Ogopogo Branding
Ogopogo was a 3 month long academic project. The concept behind the brand was to create a company that designed and manufactured a line of Canadian vinyl toys. My interest in the designer toy culture was the catalyst for starting this project. I love vinyl toys, my only concern is the manufacturing process. Most of them are made in third world countries and there is no way to tell if they were made in a safe environment or if the workers are paid fair wages.
Ogopogo would be a platform for young Canadian designers and artists to be able to customize their own art toy. There would be a big emphasis on community driven initiatives with an online community and a flagship store that would host community events and release parties. The main goal of the company would be to provide a Canadian voice in the world of vinyl toys and to foster creativity in the Canadian art community.
Motion Graphics
A simple set of three animations to be used as quick promos that would play online and instore.Further Information
The name Ogopogo is an homage to a legendary sea serpent found in British Columbia. Vinyl toy culture is often infused with monsters and the supernatural, so it was fitting to name the company after a fictitious Canadian creature. A set of rotating icons was created to give the brand variety and freshness, but still keeping consistent with the overall feel. The creatures ere formed around the 'o' in the wordmark.Packaging, product displays and in-store merchandise such as gift cards were custom designed for the Ogopogo brand.
In order to fully realize the brand, I went ahead and constructed a toy prototype using a silicone mold and plaster. I gathered my friends and asked them to customize them to their liking. The finished products were used for various parts of the projects such as the website and magalog.
The website would have a strong emphasis on community driven design. The background of each webpage would change each time, featuring artist work. There would be an online rating system for user-uploaded designs and an online store to purchase special edition artist series. The purpouse of the website would be to promote the brand and promote the artists and designers that are part of Ogopogo.
The visual language was expanded into the environmental aspect of the brand. The icons in the brand mark were applied to patterns and fixtures that would adorn the flagship store.
The entire 3 months of work was organized and edited into three separate books. They are handbound and bound in custom screenprinted vinyl sheets.