suggested free concerts and events as community engagement methods.
Musical Professionals Mentioned
● Channels:
Acquire industry info - shaimicknight, Friend and Instagram/TikTok.
Share artworks - Instagram and TikTok.
Fans engagement - Instagram
● Challenge:
maintaining audience engagement and consistency, making it difficult to grow or retain their fan base.
● Demands:
Musicians seek more opportunities for networking and creative engagement. They are drawn to collectives for collaborative potential and the chance to work on larger, more impactful projects.
General Audiences Mentioned
● Channels:
Acquire industry info - Instagram(43%), others are Reddit, TikTok, Spotify and Facebook.
Discover music - Social media, music player app and pop charts recommendations.
● Value experiences:
Live show(71%)
Social networking (14%)
● Content preferences:
Videos(57%)
Artist interviews and stories(43%)
Interactive content(43%)
Live streams(14%).
● Audience loyalty:
Be influenced by artist quality, engaging events, meaningful messages, and strong artist support.
Social Media Design
According to the users' habits and preferences, we currently choose Instagram as the main channel for social media management and campaigns.
The content we post on instagram aims to engage both musicians and fans, foster a supportive community, and promote the collective’s activities through creative and strategic content on social media.
Who We Are
Carousel posts sharing Elevate Creation's story, mission, and vision.
Welcome for Artists
A video inviting artists to join the community, highlighting the benefits offered.
What We Offer
Posts detailing the services and support provided to artists who join.
Video Tour
Create a video series to introduce local music studios and artists.
Current Events
Provide updates on happenings and news in the music industry.
Spotlight Playlist
Share playlists curated by Elevate Creation featuring new music and tagging the featured artists.
Resources for Artists
Offer posts with helpful tools, advice, and resources for smaller artists.
How to Discover Artists
Share tips and posts to help followers find new and smaller artists.
Trending Talks
Host conversations on trending topics in the music industry to connect with the community.
Online Challenges
Encourage bands or musicians to post clips and tag Elevate Creation for engagement.
About Houston
Street interviews with the Houston community about their music preferences and thoughts on Elevate Creation.
Successful Collaborations
Showcase success stories and collaborations between artists and Elevate Creation.
Artist Journey
Share stories from artists about their progress and experience after joining Elevate Creation.
Artist Highlights
Feature an "artist of the month" with carousel posts on their journey, genre, etc.
We arranged topics into one-month calendar as a single promotional cycle.
The content plan is organized to achieve consistent engagement:
Week 1: Focus on brand introduction, community welcome, and outlining what Elevate Creation offers to artists.
Week 2: Spotlight artists of the month, feature collaborations, and include behind-the-scenes content to highlight local music studios.
Week 3: Foster discussions on industry trends, cover current music events, and provide discovery tips for small artists.
Week 4: Share success stories from artists in the community, introduce a fun online challenge, and showcase artist journeys.
Week 5: Wrap up with posts to re-engage the audience and strengthen community ties.
Also, we have Street Interview in Houston with diverse topics every week, aiming at interactive community engagement.
The strategy emphasizes brand awareness, artist support, and interactive community-building throughout the month.
Prioritized and distributed tasks into three topics at first stage: Playlist sharing, Street interview in Houston, and Brand introduction.
In the process of design, we actively discussed and shared our design ideas to ensure that our individual work could be consistent with the overall design style of the team. We used Miro to update the design progress at any time so that we could get feedback on modifications in a timely manner.
Conclusion
Brand consistency matters - A unified visual identity helps build audience trust and recognition.
Cross-team collaboration - Working with the creative team taught me how to balance artistic expression with strategic branding.
User-centered design in branding - Understanding the target audience’s preferences played a crucial role in shaping an authentic brand identity.
Moving forward, I would love to explore how branding influences audience growth over time, leveraging UX research and analytics to refine design strategies.