CASE STUDY: New Market Real Estate, New Market, MN
CASE DETAILS: [Note that the merger of Elko and New Market, Minnesota are real. However, the companies and people people mentioned in this case are entirely fictional.]
New Market Real Estate is a sole-proprietorship. Martha Fields has one employee, an office manager (Sarah Good), and one part-time agent (Monty Lewis) who works only on week-ends. Martha is a member of National Association of Realtors®, but she has not kept up with the move of realtors in terms of creating an online presence and displaying online photographs of her listings. Competition from RE/MAX®, Century 21®, and ERA® is making Martha's hair turn grey. Martha did not grow up with computers like the younger agents. She suffers from computer-phobia; however, she did learn to use the programs she needs to run her business. She started her business fifteen years ago because she wanted to work out of her home and be around for her children. When the last child left for college six years ago, Martha purchased a small house on a busy street and next door to a small shopping center (strip mall, six businesses including a coffee shop) to serve as New Market Real Estate offices. Martha's two major services are residential real estate (80%) and managing rentals (20%). Martha has two problems, both requiring design solutions.
One problem that needs to be resolved is a new design for the company's printed materials. The small cities of New Market and Elko are merging in 2007, and Martha must order new stationery with the new city name (Elko New Market) including letterhead, envelopes; business cards, and contracts. The logo will also be used in Martha's yellow pages advertisement (a black and white version of the logo). Martha designed her logo when she started selling homes, and she is well aware that her logo looks unprofessional. She has decided that since she has to go to the expense of printing all new stationery, she may as well obtain a professionally designed logo. Her printer wants the design soon in order to meet Martha's printing deadline. The printer will accept the design in a MS Word file. In the initial R&A interview, Martha stated, "I want a design that is sharp, you know? It should be distinctive, clean looking, professional, and snappy. I love bright colors. I guess that comes from living in snow country and feeling like I live in a black and white world. I don't want the design to look like any of my major competitors. I seriously don't want anything girly, prissy, or cutesy."
The second problem for Martha is convincing the bank to grant her a business loan to pay for upgrades and improvements to her business. These improvements include work to her office building (an old house in need of plumbing, insulation, electrical wiring, flooring, and parking lot resurfacing work), all new stationery, and computer upgrades including a wireless connection to the Internet. Martha has data for the costs and comparison bids, but she needs a visual representation of the data to include in her loan application. She wants the visual to honestly represent her situation but to be clearly convincing.
Teacher Options: For a visual design assignment, students can create a logo or be given or invent cost data with which to generate an effective graphic.
Use the drop-down list in the navigation bar to access other case studies.
New Market Real Estate is a sole-proprietorship. Martha Fields has one employee, an office manager (Sarah Good), and one part-time agent (Monty Lewis) who works only on week-ends. Martha is a member of National Association of Realtors®, but she has not kept up with the move of realtors in terms of creating an online presence and displaying online photographs of her listings. Competition from RE/MAX®, Century 21®, and ERA® is making Martha's hair turn grey. Martha did not grow up with computers like the younger agents. She suffers from computer-phobia; however, she did learn to use the programs she needs to run her business. She started her business fifteen years ago because she wanted to work out of her home and be around for her children. When the last child left for college six years ago, Martha purchased a small house on a busy street and next door to a small shopping center (strip mall, six businesses including a coffee shop) to serve as New Market Real Estate offices. Martha's two major services are residential real estate (80%) and managing rentals (20%). Martha has two problems, both requiring design solutions.
One problem that needs to be resolved is a new design for the company's printed materials. The small cities of New Market and Elko are merging in 2007, and Martha must order new stationery with the new city name (Elko New Market) including letterhead, envelopes; business cards, and contracts. The logo will also be used in Martha's yellow pages advertisement (a black and white version of the logo). Martha designed her logo when she started selling homes, and she is well aware that her logo looks unprofessional. She has decided that since she has to go to the expense of printing all new stationery, she may as well obtain a professionally designed logo. Her printer wants the design soon in order to meet Martha's printing deadline. The printer will accept the design in a MS Word file. In the initial R&A interview, Martha stated, "I want a design that is sharp, you know? It should be distinctive, clean looking, professional, and snappy. I love bright colors. I guess that comes from living in snow country and feeling like I live in a black and white world. I don't want the design to look like any of my major competitors. I seriously don't want anything girly, prissy, or cutesy."
The second problem for Martha is convincing the bank to grant her a business loan to pay for upgrades and improvements to her business. These improvements include work to her office building (an old house in need of plumbing, insulation, electrical wiring, flooring, and parking lot resurfacing work), all new stationery, and computer upgrades including a wireless connection to the Internet. Martha has data for the costs and comparison bids, but she needs a visual representation of the data to include in her loan application. She wants the visual to honestly represent her situation but to be clearly convincing.
Teacher Options: For a visual design assignment, students can create a logo or be given or invent cost data with which to generate an effective graphic.
Use the drop-down list in the navigation bar to access other case studies.
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©Ida L. Rodgers, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Updated January 15, 2012
Updated January 15, 2012