Libertas4u / Phauxiliary, 2011
Full Identity, Web Build/Design, Graphic Design, Print Media, Marketing, IT Support
Background Information
Libertas4u and later Phauxiliary was developed to exclusively serve the pharmaceutical industry by offering Pharmaceutical Reps (PRs) and Pharmaceutical Companies CRM-like support services such as multi-stop route planning, call-logging, data mining, scheduling, expense reports, and much, much more.
The Challenge
The challenge was to design the company well enough to elicit interest from industry leaders and key decision makers while also appealing to the core needs of PRs (micro-macro balance).
The Solution: Design
The company's objective was to project a sense of freedom from non-sales-specific tasks for the target audience, namely, PRs and the pharmaceutical companies they work with.
Logo
To first give shape and direction to this concept, I captured the client’s main mission and intention with a basic logo design. The mission of the pharma service company would be to free PRs of the paper work that limits their time to sell face to face and the client was partial to the name “Libertas” (“freedom” in Latin) and “4u” (the targeted audience).
The client roughly wanted a logo with the name “Libertas4u” surrounded by broken chains to represent freedom from restriction. A sleek, uniform logo eventually replaced the chains, which seemed to present as awkward, overwhelming, and overall imbalanced.
Website
The website header depicted a “carefree” business man surrounded by money with the logo, slogan, and mission given precedence upon entering the site. The company’s history, contact information, and services were accessible directly below from the menu, of which was surrounded by a scenic view of Boise, Idaho, where the company was located.
PowerPoint Presentation
Aside from web and graphic design and content development, I helped project the project to a medium sized focus group.
PowerPoint offered the best tool to work with, so I created a 27 slide PowerPoint presentation from which the client would easily engage the group's focus and direct overall discussion. The presentation included sales projections, job and task workflow, and services.
To reinforce identity and branding, the PowerPoint presentation was designed to reflect the same color scheme as the website, a deep red and black gradient background with the bright silver logo at the top right of each slide. Presenting to the focus group occurred prior to the abovementioned logo redesign.
Results: The Challenge
Reception to Libertas4u was muddled. The focus group was hesitant, skeptical, and reserved; there was little willingness from individuals to embrace the pitch.
The Solution: Re-Design
Thinking perhaps the company lacked initial brand plausibility, the whole identity underwent a redesign.
Approaching the project with an industry-specific focus, I set out on creating a bold, direct, unambiguous name, logo, and overall identity.
Name/Identity
I really considered the importance of associating the company with the Pharmaceutical Industry and combining this association with the company’s mission: To provide auxiliary support to PRs. Through the process, I created the name Phauxiliary.
Logo
When spoken out loud, the word fox is abruptly audible, a symbol of which I chose to focus/balance the design at the center, primarily to convey a sense of cunning and agility, two traits that would aid in the company’s capacity to consistently serve its objectives.
Website
White, grey, and blue-green were chosen to give the new website a cleaner, more corporate feel. Multiple sources of information on the homepage to engage multiple types of visitors. The header was simplified to contain only the logo, slogan, and menu.
Though the company’s history, contact information, and services were still easily accessible directly from the menu, reference was given not to the company’s small home town, but to its rich and robust infrastructure (service reps, research and development team, connection to relevant mainstream news sources such as the Princeton Review).
Business Cards & Brochures
To further establish the company’s brand and identity, I designed business cards and brochures matching the scheme and layout of the website. The business cards and trifold brochures were designed with Adobe Photoshop CS6 to create and render an exceptional and professional product.
Sample business cards were printed by Zazzle on 110# ultra white card stock, but, unfortunately, the mockup below provides the best rendition of the completed Phauxiliary brochure design.
The above brochure was designed for dual side, full color print on premium paper stock (e.g., 70-100#, gloss-matte, respectively).
After the client approved the final proof for the brochure, I realized the brochure was not intended to be printed professionally. Only a few copies were to be printed from a home office printer on basic 20# white copy paper.
Needless to say, my intended outcome
for the brochure was not achieved.
1-800 VOIP
After redesigning the website and logo, yet prior to publishing the updates, I customized a 1-800 number so that Phauxiliary was equipped with a 24 hour full-service telecommunication system with an auto-attendant poised to quickly and professionally receive and direct callers to the appropriate party.
The telecommunication system was meant to infuse an added dimension within the company that allowed visitors to interact both asynchronously (email) and synchronistically (call and speak to a live person).
Outcome
Despite the overall identity changes, little interest in the company manifested and the client eventually redirected resources toward other interests.
- Personal & Professional Reflection -
Phauxiliary was based on the client’s personal experience as a PR and I think the underlying concept was simply too much to carry, let alone appropriately project to potential investors. Without breaking the project down into several smaller steps and then spending time on fully developing those steps, all the design work that was done did little more than create a "hollow, albeit well-designed shell" of a company.
I believe the stalling of the project due to a lack of interest from decision makers and leaders within the pharmaceutical industry may have not led to the project's ultimate demise if more attention had been given to substantiating the data presented.
To give the project more substance overall, I suggested to the client that it may behoove him to invest in a minimum of 2 pilot programs with at least 3 to 5 participants (i.e., full-time employed PRs) before really attempting to launch the company as an established (reputable) brand.
Channelling resources into launching the company on a small scale--that is, through a focused pilot program--would have allowed us to gain insight into potential blind spots and gather a more accurate understanding of Phauxiliary’s real-world value and potential direction, yet the client declined my suggestions and the project fizzled out not long thereafter.
In hindsight, I learned the valuable lesson and the importance of communication EVERY detail throughout the whole design process.
I now closely manage all works from the beginning (e.g., template customization), to the middle (e.g., selecting a print that compliments the design), and the end (e.g., inspecting the outcome upon delivery and ensuring total usability) of every project.
