Rebranding Project
Intro
Project Description & Context
White Rock City Orchestra, a Vancouver-area nonprofit orchestra, asked our team to help grow its audience and support steadier ticket revenue. The project combined audience research with a rebrand and recommendations for improving how people discovered concert information. Our four-person team delivered a brand book, posters and presentations, with a visual system the organisation could continue to use.
Problem Space
The White Rock City Orchestra, a local non-profit, was looking to strengthen audience engagement and encourage more consistent attendance. They were interested in a research-driven design approach that could help them better understand their audience and create a more connected, memorable concert experience.
Team:
- Branding
- Project Time: Sept-Dec 2025
- Project Scope: Audience research & visual identity
- Project Type: Client-based UX research & design
- Team: 4 members
- My Role: Lead Visual Designer
Ethnographic Research
We used observations, surveys, and interviews with orchestra members and attendees to understand the concert experience. I drew on these findings to guide the visual direction and design materials.
Persona Development
Using the research insights, I synthesized the data into three key personas: The Business, The Classical, and The Family. Each represented a distinct audience segment with different goals and engagement patterns. Visualizing these personas helped clarify who we were designing for and guided the direction of the experience improvements.
-persona design-
-Proposed landing-page improvements-
Journey Mapping
To identify where design intervention would be most impactful, I mapped the current end-to-end concert-goer journey. This revealed three major friction points across the discovery, attendance, and post-concert stages. I then created an ideal future-state journey that addressed each pain point and outlined how design changes could support a smoother, more engaging experience.
-Journey map-
Prototyping & Design Development
I led visual design, translating audience research and the client’s attendance and revenue goals into a clear direction for our team. I established typography, colour and layout principles across campaign posters and presentations, using hierarchy to make concert information easier to absorb. The visual standards connected these materials while giving the team a consistent basis for developing the work.
Brand Book Delivery
We delivered a brand book, posters and presentations with a consistent visual identity. I documented the typography, colour palette and layout standards so the orchestra could continue to use the system. I also proposed targeted website improvements to make concert information easier to find. These recommendations supported the client’s attendance goals; the website work remained a proposal.
-Final brand book-
Challenge
Translating personas and journey mapping into executable design solutions was the most challenging part of the process. Some friction points uncovered during research were simply bigger than what the timeline and resources allowed for — so we had to reframe what we presumed to be the strongest long-term proposals, like a full website revamp, into targeted solutions that worked within the client's existing infrastructure. The priority became actualizing short-term goals first, while leaving the door open for larger changes down the road.
Reflection
This project taught me how dynamic real client work can be. Requirements shifted as we uncovered new insights, and I learned to adapt quickly while keeping the design grounded in research. It also strengthened my ability to communicate design decisions clearly and align different stakeholders around a shared direction. If I were to continue this project, I would explore ways to test the brand system across more touchpoints to validate its long-term impact.
Next Work
