Twice Sold Tales

Rebranding a locally-owned Seattle bookstore

12 weeks | Student Project

Objective

Twice Sold Tales is a hidden gem located in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. While those who know about the bookstore are often loyal customers, their reach is limited by inconsistent and outdated imagery. How might we refresh the brand while staying true to what makes it unique?

Details

I created a toolkit of parts that combines texture, literature, and imagination to create a unique and inviting brand inspired by the tactile feel of a book and the endless adventures to be found within Twice Sold Tales's ever-rotating bookshelves.

Role

Branding
Art Direction
Layout
Typography
Wayfinding

Tools

InDesign
Illustrator
Photoshop

“

From the moment you encounter the old brick building located in the heart of the Capitol Hill area, you can just tell you are going to be in for an adventure.

— KAREN ADAMS, WRITER

Design

Brand Applications

Merchandise

Social Media

To reach loyal fans and new customers, the instagram feed and other social media showcases featured and recommended books, sales, merchandise, photography, and, of course, cats.

Newsletter

Wayfinding

Brand Guidebook

The guidebook outlines the brand's logo, typography, illustration, photography, and examples of how to apply them across media in order to maintain brand consistency.

Research

History

Twice Sold Tales is an independently owned used bookstore boasting an extensive inventory of around 10,000 rotating titles. The owner, Jamie Lutton, had a humble start to bookselling, and began by peddling her goods from cardboard boxes around Seattle college campuses in the 1980s. In 1988 a vendor from the struggling Broadway Market suggested she set up shop in one of the market’s empty vendor stalls. For $300 a month she got two carts and some floor space. Lutton showed up with 300 books and, to her surprise, made $100 the first day. “It was good money, so I came back the next day. I haven’t stopped since.” After outgrowing the carts, Lutton expanded to her first brick-and-mortar store in July 1990. As a Capitol Hill fixture for nearly two decades, Twice Sold Tales has become a neighborhood-defining store with overflowing bookshelves, friendly staff, and charming felines.

Audience

Twice Sold Tales is the place to go when in search of a book, whether you’re looking for something new, need a recommendation, or searching for rare or unique print editions. The Twice Sold Tales customer values a personal recommendation, giving new life to old books, the feel of a book’s cover and pages, unique print editions and rare titles, the adventure of finding a new favorite book, supporting local independent and women-owned businesses, and, of course, a touch of whimsy.

Personas

Tom, Age 64

High School Librarian

About: Tom is a Seattle native and has been going to the store since it opened. He is a loyal customer and enjoys browsing for rare or unique books to add to his collection. He is on a first-name basis with the owner of Twice Sold Tales and other employees. Tom is a cat person.

Likes:
- Mentoring and helping young people connect with their interests
- Shopping local & supporting small businesses in his community
- Woodworking and DIY projects

Dislikes:
- Technology (doesn’t own a kindle and is proud of it)

Bernard, Age 22

College Student

About: Bernard loves to peruse and buy books, but doesn’t read all of them (has a growing pile of books). He has limited space in residence, so he often trades in books. Bernard is majoring in Communications at college and has a part-time job at his school’s coffee shop.

Likes:
- Discovering cool new places to hang out between classes
- Good deals and buying sustainably (thrifting, used goods, etc.)
- Books on history and POC literature (authors, stories, and biographies)

Dislikes:
- Spending money
- Dislikes Amazon (uses it out of necessity)
- When websites are not intuitive and difficult to navigate

Process

1. Research

We began researching Twice Sold Tales by visiting the location and reviewing online sources of information to learn more about the history of the store. Fortuitously, we also had access to customer interviews to learn more about why they shopped there. We did a competitive analysis of other bookstores in the area to identify what the key differentiators of Twice Sold Tales were.

2. Tonal Territories

Working in a team, we defined what Twice Sold Tales was and was not using imagery and keywords. We distilled this definition down to four key characteristics that would guide our rebrand: inviting, authentic, whimsical, and resilient. I developed the following tonal territory image boards.

3. Defining a Concept

With tonal territories established, I brainstormed attributes that reflected the characteristics and expanded that into a concept. Crafting character with imagination was fitting because it reflected the personable charm of a used bookstore with thousands of adventures waiting to be found amongst the bookshelves.

4. Concept board

I created a concept board to guide the direction of the brand. This process took several iterations to get right. My first versions were too childlike and whimsical for the brand. Eventually, a mix of textures, abstract shapes, earthy colors and serif typography emerged that felt true to the brand's character but presented a unique and refined direction.

5. Logo Sketches

I created a new brand mark by brainstorming ideas that represented the key characteristics and other unique attributes of the company. The image mark that I chose to move forward with represented the duality of buying and selling books with a nod to both open books and the cats that have always been present in the store.