What is ethical Branding?
"In simple words, an ethical brand leaves behind a legacy of values, strategies and actions that can be perceived as morally right and ethical. An ethical brand doesn’t harm people, animals or the environment, and it contributes to the society responsibly, positively, and in a sustainable way."
-Raja Antony Mandal, Visme
This project began when I myself was a customer of Lemons' Quilts myself. I ordered a basic quilt to mark my graduation from high school and began to learn more about Jamie Lemons' business. I learned about the level of dedication and care that she puts into each and every quilt she makes, and her mission inspired me. When I had the opportunity for this case study I reached out to her and offered my services in branding, wanting to help her mission in any way I could. This came in the form of creating deliverables that were sustainable and helpful and in the creation of branding that reflected kindness, care, friendliness, and honesty to show the ethics and morality of this small business.
I met with the client to discuss colors, and we chose to lean heavily into the lemon aesthetic, based off her last name. I also tried to find a modern font to pair with her coloring to give the brand a fresh feel.
My client needed a logo, and we went through a few rounds of revision on how to combine quilting and lemons. After a few different editions, the current logo you see here was created and applied to the rest of her brand.
Once we developed how we needed our brand to look and feel, we had to put together the deliverables. I met with the client to discuss what her needs were, and I learned that she was most interested in letterhead and business cards, packaging, and freebies to be given out in said packaging. Jamie also expressed to me that she had an interest in making her own packaging through tote bags to give her clients something to remember her by and to provide a kind of free advertising. With this in mind, I created two different sketches for each deliverable to A/B test on a similar audience.
When researching, I gathered a sample audience of people that fit the description of my clients customers and then showed them each of the following options and asked their opinions on each and to choose which they preferred.
I received almost unanimous feedback that this same audience preferred the business cards that utilized the pattern, reusable tote bags for packaging, and stickers as free giveaway items. People liked the reusability and easy of a tote bag for packaging and felt the pattern was bright and fun over a texture. They liked the idea of having stickers to put on their water bottles or laptops over a pin cushion because while they would order a quilt, they themselves didn't sew for the most part. After gaining these insights, then came the time to actually create these deliverables and exhibit them at Miami University's Communication Design BFA Presentation.
Once all designs were approved by the client, I printed business cards and letterhead, and created my own stickers on sticker paper. The bags were printed on and given tissue paper, and then I set to preparing the physical display of these items. Wanting to display them how a small business would at a craft fair or farmers market, I brought my own quilt and a table, and spread my items out on its surface, framing everything with a backsplash of the branded pattern.
This was a very rewarding experience for me not only as a designer but as a person. I was very glad to be able to contribute to a small company with such an honorable mission, and be a part of it even in a small way.
