Capstone: Blog Focus Group
Introduction
Now that my identity and a few products have been completed for my Capstone project, LavaLand Music & Arts Festival, it was time to conduct a focus group. This focus group aims to show the identity design to people who fit my target types and ask some questions to get their impressions of the brand without knowing anything about it or its intended purpose.
Questions
The types of questions I asked involved exploring people’s overall impressions of the brand, what they think the brand is trying to convey, whether it stands out as unique, and if it is targeting the right audiences.
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Here are the questions I asked the focus group:
- What are your initial impressions of the “LavaLand” branding? What emotions or associations do the chosen colors evoke? How does it make you feel?
- If you could use one word to describe the “Lava Land” branding, what would it be, and why?
- Do you find the festival logo memorable and easily recognizable? How does the branding compare to other music and arts festival branding you’ve encountered? Is it unique and distinctive? If not, what improvements would you suggest?
- Do you think the branding appeals to a wide range of age groups and demographics? Is there a specific audience it seems to target more?
- Considering that the key elements of the festival are vibrance, connection and community, euphoric, colorful, and energetic, did any of these descriptors come to mind after viewing the work? Are there any elements that feel disconnected from the festival’s identity?
Target Types
The demographic of the group I chose is men and women between the ages of 22–27. Some are in college; others are just out of college and working. They are a close-knit group of friends who enjoy socializing, going out on the weekends, and attending concerts, music events, and festivals as much as possible.
I selected them because they are knowledgeable about music, attend music events regularly, and fit the target types I created at the beginning of this project. Because of this, I knew they would offer valuable insights in helping me create a stand-out brand identity for my music festival.
Specific Findings
A few evocative words that were shared with me about the brand included environmental, sweet, friendly, hippy, sizzling, positivity, and psychedelic. While these words, in particular, are not the evocative words I had included in the design brief, they are adjacent to them and are certainly in keeping with the theme I am going for.
According to one participant, what isn’t working is that the brand looks too similar to other festivals and that the line work is basic.
I was surprised to hear that the brand looks too similar to others because I have yet to see a music festival brand be this illustrative. But it’s a valid point that there is somewhat overused imagery associated with other festivals, such as the mushrooms and other iconography in the illustrations. I don’t have a problem with this because some recognizability is necessary for people to connect with and compare different experiences. It also could be a benefit, given that Lava Land isn’t inherently music-related, so having other recognizable elements might be a plus. I was also surprised that in response to my question about what demographic they thought the festival was targeting, one participant said between 18–67 and 25–45. The latter of these two is what the intended demographic was, but the first one surprised me, given that my research shows the cut-off age is around 50 or so (which accounts for a very small number of festival-goers).
Broad Insights and Redesigns
Most of the responses were positive, and the participants were receptive to the visual style and agreed that it captured a friendly, psychedelic, inviting, and connection-driven energy that reflects the brand’s intention. The main criticism for a redesign was that it could be too similar to other festival brands, but there were no constructive suggestions for resolving this issue. A concern of my own that could solve this issue would be to add more texture and depth to the illustrations. They are fairly simple and basic now but could be easily elevated by adding texture. I will explore this further to make it stand out from other festivals.
