Brief and Challenge
The Creative and Cultural Industries at KSA have began to develop a new weekly talk show streaming on Teams and Spacial. “Hot Bananas” is hosted by Rina Atienza and each episode features two industry professionals as guests. In each episode, three items are presented by each guest and Rina, who show, tell and discuss the history and context of their chosen objects they feel represents that weeks topic.
“Potassium Rich, Energy Providing, Portable, Hunger Busting…”
Our creative challenge is to build a visual identity for Hot Bananas. We will also consider the production, format, music and brand values. Our aim is to present a strong visual concept to bring more attention to Hot Bananas and increase the viewing and interest, particularly from students at KSA.
Our Creative Response
From watching previous episodes of Hot Bananas, we were able to identify the brands tone of voice and values. The show was upbeat, lively and stimulating. The guests and Rina convey a strong sense of passion and intellect, which we have identified as the brand values.
From this, we wanted to create a unique brand identity for Hot Bananas. Our initial thoughts were bright, bold colours and modern typography and designs to represent the audience of the show.
We began with creating a mood-board to kick-start our ideas:
From our mood board, we both decided on a font and colour palette to follow as creative guidelines for our visuals. We then went to generate some ideas separately with the intension of coming back together to present and discuss them with each other.
My initial ideas and development:
My first ideas were quite simple and minimalistic. Me and Sophie both agreed that these ideas were too plain and unexciting. We both felt that a banana on it’s own wasn’t enough and didn’t convey the brand values of Hot Bananas.
Episode exclusive chilli banana
We decided to take a closer look at the CCI logo, as it is currently the main visual Hot Bananas uses. We thought about possible add-ons to the logo and the possibility of customising them for each episode theme. This adds some exclusivity to each episode.
A Social Space for Hot Bananas
To make the most out of the episode exclusive chilli banana, and keep it relevant, we decided the logos could be posted on owned social media accounts as teasers. The audience can guess the next theme based off what the chilli banana is doing or wearing, creating a small buzz within the following.
Having a social presence is vital for any brand. It is the key to engaging with the audience and gaining following and attention.
An owned Instagram account for Hot Bananas will include teasers as well as story highlights which include “watch”, “about” and guest profiles. Guest profiles are nice for the viewers to read and feel more connected to the people in the episodes, as well as give appreciation to the guests that take part. An exclusive Hot Bananas hashtag is a useful way to create a sense of community and get users involved.
An official Hot Bananas Facebook group is also a good tool to use to create a community within Hot Bananas. It is a unique space where users can discuss Hot Bananas and even give suggestions on upcoming show topics.
We also wanted to make the most of existing Kingston University media accounts. Advertisements and teasers for Hot Bananas will appear on the CCI, KSA and KU Instagram accounts, increasing viewings and hopefully audience.
Podcasts:
Nadya Cheetham 