Business Commons^™

Coffee Cactus, Mackenzie Haneman

Graphic Communication

Coffee is one of the most well known and enjoyed drinks in the world. So many people go out to coffee shops to get work done, catch up with friends, or just to simply enjoy a local cup of coffee. Yet, many people find it difficult to bring that experience into the comfort of their own homes or have found tools that bring a personal and unique experience. Espresso machines, coffee tools, and unique terminology can be very intimidating for someone who is just starting to learn about coffee or wants to grow their own at home experience. The problem …

Clueless: Revolutionizing Sustainable Fashion And Combating Overconsumption, Tanya Ravichandran

Graphic Communication

“Clueless” revolutionizes sustainable fashion by combating wardrobe overconsumption and the industry’s carbon footprint, using AI to suggest personalized outfits from existing wardrobes tailored to weather and wear history. It enhances user engagement through features like outfit ‘shuffle’ and provides insights into wardrobe utilization and carbon impact.

It’s more than an app; it’s a step towards a greener wardrobe and a healthier planet.

Battaglini Winery: Marketing Collateral Development & Rebranding, Lexi L. Battaglini

Graphic Communication

The Battaglini Winery is a small family-run winery located in Sonoma County. The winery has no existing brand guidelines and any marketing collateral in current use has outdated information and design elements. The purpose of this project is to provide the winery with cohesive and refreshed brand guidelines while using these guidelines to generate relevant marketing materials for consumers.

Rebranding Lauren Hope Photography, Lauren H. Toomey

Graphic Communication

Lauren Toomey has been building her business, Lauren Hope Photography, for the past six years. During this time, she has developed a website as well as a social media presence, but has yet to establish a clear brand identity. This project served as motivation for Lauren to define her brand identity, which allowed her to create branding guidelines that could then be implemented across print and digital media.

Moondoggie's Ad, Mia Horvath

Graphic Communication

I created a 2 minute ad for Moondoggies that defines the brands “attitude” as well as establishes its demographic, highlights the products they sell, and showcases the natural beauty of the region Moondoggies was founded in.

The High Tide Inn Rebrand, Caroline Turnbull

Graphic Communication

For my Senior Project, I found a small Inn in Maine that was just purchased by a new owner. The previous owner of The High Tide Inn was very old and had owned the Inn for a long time, running on word of mouth and the quaint charm of the location. Their website was not a priority and had not been updated in decades. It was not mobile friendly, up to date, or easy to navigate. The logo reflects a charming sign on the property, but does not translate well digitally. In addition to this, there is no vector file …

Laguna Love: A Sustainable Bikini Collection, Aubrianna L. Davenport

Graphic Communication

Graphic Communication can be applied to various industries of design. As a Cal Poly student I had the opportunity to study abroad in Florence, Italy. During that time I studied fashion and product development, which sparked my desire to become a textile designer one day; I specifically hope to work in the surf apparel industry. Whilst taking textile design classes abroad, I learned that I could apply my love for graphic design to the fashion industry quite seamlessly; I am thankful that Graphic Communication has provided me with the skill sets in Adobe Creative Cloud, especially, when applying my knowledge …

Dunites Wine Company: Digital Redesign, Alexandra Messner

Graphic Communication

This project is a digital redesign for Dunites Wine Company, a small San Luis Obispo wine brand. By improving their website usability and consistency, Dunites Wine Co. can generate excitement and awareness about their brand. The end deliverables will include photography, refreshed branding, and an updated website.

Converting Horizontal Media For Vertical Platforms, Eric A. Hernandez

Graphic Communication

Today, most media is viewed on mobile phones and seen on a vertical screen. There are very few methods for converting horizontal media into vertical media for vertical platforms. This manual shows new ways to redesign horizontal content so that it looks better on vertical displays; I imagine watching things like the Super Bowl or the The Grammys on TikTok or Instagram with a new broadcast design that is more attractive.

Visionaire Branding Company, Toni Joy Forsythe

Graphic Communication

It has been a goal of mine to one day launch my own branding and marketing agency, therefore this opportunity has allowed me to ideate what the agency would look like in terms of branding and business. I developed Visionaire Branding Company, a branding and marketing agency located in Central California. Creativity has always been at the forefront of my ambitions and Visionaire is a reflection of my passion for taking businesses to the next level and doing it with a vision.

Branding The Cal Poly Transfer Center, Ryann Joy Swift

Graphic Communication

The Cal Poly Transfer Center was established in 2020 in the midst of an ongoing pandemic; naturally, this led to the challenge of building recognition and engaging Transfer students with the center. As the first and only graphic designer, I saw an opportunity in creating the visual foundation for this organization, one that could be well understood and built upon by future designers. This is important as the Transfer Center is quite unique in its specific demographic of transfer students; they fall under an older age group and I want to create said foundation that reflects this; mature, professional, modern. …

"Yay Area Fest" Proposal, Taira Tyler Matsuzaki

Graphic Communication

As an avid hip-hop music lover and producer, I always envisioned the creation of my own hip-hop festival theme and lineup. I used my senior project as an opportunity to execute this vision while showcasing all of the skills I have acquired as a Graphic Communication student. My project encompasses the creation of a marketing flyer, website prototype, app prototype, and social media animation for a hypothetical hip-hop festival. These deliverables highlight my abilities in learning new tools, graphic design, UI/UX design, and project management.

Mother Lou Studio: Branding For A Handcrafted Jewelry Business, Amanda K. Hall

Graphic Communication

In the height of the pandemic I gained interest in jewelry-making. Needing a new hobby, I researched the many methods of making jewelry and soon began practicing the craft. Sand casting became a form of meditation, and I hope to gain more experience in silver smithing in the near future. For my senior project, I wanted to combine my personal, creative abilities with the skills I have learned through my Graphic Communication courses. This project showcases my design and business skills, while building a unique brand that will be a part of my future career.

Take Flight Music Festival Branding, Maxwell Bo Chen, Jake Oxenham

Graphic Communication

We created a branding and design campaign for the Take Flight music festival on campus. The project covered many aspects of event creation and marketing such as name, logo, content creation, social media, printed media, vendor outreach, and administration outreach. All these pieces had to work together to create a strong and cohesive brand image for this event which would help ensure a successful turnout and event overall.

Ramble: Travel Journal Application Concept, Christine Elizabeth Curulla

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this project is to provide an easier and more engaging way for study abroad students to document their experiences. I wanted to collect data on the effectiveness of student journaling while abroad, and identify ways to improve the process through a mobile application.

Ramble is a social app I designed that provides a new question or prompt each day to encourage more frequent, fun journaling while traveling, and connection with others at home and abroad. Ramble solves problems that accompany traditional journaling by making the journaling process more accessible and requiring less time from the user.

Talia Cooks 4 You: Brand And Product Development, Shannon L. Brierty

Graphic Communication

I created a Cookbook for Talia because I wanted to incorporate easy to follow recipes and helpful techniques to teach food science basics. She is a fourth-year Food Science major with a concentration in Culinology. Her love for cooking and baking led her to food science, which has changed the way she sees food and cooking for the better. She has a significant following so I wanted to create a brand for her that she can build off of in the future. My three deliverables for this project are a physical cookbook, marketing for her product, and a website to …

E-Commerce Brand Design And Website Prototyping, Ashley J. Tuliau

Graphic Communication

MJ Swim is an e-commerce brand and website concept with a focus on customizable products and individualized sizing. Most online swimwear companies follow a fast-fashion business model which prioritizes mass production and offers affordable prices. However, aside from the many environmental consequences of this, fast fashion leaves large disparities in clothing quality, sizing accuracy, and product uniqueness. My primary goal was to create a dynamic website that would be flexible across a variety of devices and allow for optimal product customization. My secondary goal was to create a strong and inclusive brand identity that would thrive in a solely online …

Fortnite Crew Subscription Box Process Book, Eleanora M. Gravert

Graphic Communication

Expand Epic Games’ “Fortnite Crew” monthly subscription service to incorporate a deluxe edition which will include physical merchandise as opposed to digital merchandise only. This project will help Epic Games create a more mainstream output of physical products and will help simplify the gamers’ search to find and purchase products that are connected with accuracy and quality to the game they enjoy playing. This opportunity is important to me because it allows me to explore my interest in both the gaming industry and the marketing, production, and design field.

Tech-Sheet Infographics Designed For Tolosa Winery, Jennifer A. Craddock

Graphic Communication

Wineries produce thousands of wines that are individually altered by each growing season and conditions that Mother Nature presents, which vary year-by-year. From increased rainfall and fog conditions, to soil composition and vineyard proximity to the ocean, there are countless factors that go into each bottle’s unique taste and aroma. In order for consumers to understand the details of their wine they must know what aromas, growing conditions, and notes go into each bottle, hence the importance of having readily accessible “tech-sheets.”

For my senior project, I chose to revamp the informational tech sheets at Tolosa Winery during an 8-month …

Artisan Tea Project Re-Brand, Alyssa J. Tong

Graphic Communication

Artisan Tea Project, a local cold brew tea pop-up in San Luis Obispo, aims to communicate the brand’s quality, simplicity, and creativity. The company is in need of design collateral that can best market the nuances of their product to target audiences, especially through digital means. The end result of the project is a fully re-branded company with a cohesive brand image that supports the company’s products, mission, and vision.

Print Foundation: Student Guide To Graphic Communication, Yeyoung Kim

Graphic Communication

This book covers the foundation of print technologies and information related to graphic communication and aims to resolve the absence of the graphic communication textbook for beginners. While there are plenty of professional and technical resources for students, it can be challenging to read professional books without prior knowledge on the subject. This book will also clarify the difference between the Graphic Communication major and the Graphic Design major at Cal Poly SLO.

The project began with the student survey on what they would want to be included in the introductory textbook and some of their additional suggestions were followed. …

Effective Methods Of Marketing An On-Campus Resource To College Students, Samantha Gary

Graphic Communication

The problem this research it attempting to solve is how to market an on-campus resource to college students. Through conducting surveys, gathering research, reviewing case studies, and analyzing data, the author has found that the answer is to not to segment college students by major. It is more effective to figure out what a typical students’ needs are and address them by providing a solution to their problems. By strategically placing printed posters around campus that capitalized on student’s needs for study breaks and outlets to tap in to their ideas, the author found that more students respond to this …

Trends Within Craft Beer Packaging, Aurelia See

Graphic Communication

While the print industry is facing a changing atmosphere, one thing is as sure as death and taxes— there will always be a market for print within the packaging industry. There is a growing market within the craft beer industry, and with that comes competition for each brewery. Many breweries are finding it difficult to use their beer’s first point of sale, the packaging, to their advantage when attracting consumers to their product. The purpose of this research is to provide the reader with knowledge and insight into package design, with special emphasis on designing for current trends and for …

Marketing And Advertising For Small Business In Local Economies, Nathan Ross

Graphic Communication

This paper analyzed traditional and current marketing and advertising strategies employed by small and local businesses. The research focused on understanding issues and struggles for small businesses in terms of marketing and advertising in order to develop and test a new strategy that was focused on a community event. The event was designed to assimilate successful aspects of current marketing plans into one that has low monetary risk, and little to no extra time investment for the business. A community was created by an art collective called Nomadic Artifacts which was the basis for a case study.

The “Arts & …

Athleta: How Innovation Can Work With Marketing, Francesca Schorer

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to benchmark the branding methods utilized by the athletic wear brand, Athleta, as compared to its competitors in the athletic apparel industry. Once the benchmark methods have been identified, I would recommend that Athleta implement them into their current marketing channels. There was in-depth research done upon the overall industry environment that Athleta is operating in, recent trends and innovations done by their competitors, and the innovations that are being done by Athleta itself. There were also multiple interviews conducted with an Athleta employee to gain deeper insight into the brand as well as …

The Impact Of Online Marketing On A Small Business, Mia Musso

Graphic Communication

No abstract provided.

The Economics Of Successful Billboard Advertising, Alexa Thomas

Graphic Communication

This study explains the economics of billboard advertising, specifically pertaining to the internal and external elements that make them effective for both consumers and the brand. Billboards have been used as an advertising medium for more than a century, and are still used today. The question is, “What about billboards make them so effective?” Secondary research was examined to better understand the history of billboards, how they compare to other mediums, and the elements experts consider throughout the campaign process. After analyzing secondary articles and studies, primary research was conducted by interviewing a sample of consumers and experts to determine …

Clothing Company Differentiation Through Social Media, Joshua Birnbaum

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to analyze social media techniques utilized by some of the dominant clothing companies in the industry. This will provide a base of information to strategize a social media approach to increase followers for the Birds Apparel clothing company across multiple social media platforms.

This study investigated the impact social media marketing techniques had on consumer response, and their effectiveness in translating this into a paying customer. Collaborations with photographers, a revamped website, and giveaways were all used as methods to draw new followers. Results from data collected from surveys and on the Birds Apparel …

Designing A Visual Brand For A Children’S Furniture Startup, Rachel Denoble

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to design a visual brand for a children’s furniture startup company. The research from this study was applied to The Cardboard Guys, a company that makes furniture completely made out of corrugated cardboard. Designs were created for the company’s branding style guide, product assembly instructions, and Kickstarter campaign page. Each piece of this project was measured for success a little differently - the style guide was given feedback from a professional design firm, the assembly instructions were given to a group of kids and parents to test, and the Kickstarter campaign was both critiqued …

Management Styles Within The Graphic Communication Industry, Natalie Duner

Graphic Communication

No abstract provided.