Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating ideas from formation to development and implementation. It is innovation at work that brings concepts to life whether it be abstractly, concretely, or visually. It characterizes Ideation Signs and Communications and how they build impressions.
思维的产生、发展及实施是一个创作过程，这个过程通过思想的交流发生。工作中的创新产生生活中的概念，无论是抽象的、具体的还是形象的。这描述了 Ideation标识公司的特征以及他们的影响力。
Daren Bossenberger is the founder and owner of Ideation located in the Metro Detroit region of Michigan within the city of Royal Oak. He created his business to bring together brand savvy, top-notch design, and signage to help other entities make the most of their environments through signs, graphics and branding. This mix is not just attractive to business owners, but also other creative companies looking for a partner to help bring their designs into a client's space.
Daren Bossenberger是Ideation公司的创始人，该公司位于密歇根州底特律区Royal Oak城内。他将顶尖的品牌、一流的设计和标识结合起来，通过符号、图形和商标，帮助实体店更好的宣传他们的品牌印象。这种混合不仅吸引了商业老板，也促使别的设计公司寻找合作伙伴，帮他们将设计深入到客户的店铺中。
Though there is a lot of design talent available, Daren saw that talent being underutilized when it came to effectively branding spaces—whether an office building or retail establishment. According to Bossenberger, there were many designers designing logos, brochures and websites while sign companies were making signs, but nobody was effectively designing signage with environmental graphics and brand in mind.
尽管现有很多优秀的设计人才， Daren发现在有效的品牌空间方面，这些才能总是不能被充分利用，无论是办公楼还是零售机构。据Bossenberger说，设计公司制作标识时，有许多设计师设计logo、宣传册和网站，但没有人能有效地将标识和环境背景图形与品牌结合起来。
"Many logos and graphics look great on letterhead or websites, but don't translate well in a 3D environment,"Bossenberger says."So, I started Ideation to bridge this great divide. We're a design company that brands businesses and their spaces with highly designed logos, signage and environmental graphics. Our mantra is design to move people.We believe our designs should change how people feel and move them toward a goal, or at times literally move them from here to there."
Bossenberger说：“许多logo和图形在书面上和网站里看起来很漂亮，但却不能很好的结合环境转换为3D实体。所以，我创建了Ideation公司来连接这个巨大的鸿沟。我们是一家将品牌贸易和空间环境结合起来的设计公司，通过高品质设计的logo、标识和环境图形来完成。我们的口号是设计打动人心。我们的设计能够改变人的感受，能够鼓励他们追寻自己的目标，或者从字面意思可以简单理解为引人入胜。”
All of their projects follow the same process; discovery and strategy through listening before designing. They also ask the right questions. This generates trust between them and their clients. That trust then turns into honest dialog allowing the customer to open up and share their goals. With those goals at the center, the ideation process kicks in and Ideation goes to work at coming up with visual branding solutions to build impressions. 他们所有的项目都遵循相同的程序；在设计之前，通过交流沟通来发掘目标、研究策略。他们也会问一些恰当的问题。通过交流，和客户之间产生信任。这种信任让客户说出自己的想法和想要达到的目标效果。以这些目标为中心，思维开始发挥作用，Ideation公司开始提出建立印象视觉品牌解决方案。
Here are three project case studies that showcase how Ideation has successfully and creatively branded environments with some tips for helping you build your impressions.
这里有三个项目研究案例展示Ideation公司如何成功有效地帮你创建印象品牌标识。
Project One
项目一
Holiday Market is a 60 year old specialty grocer in Metropolitan Detroit. With demand for their prepared foods and catering on the rise, they decided to bring a new authentic and premium barbecue offering to market called Smokehouse. They turned to Ideation to help craft a visual identity and in-market experience that would measure up to the high quality fare.
位于底特律大都会区的Holiday Market 是一家有60年历史的专业食品店。随着餐饮的市场需求量越来越大，他们决定在市场推出新品Smokehouse，一款全新的正宗优质烤肉。他们请Ideation公司帮忙设计制作一款体现视觉识别，贴合市场的优质标识。
The goal was to create the unique Smokehouse brand that could stand on its own while connecting to Holiday Market. The branding needed elasticity in order to work in applications ranging from in-market signage to packaging, bags and apparel. It was also going to require collaboration with the architect in order to end up with optimal solutions.
我们的目标是设计一款独特的Smokehouse标牌，可以独立设置并将熏制烤肉与Holiday Market两者联系起来。标牌需要适应品牌所需的弹性，从店铺标识到箱包、服装。同时也需要考虑与建筑师的合作，这样你会得到最佳的解决方案。
Tip: As a sign and branding company, if you wait until architecture is finished before you have a say, the potential impression your work could make will be diminished. The significant contribution a single sign can make in context of a broader environmental graphic solution should not be overlooked. The end result for Smokehouse would not have been the same without the vintage, open faced exposed bulb BBQ sign (by Vintage Marquee Lights).
提示：作为一家标识公司，如果你等到建筑物建成以后再说自己的想法，标识的潜在影响力将会被大大减弱。一个单独的标识在广泛的环境图形解决方案中所做的贡献不容忽视。为Smokehouse设计的方案中一样有着古老的、开放式暴露灯泡烧烤标志（使用的是Vintage Marquee Lights）。
Ideation listened to why the client was investing in barbecue, what they hoped it would accomplish, what their offerings would be, how it would be different from other barbecue restaurants, where it would go in the market, how the space would be used and what impression they wanted their customers to have.
Ideation 公司认真倾听，客户为什么要在烤肉上做投资，想要标牌达到什么样的效果，将会提供什么，与别的烤肉餐厅有什么不同，在市场中如何发展运作，空间背景如何运用以及他们想要给顾客留下什么样的印象。
From there they conducted research in the barbecue industry including old-school pits of the south and modern takes on barbecue. When finished, they were able to recommend names, brands, impressions and strategy. Once the concepts were developed they could specify materials, dimensions, colors and installation approaches. Collaborating with Krieger Klatt Architects, they were able to work together to design space layout and construction details.
然后Ideation 公司开始调查分析研究烤肉的历史包括南方老派和现代烧烤。结束以后，他们就可以推荐名称、品牌、印象和策略。一旦概念产生，就能够指定材料、尺寸、颜色以及安装方法。和Krieger Klatt Architects合作，一起设计空间布局和细部构造。
In this phase, they also did some prototyping with a local woodworker. Budget constraints forced them to end up using an imitation wood product. Production of the visual brand components from start to finish, including installation, took place over a five-week timeframe. Other components consisted of stainless fabricated letters by Gemini and routed acrylic letters.
在这个阶段，Ideation 公司也会请当地的木工制作一些原型。预算限制迫使他们以木制仿制产品作为模型。视觉标牌部件产品从开始制作到完成，包括安装，时间控制在五周之内。其他部分由Gemini 制作的不锈钢焊接字和亚克力字组成。
“After developing a logo, we developed mood boards that included type styles, slogans and claims, colors, in-store signage, packaging, bags and t-shirts to validate the overall look and feel.”
- Jon Moses, Ideation Creative Director.
“开发一个logo以后，我们制作了木质宣传板整合了包括风格类型、口号、要求、色彩、店内招牌、包装、箱包和t恤来验证整体外观和感觉。”
- Ideation公司创意总监Jon Moses
“Incorporating the weathered, open-faced channel letters with exposed bulbs was designed to capture shopper's attention while also bringing some old school personality and grit that's often found in the authentic BBQ joints of the southern states.”
- Michael Garavaglia, Ideation Designer.
开放式发光字和暴露式的灯泡设计用来吸引顾客的注意，同时融合一些怀旧个性和粗砂在标识中，这些在南方地区真正的野外烧烤经常能看到。
- Ideation公司设计师Michael Garavaglia
Project Two
项目二
Purely Pets wanted a brand that would position them as the "Whole Foods" of the pet industry, and they wanted their spaces to reflect that brand. Ideation would help bring the brand to life through creative designs and concepts that were aimed at making people smile.Examples includes adding the verbiage intruders will be sniffed and lickedunder the standard signage identifying STAFF ONLY, and displaying fun pet photos in outdoor settings—like a dog on a skateboard.
Purely Pets店想要定制一个标牌，能够将他们定位为宠物行业的“游乐园”，他们想要空间环境也体现这个意思。 Ideation公司制造这种标识牌，通过创造性的设计理念，目的是让人们开心。举个例子，像加入禁止喧哗和闲人免进等醒目元素在标识里面，或在门外展示一些有趣的宠物照片——比如一只滑滑板的狗狗。
Tip: An important deliverable for this project was a Master Sign Schedule and Placement Map that identified all 75 unique signs that would require detailed designs and elevation drawings to support efficient production and installation. A master plan is an important tool to make a project of this caliber be carried out successfully. It also becomes part of the standards that maintain consistency as your customer's business grows.
提示：这个项目需要注意的事项有：时间表和位置地图，观众能够识别所有75个独特的标识，是否能够与客户经营理念保持一致性，高水准完成项目等。展厅的主题规划是这个项目最核心的部分，这些标识需要详细的设计方案以及立面图纸,这样才能支持高效的生产和安装。
Ideation partnered with a number of vendors in this project including SignText for aisle topper signs and with Arbor Oakland Group for printing custom cut out photographic images of pets displayed throughout the store.
在这个项目里，Ideation 公司与很多供应商都有合作，由SignText公司提供高档的通道标识制造和拥有连锁店铺的Arbor Oakland Group公司提供定制化打印的宠物照片。
Materials, substrates and components included the use of PVC, laminates, dimensional acrylic, vinyl by Oracal, face-lit and halo-lit channel letters, Gemini letters with Chemetal laminates, Gatorfoam, Stand-Offs, and Mactac Iridescent vinyl in the creation of the scale-like patterns they used on the header over the walls in the fish and reptile sections of the store.
此项目用到的材料、基板、器材包括：PVC材料、广告组合板、立体空间亚克力制品、Oracal乙烯基材，镜面发光和背发光的发光字，带有Gemini字的Chemetal组合板，Gatorfoam，Stand-Offs和闪光的乙烯基材，在创作模式上采用了像他们商店墙上鱼和爬行动物的元素。
“The team at Ideation listened to me and brought my vision for the Purely Pets brand to life. My favorite questions from first time customers include,‘where are your other stores?’and‘where is your headquarters?’It's great to have a brand that's as poised for growth as I am.”
- Andrew Jacob, Owner of Purely Pets.
“在Ideation公司，我的团队听取我的意见，并把我的想象转化为Purely Pets品牌。我最喜欢第一时间问客户的问题包括，‘你的其他店铺在哪里’‘你的总部在哪里？’拥有一个品牌，和我自己一起平稳成长，真是太好了。”
-Purely Pets店老板 Andrew Jacob
Project Three
项目三
With demand for electrical workers heating up, Ideation was asked to help redesign Detroit's Electrical Industry Training Center (EITC). This was part of a big picture objective of attracting and recruiting top high school graduates into their high tech apprenticeship program.
通过标识制作和设计规划可以使自己的展厅起到升温加热，倍受瞩目的作用。Ideation公司被请来帮助重新设计底特律的电气工业培训中心（EITC）。这是吸引和招聘顶尖高中毕业生进入他们的高技术学徒计划的一部分。
More specifically, the design challenge for Ideation was to use the space to“wow”visitors with the sophistication and depth of the program, and to tell the story of the organization in the space. Visitors would include prospective students as well as government officials. They also wanted design in the space to create a stronger visual brand identity for the organization that could also be extended to literature and their website.
更具体地说，Ideation公司的设计挑战是在环境中使用复杂的程序达到使观众惊讶的效果，并在空间背景中告诉观众该组织的故事。参观者将包括学生以及政府官员。他们还希望在空间设计上创造一个更强大的视觉品牌，可以扩展到文学和他们的网站。
Tip: The interior of the building was nice, but void of any personality or story.All the walls were painted“landlord beige.”This sort of thing is a great example of where you can use space to tell a visual story, to create a perception, to present a brand and build impressions.
提示：建筑物的内部是美的，但没有任何个性或故事。 所有的墙被漆成了“米色。” 这种事情是一个很好的例子，你可以用空间讲故事，创造一种概念，提出一个品牌构建印象。
The total scope of this project included custom displays, environmental graphics, a historical photo gallery, interior paint color palette, new furniture, a video display, exterior signage, interior wayfinding signage with more than 120 unique signs and graphics to be produced.
该项目总范围包括定制展示，环境图形，历史图片展览，室内油漆调色板，新家具，视频展示，外部标识，室内导视系统，超过120种独特的标识和图形。
A custom display was designed and fabricated to feature the contractor partners that helped fund the program. A wall display was created in the lobby to showcase the 6 curriculum tracks in the Apprenticeship program. Custom typography was created from industry materials like mini solar panels and power control switches.
同时，这个项目中包括了整个展厅展览展示设计和制作，以承包商、合作伙伴赞助成立的基金为主题。在大厅中你会看到一面展示墙，展示了6个课程的学员培训计划。从工业材料到，微型太阳能电池板和电源开关。
Years of awards, certificates and industry recognition articles that were hung throughout the space without any real organization or uniformity were reorganized, reframed and presented in a way that contributed to the overall space design. A custom cabinet was also designed and produced to house a digital display that was integrated into a wall graphic.
以及多年来，奖项、证书和被行业认可的文章，被挂在整个展厅中，这个部分，我们将重新定义这些展示物的装裱方式，大大提升了整体空间的设计感。同时，还度身设计了一个自定义的展柜，并制作一个数码显示屏与墙面图形融为一体。
“The facility hosts thousands of guests each year including electrical professionals, legislators and other elected officials, K-12 educators, and prospective apprentice applicants.The reaction to the newly refreshed space has been incredibly positive.”
- Jennifer Mefford, EITC Director of Business Development.
“中心每年接待数以万计的客人，包括电气专业人员，议员和其他民选官员，K-12教育工作者，和未来的学员申请人。 全新空间背景布局产生的反响一直非常积极。”
-EITC 业务总监 Jennifer Mefford
