About
Conscious Consumers is a thesis project that examines the issue that patrons of large corporations are often unaware of how their patronage funds divisive corporate philanthropy resulting in an ethical dilemma for the patron. To better understand this issue, research started through a series of research questions. After completing this research, a literature review was conducted in addition to case studies and visual analyses. Based upon the research, a visual solution was created to serve as a resource tool to educate consumers about the philanthropic efforts of large corporations as it relates to their value and missions.
REsearch
Rationale:
The problem in a consumer marketplace, is that consumer-oriented companies have taken advantage of their consumers and strategized philanthropic efforts in attempts to gain revenue. Corporate philanthropy is a voluntary contribution to charitable causes by organizations. A majority of companies participate in this initiative, however, studies demonstrate that consumer-oriented companies are the ones who make the largest donations (Gautier 353). Unfortunately, this action is not out of pure motives, but to manipulate the consumer into loyalty and purchases. Here lies the issue of corporate philanthropy. It is not wrong for individuals to purchase products from well-known retailers; nonetheless, it has resulted in mass consumption without knowledge of the source it is coming from and how it is affecting them in return. Individuals are blindly consuming products that are contributing to an economy with ethics that they would otherwise agree with. The research I plan to conduct will highlight large, well-known corporations and detail their corporate identity, mission statements, philanthropic efforts, budget, etc. The project’s in-depth research and targeted solutions seek to inspire change in consumer behavior and cause additional care and thought behind personal support within large corporations.
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deliverables
After researching the problem at hand and following a creative process to provide a solution, the final deliverables work together to present conclusions of in-depth research that users can access at any time on their mobile device, search for brands that they personally interact with, and come to their own conclusions and convictions.
The visual deliverables include an interactive prototype, logo for the app, full branding guide, various consumer and marketplace-based icons, as well as posters to be used within the community to raise awareness and advertise for the final app solution. Through these outlets, consumers will have a greater understanding of how their patronage pays support to economic, social, and political issues.
BRAND guide
Color Palette
1B1464
3328FA
FA8A34
31F548
2DAD3C
Logo
Typography
aa
Font: Ostrich Sans / Primary Typeface
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Aa
Font: Mr Eaves XL Mod OT / Secondary Typeface
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z W
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
brand guide
The color palette for the conscious consumers brand is split complementary consisting of two shades of violet, a lighter and darker, two shades of green, one like a neon lime and the other like a light forest green, and an orange for accent. Many times these hues of blue or green relate with recycle or health which are two good things and meaningful to my final solution.
The typography within the brand is sans serif. The primary typeface, Ostrich Sans, has a medium weight to it and is thin with vertically tall characters. The typeface has relatively small tracking between letters and has light, medium, black, and bold within its font family. The bold type style is more of a decorative or heading style as it has double strokes for each character. The secondary typeface is Mr Eaves XL Mod OT and includes thin, book, bold, and ultra within its font family.
The colors and fonts are playful and exciting which will appeal to my younger target demographic. The logo consists of two Cs one facing forward and one flipped backward and a little lower to appear as an O. The brand name, Conscious Consumers, is spelled out and equal to the height of the O. A small circle is placed at the end of the word consumers and this, in one of the logo variations, is pulled closer to the O with the text removed to appear as Co. The other logo variation is Conscious Co. with nsumers on the following line, bringing attention to the company, Conscious Consumers, while also developing a double meaning.
Poster 1
poster 2
Poster 3
I designed a series of posters to create awareness for the issue that patrons of large corporations are often unaware of how their patronage will fund divisive corporate philanthropy resulting in an ethical dilemma for the patron. One of the key problems I found within research is that consumers are ignorant or too preoccupied to realize they are contributing to divisive corporate philanthropy and have simply not taken the time to address the issue. They need to become aware of this issue and have accessible options to change their habits.
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Poster 1 creates awareness to the problem and points to questions from the research. Posters 2 and 3 display the final solution for this project, highlight key features, and calls to action where the viewer can download and interact with it. I mocked up each poster in settings that my target audience would see it such as on the sidewalk, in the grocery store, and on a commute to work.
app
I decided to make the app, Conscious Consumers, with five main tabs: home, search, scan, resources, and menu.
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The home screen (pictured to the right), represented by a house, displays six large, green boxes representing categories of curated content based upon a few initial questions individuals will theoretically answer when they first download the app. This feature helps to strengthen consumer’s foundation to determine what is right and wrong when choosing where to shop.
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The search tab can be selected by clicking on the magnifying glass. The search tab gives the user a search bar to type in a brand or product they are interested in learning more about as well as offers suggestions based upon previous searches and trending searches with a blurb. All the companies I researched in my project, which are ten of the top brands in the United States, are listed here in the prototype to interact with.
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The scan tab, placed slightly higher than the rest of the tabs at the bottom menu, is launched by a green button with a scan icon. When users click on the green scan button, a new screen scrolls up from the bottom, bringing up a simulation of an in-app camera function. A white square is centered around the barcode with a red line running through the middle. The user is instructed on what to do with a simple phrase, “Scan the barcode,” at the top and further directions of how to use the camera to center the barcode within the frame to scan at the bottom. Once the barcode is captured, results will be displayed for the user based upon the brand they scanned. Each result screen (example pictured to the right) has an image in the top box displaying the brand which helps the user to visualize their personal patronage as they have interacted with the logo before, either by walking into the store or seeing it when shopping online. Both the search and the scan option will display results of brands scored upon three factors: social, economic, and political. If users are curious as to why a brand received a score, they can click on any of the scores to display a drop-down box that details the research behind it.
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The resources tab acts as the social media side of the app. It includes photos relating to the articles and a green box coming out of the side, like a drag switch. I made sure to include professional photos in this section, and throughout the app, to feel high quality and as though the user is looking through an online magazine.
The menu tab has various sections like a typical settings menu would. The “About” section is a place for FAQs and information about this research project such as where the research comes from, the goal of the project, and how the businesses are scored. This is a place for users to explore once they are interested in the content. The favorites button is a place where users can customize their own resources for future reference. The add your business button has a few question fields for users to complete to apply to be verified on the app. The contact us button brings up a contact form.
