Objective.
Our goal as a creative team was to create consistent, strategic branding decisions to continuously strengthen Choxi’s brand identity. As a Creative Director and in collaboration with the team, we created this graphic standard manual to provide rules to maintain brand uniformity in all our design strategies and solutions. Hence, we differentiate ourselves from our competitors.
Choxi needed to send a clear branding message; a compelling and consistent visual identity using various materials from our clients and suppliers. This Graphic Standard Manual was a guideline for designers and team members to manage the company’s brand through a consistent visual identity and cohesive tone and message. The company’s image should have only one look, one voice – it should have common elements.
Role Played.
As a Creative Director and in collaboration with my team, I was responsible for the design and creative direction of the Choxi Graphical Standards guide. During the life of the Choxi brand, we continuously improved our Graphic Standards Manual, connecting more vital to our users and strengthening brand awareness.
The Graphic Standards Manual.
The Graphic Standards Manual was divided into seven Chapters, from how to get and review the images, use our icons, create the deals, and prepare the daily mailer. Below you will find a summary of each chapter. You can also check the complete Graphic Standards Manual.
- Chapter 1. The Brand Assets: The Choxi logo, colour palette, and typefaces.
- Chapter 2.The Process: Calendars, Daily Deals, and Events.
- Chapter 3. The Portal.
- Chapter 4. The deal.
- Chapter 5. The daily mailer (email blast).
- Chapter 6. Closing the day.
- Chapter 7. Events.
Chapter 1. The Brand Assets: The Choxi logo, colour palette, and typefaces.
The designers need to use all the brand elements with care and precision as there are essential to brand integrity.
Chapter 2. The Process: Calendars, Daily Deals, and Events.
Calendars (otherwise known as spreadsheets) are the first referral point for information on which deals are going live on a particular day. There were two types of deal imagery that the Designer created
• Daily Deals Images: Images for Deals that go live every day
• Event Images: Event Deals all belong to the same product category (for example, pet products, automobile products, sunglass products, etc.). Since the deals are of similar products, a higher level of aesthetic consistency is required.
Chapter 3. The Portal.
Vendors and buyers used the Portal to input product information such as colour, style, size, weight, rules, policies and images. The creative team uses that information to create the images. The Designers determined the best layout for the product, which icons to add and whether or not they needed to add labels on the product images.
Purchasers must provide good-quality images. Designers were responsible for the site’s quality and took pride in it. The designers could accept or reject deals if they felt the photography was not up to the standards and didn’t represent the product well. You can review our complete photography graphic standards manual.
Chapter 4. The deal.
Deals were the first thing people saw when entering the website. There were approximately 120 deals that went live per day, which was the most critical revenue source for Choxi. Designers decided on the best way to showcase the deals, so they grabbed visitors’ attention and ultimately got the product sold. This section defined rules for icons, layouts, swatches, grids, and naming conventions. We created two types of icons. The first type to describe the deal at a glance, we called product information icons and the second to evoke special events or seasonal. Attention to detail was vital. Any errors cause problems for all departments, so be highly detail-oriented. Errors can result in product returns and company losses.
Chapter 5. The daily mailer (email blast).
Every morning, a Dealy Mailer went out with the deals that went live that day on the site. This mailer contained 26-30 daily deals. We assigned a designer per day to create the mailer and close the day–we called the organizer. This chapter covers aesthetics, sizes, and image optimization for mailers, tracking, and paths.
Chapter 6. Closing the day.
This chapter describes the end of the daily deals process or process rundown. The designers complete their images and upload them into the Portal. Then the organizer (Designer selected for the day) ensured that images were displayed correctly on the site and mailer. If there were errors, the organizer must follow up with the designers of the missing images. Finally, The organizer sends out the preview link to purchasing for final review.
Chapter 7. Events.
Events provided our customers with an alternative way to shop our site, drawing attention to one type of product per event/one category, such as summer dresses. Events went live every day at 3 pm EST/12 pm PST.
This chapter includes Two important rules to consider while preparing for the event. Consistency within an event is essential. All index images in an event need to look like a cohesive group. We did not accept random angles, sizes, and positioning. For example, all shoes must face the same way in one event, or necklaces must be set in the same direction. Second, the Event banners were essential for drawing attention and were used for online marketing ads.
