Chapman 1 Phillip Chapman Ms.

Hinnant English 1101-104 November 19, 2013 Crayolas Expansion Over the years, Crayola has displayed superior ability to create and market a product to children and their parents. The original text analyzed was a sixty-four pack of Crayons. It was well designed to allow for easy, dual access to the contents within, while also providing a computer-based bonus feature called Story Studio. This feature allowed a parent to login to Crayolas website and upload their childs photo in order to morph it into a cartoon version. Crayola also implemented a built-in Crayon sharpener allowing the user to maintain the product to maximize its lifespan. All of these design techniques are well thought out, but there are some shortcomings that require attention. It is apparent that Crayola was focused on creating a fun product for children and while they definitely accomplished that, there were some design and marketing flaws that were not so effective. Crayolas decision for using thin cardboard may have been economically sound since it is cheap to produce, but it does not inspire confidence in the consumer when they are constantly opening, closing, and transporting the box from place to place. Thin cardboard was never designed to last; it was designed to package something of little value and while maintaining a minimal footprint when it is deposited into the trash. The combination of the overused Story Studio advertisement, and the lack of advertising the products functionality definitely works against Crayola. When a consumer shops for something, they want to know about the product they are purchasing,

Chapman 2 the product they will get to use immediately. The most effective way to accomplish this task is by removing unnecessary marketing ploys like Story Studio and simply informing the customer that their product is in fact, superior to everything else on the shelf. Crayola excels at inspiring children to be creative; however, there is a large portion of the market that has never been catered to. The re-created text is designed for their currently non-existent market, professionals and aspiring professionals. Crayola has addressed the previously mentioned design and marketing flaws with a new addition to their product line. The smartly designed Crayola Pro, is set of drafting tools built for professionals and aspiring professionals in architecture, engineering, and other drafting and drawing related fields of study. The container is constructed from sturdy yet lightweight pieces of precisely cut wood. The corners of the lid and base have been rounded to make the box more approachable, since people tend to be attracted to things with smooth edges rather than sharp harsh edges. Wood also has a more artisan feel and is sure to last longer than cardboard. Crayola Pro has been oriented in the exact opposite fashion of the original Crayon box. It is designed to lay flat, maintaining a low profile and providing a much lower center of gravity than the original text. This effectively makes the box fall-over-proof; the original text was very top-heavy and always had the potential to tip over and toss out all of its contents. Positioned atop the Crayola Pro box are a few subtle graphics. The one that is sure to catch the eye is a large, black on gray, whimsical tree that seems to be swaying in the wind. This is designed to portray to the potential consumer that Crayola has matured their product into something fit for a professional. The tree is also metaphorical for how the

Chapman 3 user will grow in their profession while using the product. Since the tree seems to flow in the wind, it creates calmness within the user. There is something about how a tree lightly blowing in the wind can remind a person of a being outside on a beautiful sunny day. Adjacent the tree is a sharp-edged, inch wide, black vertical line. Within the line are the words Crayola Pro drawn in a white and thin typeface. Crayola Pro has been rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise so that it is to be read vertically, starting from the bottom. This orientation makes the consumer slow down to read the text, hopefully this will entice them to analyze the product a little more. The font is tall and thin, giving a professional yet minimalist appeal. The scheme of the box face is very minimal and has obviously been taken back to the basics. Crayola realizes that overly bright colors and marketing tricks arent necessary to sell a product to an educated professional, functionality is. Upon unclasping the lids easy to operate silver latch, the well-organized drafting tools are cleverly presented. The overall organizational scheme inside the box is made up of four main vertical compartments that are partitioned based upon what tool is allocated to be stored. All compartments are lined with soft, black felt. While the felt provides a clean professional look, it also ensures that the consumer will never have to hear a single rattle of the products inside during transport. Tools included consist of ten smartly chosen Crayons, drafting pencils, a six-inch aluminum ruler, Exacto knife, and a sharpener designed to sharpen both Crayons and pencils. In the original text, the audience was narrowed down to a small demographic of parents, while the addition of different types of drafting tools in Crayola Pro greatly broadens their user base to a wide variety of professionals.

Chapman 4 The Crayons chosen were ten of the simplest yet most used colors from the entire sixty-four Crayon line-up. Five bold colors were intended for labeling, while five monochromatic shades of black are designed for drawing different types of lines and shapes. It appears that thought behind choosing only ten of the original sixty-four Crayons boils down to simplicity. Most of Crayolas colors are near duplicates of a standard, well known color. The chosen colors are the boldest and most easily legible colors in production. There are also different shades of black to give the consumer options when drawing shapes and lines. The Crayons rest in a snug, fitting compartment that is slightly angled down, from back to front, in order to make them more visible and easier to access. In the middle of the box are two longer compartments that are deep enough to hold far more tools than what is provided with the initial kit. The extra room gives the consumer freedom to choose what they want to store in these compartments; this is rather contrasting to the original text due to its inability to vary what is stored inside the box. The elongated compartments hold a stainless-steel ruler used to create precise, straight lines while drafting, and an Exacto knife that can be used to cut or trim models. There is also an assortment of drafting pencils placed alongside the ruler and Exacto knife. On the far right of all the compartments are three smaller step-down compartments. They are designed so that the compartment furthest away from the user makes the tool easier to see. The top compartment contains a dual-use, aluminum, Crayon and pencil sharpener combo, while the remaining two compartments are left unoccupied to give the user the choice to add more accessories. This combination tool effectively does twice the work in half the size. The aluminum build of the more expensive tools provides longevity, while

Chapman 5 the less expensive tools are tightly compartmentalized to reduce movement, which will enhance the life of the tools. Moving to the bottom of the box, felt is found lining every square inch. The felt covered bottom provides friction so that the product will stay in place on whatever surface it happens to be resting on. Felt also helps to keep noise to a minimum when placing the box on its working surface. The overwhelming theme of Crayola Pro is quality, simplicity, and accessibility. From the precision cut wooden box to the aluminum build of some of the tools inside, it is easy to see that the consumer is getting a well designed and long lasting set of tools. Crayola has finally removed the blinders and is able to see that there is a market beyond childrens art supplies. This decision is sure to dramatically broaden their consumer-base and will ensure even more profitability for years to come.

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