Brief
Meet Isla Stewart and Njabulo Dlova, bookshop owners from Edinburgh, Scotland. They have been running their online bookshop, Brodie’s Books, for the past 15 years. Their shop’s name is derived from one of the most famous Scottish fictional characters, Jean Brodie, a character from the book The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark.
Their unique business proposal is that they specifically focus on rare, collectible second-hand books. It can be seen as a luxury, high-end product that attracts customers from around the world.
A lot of their business is done on eBay, and books are shipped globally. Until now, they ran their business exclusively online. However, they have a physical booth at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival each year to promote their books (and sell their custom coffee brew on the side – a passion project they’ve been developing recently).
The business has grown so much that, when the opportunity presented itself, they bought an old bar in the city center with the idea of converting it into a space for their bookshop. The bar is located in the well-known Royal Mile section of the city, which is very popular among tourists.
With the new retail outlet, Isla and Njabulo are on a mission to change and enhance the nature of their business. They want to build a community around their bookshop by devoting a part of the shop to operate as a coffee bar, selling their own custom-made coffee.
True to their nature and love of rare second-hand things, they plan to furnish the space with unique, interesting items from thrift shops. They imagine customers sitting down, discussing books and ideas while enjoying their coffee. They want the shop to be a tourist attraction and haven for book lovers, momentarily escaping the hustle and bustle of the Royal Mile.
The main focus, though, is still on the rare, collectible books – they see the coffee as simply a side product to make the business unique and stand out from the competition.
The brief makes it clear that they want to reign in tourists but want their store to be a place of relaxation. They sell products that are rare and something that will make people come back for more, collectibles.
Research
- Who are the employees? Most likely students or young adults
- What is the brand? Rare, luxury, escapism, relaxation
- What do they give? Second-hand books-rare and international, coffee-local
- What do they want? A steady stream of customers.
- Who do they want? Booklovers, tourists
- What can they do? What are the touchpoints? eBay, bicycle vehicle, mini-bus vehicle, storefront
- Who are their competitors? Their main competition is bookstores and libraries besides their price competition online
Their competition locally looks like this:
The main problem is that all the bookstores have a certain look, they all have colorful or painted storefronts, and their name is written in big lettering. Brodie´s Books might need to follow a similar pattern to be recognized as a bookstore, but it also needs to stand out.
Main Pont Books, Edinburgh Books, and Armchair Books are their nearest competitors. All at most 1 minute by car away from Brodies Books. Edinburgh is blue and white, Armchair is green and golden, Main is cream and black, at least on the outside. No logos seen on the outside. Therefore I would want to stay away from blue, green, and cream as a main color.
Their websites are very different in looks and feel. Edinburgh books are the closest to Brodies in terms of seeling-point. Their logos are also starkly different. Edinburgh has a buffalo, Armchair has a dragon sitting in an armchair, and Main has its name stacked on top of each other.
Edinburgh Books website: https://edinburghbooks.net/
Armchair Books website: https://www.armchairbooks.co.uk/
Main Point Books website: https://www.mainpointbooks.co.uk/
Brand identity
What is the direction the brand will take? Their identity is their rare, luxurious, collectibles at convenience for the customers. It has a relaxing feel. The customer is supposed. to come there, relax, and feel a bit of luxury in the things from the past.
Brand style guide
What are the “rules” in the design?
Logos
Vehicles (POS)
Packaging
Coffee bag and Gift packaging.
Past me: I would want the gift package to have the opening flap in the shape of Jean Brodie from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark. This way it is not just a box, but functionable.
It didn´t wind up that way, it would just be a box with a funky flap. No, I made my box to be folded in such a way that a minimal amount of cutting is done. Like very easy origami. I made a video showing how it will be done.
Yeisi Veronica 