The Story of Voyager 1: A Drive In Planetarium
Voyager 1 was my beginning, the dawn of time, my daughter made of clay. My senior capstone project was to create a company and everything it would need to have its own brand identity. The company didn’t have to exist in the real world. I was encouraged to experiment and explore. I had the entire school year to make a brand worth hiring for.
The focus of this project was on the process. I learned how to organize my thoughts and how to begin to translate abstract ideas in my head into tangible assets and resources. I started my creative process the summer before senior year. I contacted previous seniors and asked for advice. I dove into myself and really thought about the type of companies that excite me. I knew I was inspired by the likes of Disney because of their strong storytelling qualities.
After lots of lists, it came down to two different ideas, one being a drive-in planetarium and on an entirely different note, the other was a gem mining experience. Ironic considering how I now work for Stuller and just finished developing a brand for lab-grown diamonds.
My drive-in planetarium would be a company rooted in creating experiences for its guests. My heart was excited thinking of the fun I could have with things like packaging and the web and advertising. I started where most brands start, developing a logo.
Here you’ll see some concepts I developed. The astronaut, although cute, was not conceptual enough even though I would argue to say they also look like a racecar driver. That's okay, not meant to be. The strongest concept came from combining two themes, cars and space. Voyager 1 was to provide, a trip through the cosmos from the comfort of your own car.
By the end of fall semester, I made a stationary set including a letterhead, envelope, mailing label, and business card.
I thought I was very clever to stage everything in a black manilla folder like a science report.
Overall, I was not happy with how my company looked at this point. It felt awkward and not like it was something in my style. I was too close to the project and taking a step back was crucial.
(My senior class <3. I’m all the way to the right)
Over winter break, I had an internship at Klout 9, a social media management agency. I couldn’t stay at Klout 9 long because I had another internship lined up for the beginning of the spring semester at Prejean Creative, a design agency, that specialized in branding projects. Kevin Prejean took me under his wing and really encouraged me to push my brand further.
By the time I picked up where I left off I was clear-minded and ready to create projects to be proud of.
I have no idea what a drive in planetarium would actually look like. None exist to my knowledge. I’m glad that that wasn’t apart of my project requirements. There were a few things I knew this fictional company would need.
I started with these foldable tickets. I tried to commit to making my company centered on experiences. Unfolding a ticket is a small experience but an experience nonetheless. I imagined a consumer could see the reference to traditional drive in movies. The logo fit on the bummer of the car and all applicable information a guest could need would be found inside.
Next, I began to work on my concession food packaging and this is where things really started coming together.
Graphic Designers love alliteration.
It was fun and futuristic and a little bit cheesy but not too childish and I couldn’t get enough of those bright gradients. I started with the biggest box, the planet pops. I pictured these being sold in a gift shop as a nice takeaway especially targeted toward kids and space lovers.
A generic soda cup and food boat design began to round out my packaging design. I knew I had a win with these additions. Nothing was too small or simple that I couldn’t make it feel special.
Astro ice cream and popcorn felt natural to add to my collection. Space travelers can’t learn much on an empty stomach. My astro ice cream even got chosen to be in a museum with other student work!
With this win in my bag, I was ready to show more depth to my brand and my skills. I tackled the question of how would V1 advertise.
I imagined they would want to reach people with cars, so I made some continuous billboard ads that you would pass along an interstate and wall signs that could appear in places like parking garages.
On the lower-cost spectrum, I made social posts that repeated the blast-off campaign. These campaigns were sponsored by Unsplash and Pixabay.
After many long but beautiful nights at Fletcher, the art building, I was getting the hang of working hard for my future. Night time was a great time for inspiration.
I finally settled on a logo solution. Only after a few creative consulting collisions between my intelligent boss, Kevin P., and my wise professor Kevin H. V1 stationary got a facelift and then you’ll never guess what happened next…
Covid-19.
Please take note that my professor made our class his background ),:
We moved to a completely online class, and our gala show and graduation were canceled. My desk became my parent's couch and suddenly I wasn’t surrounded by my creative environment and my creative people.
Two projects were left. Firstly my app. I wanted to create something people could use on their own, not on location, but still part of the V1 story.
The app allows space gazers to identify the stars, planets, and satellites that they experienced in real-time.
Secondly, the web page.
Voyager 1 was a place for education and fun, for discovery and fulfillment. I wanted the website to reflect that. The pages turned out better than I imagined and are such a contrast in skill to my first round of design.
It was time for me to add V1 to my portfolio to walk down my parent’s living room and get my degree. This year was not what anyone expected but the magic lay in the process. It's so cool to think back on my college years. I know now how much I learned that year. Voyager gave me a confidence and hope to get out into the real world and tackle my next creative problem.
