The KYB Billboard
What happens when you design-by-committee
What happens when you design-by-committee
Few projects have left me feeling like such a button-pushing monkey than this billboard. I was excited at first, to do my first billboard. It’s literally the largest thing I’ve ever created. It’s 48 feet wide by 14 feet tall.
However, being such a costly purchase, the entire management team wanted to provide input into the design. I mean the entire management team, including executives from our parent company. Our parent company is located in Japan. Needless to say the cultural differences contributed to the friction on the project.
Overall, I feel this project is a failure. I exhibit here as an example of what happens when you hire a graphic designer, then don’t let him design.
However, being such a costly purchase, the entire management team wanted to provide input into the design. I mean the entire management team, including executives from our parent company. Our parent company is located in Japan. Needless to say the cultural differences contributed to the friction on the project.
Overall, I feel this project is a failure. I exhibit here as an example of what happens when you hire a graphic designer, then don’t let him design.
Shown here are several examples of the different directions the billboard took during it’s development. I’m not a fan of any of these. I show them to emphsis how the chaotic the design-by-committee process can be. No one can agree on the message, the target audience, or how much/little to show.
It’s important that a billboard deliver its message quickly and concisely. That’s way jamming way too much information on there (logos, product images, a map of Indiana, and several lines of text), is a poor choice for a billboard design.
It’s important that a billboard deliver its message quickly and concisely. That’s way jamming way too much information on there (logos, product images, a map of Indiana, and several lines of text), is a poor choice for a billboard design.
This is my suggested design for the billboard. In my presentation I provided the mock ups you can see here of the billboard as it would look once installed. I feel this design delivers a meaningful message whilst not being over-burdened and cluttered.
My goal was to let the people working in Indiana know that KYB had brought manufacturing and warehouse/distribution jobs to their state. Not being a well-known name I felt I had to explain, as briefly as possible, that KYB was a manufacturer of automotive shocks and struts.
The message here is clear: “We make high-quality products, and we make them here.”
I felt this message was more important than the logo, which is shrunk and set in reverse inside the shape of Indiana. I thought this was pretty clever. Moreover, the image of our products, as well as the red, white, and black color pallet establish our company’s identity.
Ultimately though, this design was rejected because “the logo wasn’t big enough.”
My goal was to let the people working in Indiana know that KYB had brought manufacturing and warehouse/distribution jobs to their state. Not being a well-known name I felt I had to explain, as briefly as possible, that KYB was a manufacturer of automotive shocks and struts.
The message here is clear: “We make high-quality products, and we make them here.”
I felt this message was more important than the logo, which is shrunk and set in reverse inside the shape of Indiana. I thought this was pretty clever. Moreover, the image of our products, as well as the red, white, and black color pallet establish our company’s identity.
Ultimately though, this design was rejected because “the logo wasn’t big enough.”
Here’s was ultimately got put up. Boring. Meaningless. No meaningful message.
Even after this design was approved, the visiting executives only comment was that “the logo still isn’t big enough.”
Sigh.
Even after this design was approved, the visiting executives only comment was that “the logo still isn’t big enough.”
Sigh.
