RAPID CITY REBRANDING ETHAN MULLER

Transcription

1 South Dakota RAPID CITY REBRANDING ETHAN MULLER

2 target audience / Goal Many different kinds of people visit Rapid City, but the most common tourists in Rapid City are families. More specifically, slightly adventurous families with children around preteen age. My goal is to turn what could be viewed by kids as a dry, boring vacation into a fun-packed adventure that they ll beg to experience again. Even more importantly, I want the new brand to attract the adults who would be buying the vacation. In other words, I am marketing toward parents, but in a kid-friendly way. Competitive analysis Rapid City s biggest competitor is probably the Grand Canyon area of Arizona. It is home to a major American landmark and has a culture relatively similar to South Dakota s. Its branding consists of handmade elements that give off a very western feel.

3 current identity

4 Mood Board typography ARVIL Nevis Futura DEM ING colors shapes

5 Logo Concepts

6 Logo & motto LET S HEAD OUT. South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota

7 website Planning I have assumed that people will be visiting the Rapid City website with two main objectives in mind: to learn more about the city, and to learn about booking trips to the city. For this reason, I simplified the navigation into two main points: Things To Do and Start Your Trip. This way, users can quickly access the information that they are looking for. site map Things To Do Sites + Activities Top 10 Lists Outdoor Recreation Restaurants Shopping Arts + Culture Sports Downtown Rapid City Start Your Trip Packages Getting to Rapid City Maps Rental Vehicles Sample Itineraries Request a Visitors Guide Chat with an Agent Visitor Information Center Seasonal Activities Also, in order to keep things clean and logical, I have decided to simplify most of the Things To Do into two categories: Sites and Activities. The Sites are things to see, such as Mount Rushmore, Custer National Park, or Devils Tower. The Activities are things to do, such as Storybook Island, Bear Country USA, Reptile Gardens, or The Journey Museum.

8 website home page concepts

9 website home page desktop

10 website home page MOBILE

11 website Inner page Concepts

12 website inner page desktop

13 website INNER page MOBILE

14 Visitors guide concepts

15 Visitors guide cover

16 Visitors guide spread

17 branding goodbye SIGN The idea behind Rapid City is to stay in the city and visit surrounding landscapes, monuments, and parks. This means when you re staying in Rapid City, you ll actually be spending most of your time outside of the city. This sign waves a friendly farewell to anybody heading out to go sightseeing.

18 branding STAMP SET rapid city US 44 US 44 rapid city rapid city rapid city US 44 This stamp sheet is designed to commemorate the four presidents represented on Mount Rushmore. Each stamp uses stylized illustration to depict each former head of state. These stamps would be sold in gift shops for tourists to purchase and use to send postcards to their friends and family while in Rapid City.

19 branding PostCard This postcard set, like the stamp set, is intended to be bought in gift shops to send to friends and family. They borrow the fun illustration style from the visitors guide and are meant to give the impression that Rapid City is a fun, diverse place to visit.

20 branding Mug Mugs MUG rapid city MUGS Mug Mugs are intended to be novelty gift shop items for tourists. Each mug has the mug of one of the four Rushmore presidents sculpted into its side. While these mugs aren t quite for everybody, they would make a perfect souvenir for a tourist with a quirky sense of humor.

21 Marketing virtual souvenir This piece is a fun way for tourists to remember their trip to Rapid City. It uses a sign placed in a public place, possibly around a gift shop, with a hole in it. This display lets you pose and take fun photos as if you were one of the presidents on Mount Rushmore. This is an idea that has been done before, but this iteration has a twist: it has a QR code on it. If you scan it with your phone, it gives you access to an exclusive app download only available to Rapid City tourists. The app is a digital version of the display itself. It allows you use your phone s camera to take Rushmore-ized photos of yourself and your friends. These photos could be shared from the app to Facebook, which would promote the city to people outside of the city. The app could be thought of as a virtual souvenir. The idea of the display and app is to strengthen the relationship between tourists and Rapid City, as well as create awareness of the city.

22 Marketing History Rocks History Rocks is a multimedia program intended to make learning fun for kids, and give them something to do on their way to Rapid City. For this concept, printable activity books would be made available online as a free download, as well as free game downloads for smartphones. These media would provide activities that are fun for kids, while teaching them about the history of the Rapid City area. An example of an iphone game in which the player is an explorer digging up dinosaur bones. Once you find a full set of fossils, you unlock facts about the dinosaur, and you get to keep it as a pet in the game. The activity book could feature stories, games, and puzzles all revolving around Rapid City history. The idea behind History Rocks doesn t have to stop at activity books and apps. The same concept could even be carried into web activities, online videos, or even a museum exhibit. History Rocks could exist as a kid-centric sub brand of Rapid City. I feel that making a vacation to Rapid City more desirable to kids would ultimately make things more enjoyable for everybody.

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