Case Study
Retractable Banners for Instructional Coaching Group
The Instructional Coaching Group has many in-person events where they use retractable banners to advertise their products, upcoming events, and new offerings. Many of these banners were outdated, broken and overdue for a facelift.
Scope: Create a suite of banners to be used at TLC Conference and future events
Project Type: September - October 2024
Role: Head Product Designer
Tools: Pen to Paper Sketches, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Print Facility
An inventory check from the warehouse team discovered that many of the retractable banners were broken, had very old designs, and just in need of a good ol' facelift. Additionally, there was many banners that didn't showcase the newest offerings that ICG had released.
I was tasked with designing a suite of banners to solve all of these problems that the old banners had, while also creating banners that reflect the newest services and milestones of the company. But before I started designing, I needed to learn just what all the issues I had to face.
Many of the existing or previous retractable banners utilized QR codes to allow for users to be taken to the website where they could dive more deeply into each banner topic. However, there were some problems with how the QR codes were utilized.
Anytime a QR code was used in a previous banner I found that they were all on the bottom. This posed an large issue knowing just what the desired product is.
These are large retractable banners, about 7 feet in height, which means that any QR code scanning that needed to be done would have to be achieved by crouching down and snapping a quick picture.
This is an issue for any user, but it is exasperated by the target demographic of ICG. The main user base that is attending these events are ages 45 - 60. This is already a demographic more likely to not be as familiar with QR codes, and then forcing them to squat done is a recipe for disaster.
As stated above, the target demographic that attends these events is ages 45 - 60. Many of these people might not be very comfortable or familiar with QR codes. So already having to squat down onto a dirty convention or hotel floor is going to just frustrate the user further.
There is no iconography on the banners to indicate how to scan, or be generally friendly to the users. It makes the overall experience difficult, frustrating, and confusing. And did not set ICG up for successful QR code scanning.
Many of the existing banners were very word heavy. This does not take into account what the purpose of this product was, nor their intended use. All of these retractable banners are set out in busy hotel halls/rooms for users to scan at a quick glance.
Research has found that you have roughly 1.5 - 3 seconds to grab a viewers attention and hold it for signage and a total of 8 seconds for users to read the content. This is a short amount of time for users to process your main point or the "money maker" phrase of whatever you are trying to sell.
Knowing this, choosing to have very text heavy retractable banners means you loose out on potential clients.
I needed to create a suite of banners that all feel like a connected set, reflect the current ICG branding, and utilize QR codes. All the while keeping the user front and center in each design.
Utilize QR codes to be more user friendly to the clients by making them higher up, and adding iconography to assist in scanning.
Keep all the banner is one large family when it comes to the design, but still allow each to be unique to their particular message.
Reduce the text on the banners. Lean more into the visuals and really catch users attention by being bold.
After understanding the pain points of the existing banners, and the goals that I had for this project, I could start designing every new banner no matter the content.
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Asana Task List
Written Banner List
Due to the scope of this project I needed to keep organization at the forefront of my mind.
The first step is to write out all the project requirements, not only for myself, but for all team members to allow for collaboration and organization.
After being able to see everything needed in a digital space, I could then put pen to paper and list out top needs. This way I could pull out the most priority money maker message to incorporate into the designs.
After compiling all the requirements and writing out the top priority needs, I could then get the initial banner sketches done.
QR Code Icon Sketches
While during my initial research into QR codes I was able to glean a few things. But one of the biggest is how geography and culture affects the use of QR codes. In Asian countries, the use of QR codes is much more common and normalized. If someone sees a QR code there, it is second nature to take out their phone and scan it to get more information.
However, in the west, specifically America, that is not the case. Many people don't know how QR codes work and it takes some prompting to get them to scan a QR code with their devices. This phenomenon is made worse in older demographics.
To get ahead of this phenomenon I sketched out some icons that could be used across all banner applicable to assist users in scanning QR codes.
For the QR codes to be used on the new suite of banners I was able to create an icon that depicts a hand holding up a phone with space for a QR code to fit in the middle. This encourages users to mimic what they see.
I also added the use of a bracelet with a charm of ICG's logo to work as a watermark of sorts. This allows ICG to keep their branding, personality, and makes future material adorned with this icon to be recognizable as an ICG product.
Some banners ended up having designs that were more full or contained imagery that was more busy. Due to this, creating a secondary icon was necessary to still get the benefit of an icon for QR codes but also take aways some visual noise that would have been there with the full icon.
While all the banners I worked on for this project follow the same principles, I want to highlight a single banner that showcases the changes that were made.
Through initial research and prep I was able to determine for this banner the money maker message is the 1:1 adage.
This is because this particular banner was a new offering from ICG based on popular demand for a one on one coaching experience. By highlighting that portion of the message it reminds users of their top need they had requested.
This banner was required to use the branding chosen for this particular service. But I still needed to work it into the overall suite of banner and ICG branding.
The way I was able to achieve this was using the QR code icon I had previously created so that it aligns with the other banners.
I also chose an image the corresponds to the image used on ICG's website page specific to 1:1 Impact Coaching.
The biggest challenge I had was figuring out how to make sure the banners were unique and conveyed the correct information while staying within a similar cohesive design family.
It was helpful to take it one step at a time and understand the core of ICG's branding. This principle of keeping a core message in mind while also letting each personality shine through allows for expansion in the future for new banners to be created that still fit with the original set.
There are two next steps for this project. The first being create any new banners for upcoming events or new offerings. The second is to see how the QR codes work.
