Visual Design Research: Branding/Materials Review

In order to demonstrate a form of visual design research, I performed a materials review of Bay Area nonprofit arts organization Headlands Center for the Arts (full disclaimer: I am currently employed by this organization). Headlands is an organization approaching its 30^th year of service to artists and the public, and is exploring a redesign of its website; this project has raised the question of branding/identity—how should an arts organization like Headlands brand itself, and how could/should that brand identity carry through its print and digital points of contact with its audiences? As a first step in getting to know Headlands from an (somewhat) objective perspective, I gathered two to three years’ worth of print materials in order to review and assess the current status of this organization’s “brand.”

Headlands’ recent print calendars, distributed three times annually (during the Spring, Summer and Fall seasons), state this information about the organization: Situated in a campus of artist-renovated military buildings in the Marin Headlands, just minutes north of San Francisco, Headlands Center for the Arts hosts an internationally recognized Artist in Residence program, as well as interdisciplinary public programs and subsidized studio rentals for artists of all disciplines. Through these programs, Headlands offers opportunities for artist research, dialogue, and exchange which build understanding and appreciation for the role of art in society. The design of Headlands’ 2010 print calendars is unified by color palette and interior structure as well as a playful text-based design approach. These materials look nothing like Headlands’ 2009 Annual Report (prepared in 2010) which relies heavily on photography to convey Headlands’ location as well as the variety of artists and art works being supported/created on site.

The organization also produces three postcards a year in conjunction with its seasonal Open House open studio days; these postcards have historically been designed with a single photo as the primary imagery (meaning that in each artist “season,” which supports 10-15 artists, one artist’s work is featured on the postcard). The organization also utilizes a general information brochure, prepared two to three years ago; printed invite and catalog to support an annual Benefit Auction; and a printed flyer/poster supporting an annual winter exhibition, as well as additional supporting materials.

The thread of connection running through Headlands’ materials is its logo and a general commitment to photographic display of the National Park environment and participating artists’ projects, though the print calendars of 2010 deviate from the established use of photography, as do the Auction and exhibition materials. Taken at once, this organization’s materials are generally attractive and colorful, though as a whole they do not utilize any common structural features or design approaches.

A number of questions arose as I reviewed these materials: To what extent do an organization’s materials need to look familial—as in, related in a brother-and-sister fashion rather than as second cousins once removed? How might a new or improved logo function in a stronger, more integrated fashion, perhaps guiding future design projects as well as providing a cohesive, unified presentation? And how can a nonprofit best utilize print in conjunction with other media in order to achieve that cohesive look, when in Headlands’ case different designers and printers are utilized to achieve (perceived) maximum bang for each buck? This type of review would serve as the first step in developing an organization’s identity, in tandem with reviews of competitors’ materials, interviews with staff, and gathering of audience/user feedback.