Grupo imasD Takes Top Prize in the 2020 Makeover Challenge

THE CONCEPTS HAVE been evaluated, the strategies examined, and a winner chosen for the most ambitious Makeover Challenge yet. Grupo imasD’’s design was the standout driver for its win, with voters connecting to the brand communication language from color selections to use of shapes and textures.

“I love the color palette and how simple yet powerful the concept is,” voter Jose Hernández notes. “The different animal icons allow different users to relate emotionally to the animal of their preference, while allowing for versatility in the different product designs and touchpoints. Also, the proposal does not fall into ‘childishness,’ allowing even children in transition to adolescence a sense of belonging.”

Graphic designer and voter Kirk Van Gilder agrees on the effectiveness of the approach. “All elements speak with intelligent design to children,” he says, “It doesn’t talk down to the target market as if they’re kids with no design sense. Additionally, the overall concept is a very extensible design.” Tim O’Connor, CEO of retail consultancy firm Retail Performance Solutions, agrees, noting that “kids want to learn real stuff—not ‘baby’ stuff.”

The concepts were developed in cooperation and in collaboration with the South Carolina Aquarium, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, with the aim to re-imagine ocean conservancy education—specifically how to bring the magic of an in-person aquarium visit home for children. The aquarium team was led by Amie Yam-Babinchak, South Carolina Aquarium’s director of marketing, sales and strategic communications, and Kayla Halchak, membership manager, South Carolina Aquarium.

Recognizing the limited time frame for the Makeover Challenge, which is an annual contest, Halchak and Yam-Babinchak determined the quickest path to delivering on the Makeover Challenge’s ambitious goals was to build on the original plans for a Kids Club, which would offer virtual and in-home learning. To help launch a future Kids Club, the South Carolina Aquarium team asked the competitors to:

• Design a Kids Club logo
• Create a Kids Club membership card
• Design a stamp book that drives participation in Kids Club activities
• Design a Kids Club home page and lesson page for online learning

BXP also asked the competitors to develop a shipper so the aquarium could send any materials that didn’t live exclusively online to the children’s and their parents’ doors.

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Grupo imasD identified a guiding visual theme that could work from logo to website—the ocean as a moving, living thing. The ocean is also the inspiration for the colorway.

Although the colors are vibrant, the approach isn’t childish thanks to sophisticated iconography that brings the bold with textures and shapes versus comic-like illustrations. The thoughtful approach also creates cohesion among all the design elements. “Every piece created by Grupo imasD looked like they belonged together,” Halchak remarks.

The BXP community congratulations Grupo imasD on its win, and thanks all of the 2020 competitors for their work advancing ocean conservancy education. We now look forward to the 2021 competition and areee taking applications for next year’s contest. Consumer-facing brands interested in participating in the high-visibility contest can apply by emailing linda.casey@smartworkmedia.com with the subject line: 2021 MOC Brand Application.

One partner has already been identified. Inspired by the 2020 competition, JetComp will be a prototyping sponsor and will donate prototyping media to each of the participating agencies for their use in creating prototypes for the 2021 competition.