kwikchek is a convenience store chain in 45 cities across Texas and Oklahoma. Their headquarters is in Bonham, Texas. kwikchek is a family of customer service-oriented convenience stores, grocery stores and quick food operations with a motto to “Leave ‘Em Better”. They do this with more than 4,000 items for their costumers to choose from. Including cold drinks, grab-and-go snacks and even fresh-made food.
Role: Designer
Our client was kwikchek food store and we were tasked with creating signage, updating their identity system for kwikchek and kwikcafe stores, as well as many other promotional and store related items.
Team Members:
Karissa Place, Taylor Jessup and Scott Willy
Three Sixty Group (Indianapolis, Indiana)
My first phase with kwikchek was to work with my Art Director and learn the in’s and out’s of the brand. This involved learning the whole brand guide, learning how to create a scene with the food items and all about convenience store signage.
This phase was my first stab at working with a convenience store and learning what all that entails. I had to learn what all the signage terminology was, as well as everything about the current brand.
The second phase of kwikchek was working with my Art Director to now develop the brand further. This phase included shooting new food photos, clipping all photos, updating all signage to a more modern look, and expanding the brand to more areas of the store. We effectively did this by making small tweaks to the signage that just gave it a little extra pop in a very competitive market. This look on the signage carried over to the outdoor boards and allowed us to have the conversation of where to take the brand next.
The challenges with this phase included learning how to efficiently clip-out and create in-depth food photography files. We had to do a large quantity of photos in a very fast turnaround period. In this phase I also started learning about client relationships and how to update the brand without changing the brand. Getting to create the Craft Beverage allowed me to make something that was part of the brand, but had its own identity.
The third phase is where my role as a designer shifted and I became the lead designer for this client. In this phase we looked at making the kwikchek brand more cohesive with it’s fueling partners (Exxon, Phillips 66 and Valero). This involved working with a fellow designer to update the kwikchek logo, creating new signage inside and outside of the store, changing the pylon signs and changing the exterior of the store. While the brand was being updated, I was creating their first full media buy. The media buy was for a summer promotion that launched in Summer 2019. Everything from print, outdoor boards, radio spots, TV commercials, t-shirts and guerrilla campaign items.
This new role with kwikchek allowed me to really take on a brand and push it to be the best it could be while working with a client. This leadership role not only taught me more about leading a team to create the best overall product, but also helped me gain knowledge in working directly with a client.
