2017-07-21: Of Branding and Identity
- Log: Of Branding and Identity
- Cast: Emma Hetfield, Jacqueline Barber
- Where: Lacour - Market District
- Date: 07-21-2017
- Summary: Jay meets up with Emma at a cafe to inform her of the progress on her project. As they talk, the matters of logos and self-identity are brought up.
========================<* Lacour - Market District *>======================== The Lacour Market District does not rival that of the major commercial powers of Filgaia in terms of volume or value of trade, but it the class of the world in traditional weapons and protective gear. More than a hundred individual shops line the streets of the district, each bearing its own name, specialties, and branding. Almost any kind of weapon or armour can be found in Lacour, and odds are good that anything innovative will be found here first...or make its way here in short order. The merchants of the Market District are proud and competitive, and walking down the streets is an exercise in patience, as they bombard passersby with litanies in praise of their work and curses for the rust-ridden works of their neighbours. At no time is this competition more fierce than during the Lacour Tournament of Arms; this annual exhibition to name the World's Greatest Fighter includes considerable prestige for the merchants sponsoring their entries, and talented fighters will find their services heavily sought-after.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
EMMA HETFIELD...
Has been around, but not like, actually going to most of the fights, because most of the people she's cared about haven't been that involved. She's gone to several of Lunata's, of course, sitting in the middle seats and observing.
Did she file reports? No. She is no country doctor.
Anyway Emma is bustling around to make contact with clients and people who might hire the use of the Emma Motor for various projects, which is boring but someone has to do it, and unfortunately, Emma has not yet used the "Emma Recovery System" to capture enemy soldiers and exfiltrate them to Emma Base for repurposing.
RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT she's sitting at a patio cafe eating a sandwich. She is eating the hell out of that sandwich. It has smoked cheese on it.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline's been around too, of course. In fact, she's been quite busy around Lacour: arranging business things, going to her friends' fights, putting up advertisements for the Caravan Kinship...
Suffice it to say, she's been a busy little bee, and shows no signs of slowing down. She had a new business to pave the way for, after all!
And that business was part of the reason she was here. It was a nice little cafe, really. She stowed it away in the back of her mind for later visitation. Right now, she had work to focus on.
With a smile, she waves toward Emma.
"Good afternoon, Professor! I've got a few things I'd like to talk with you about, if you're not too busy. May I join you?" She greets.
Right now Emma seemed to be busy eating a sandwich and...to be fair, it was a nice-looking sandwich. Jacqueline wouldn't blame her for waiting.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
Emma's cheeks are full of sandwich. She raises a hand to wave vigorously in reply to Jay and crunches the bite away, picking up a napkin to dab her mouth daintily. "Of course, Jacqueline. Please, have a seat. If you would like, have some of these fried potato bits. How have you been?"
The sandwich gleams.
"I've been dealing with a few things myself, here and there. I've been hearing your jingle lately, too, although I think your meter is a little off," Emma continues genially. "But that might be people messing up your sheet music."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline nods when Emma gives her okay and takes a seat. Her eyes fall to the 'fried potato bits' and...after a moment, she decides to accept the offer.
"Ah, thank you, Professor." She says, giving one a try.
...Not bad. Come think of it, hadn't Claude asked for something like these before?
Jacqueline chuckles slightly at the mention of the jingle.
"Oh, you have? I'm glad it's been catching on. It was Lunata's idea, and I thought it was rather catchy, myself." She replies. "Hmm...that may be possible. You can't expect it to remain unchanged. People are always going to have their different ideas of how it should be done."
She helps herself to a few more of the bits before returning her attention to Emma.
"Do you remember the project I brought up to you before? ...Well, soon enough, it should be complete. Soon enough, the Caravan Kinship will be taking to the road." She comments.
"We'll have your motor to thank for that, of course. I'll have to have it delivered to you to get it installed."
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
They're crunchy! And salty, and potato-y.
Emma munches her sandwich before having a sip of the thin beer she's having with her meal. "Oooo," she says, narrowing her eyes. "You've really been moving forwards. I'll have to nip back to Adelhyde, probably, unless you know of a suitable place here. But the equipment isn't hard to get hold of. Have you practiced your Symbological precision, just so you can... Well; you know."
Not blow up the battery jugs.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline approves! She normally prefers sweet things, but these are quite nice, too. She could get used to them. Maybe she should see if Lunata wouldn't mind preparing them once they get on the road...
"Well...I've been trying, at least. I've got people relying on me now, and I'd rather not let them down. You know...I'd extend an offer for you to join us, too, Professor, if I weren't sure you had your hands full with your own business." Jacqueline comments.
As for having to return to Adlehyde...
"That seems likely. We might be able to find someplace to do it here...but it'd probably be easier back home. That falls in line with my plans, though - from the estimate I received, it won't be ready until after the tournament, and right now we plan to head back once it's done, anyway." She comments with a shrug.
She chuckles again, this time sheepishly, when Emma brings up the jugs.
"I...I've been practicing, yes. I can control the output fairly well, now. That should avoid any...unfortunate accidents on the road." She replies.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Mmm," Emma says with a slight smile. "I appreciate it, Jacqueline: I appreciate it very much. But I'm afraid that I can't hitch myself to your wagon on a permanent basis. I have ambitions that I fear would bring problems and challenges to your Cara-Kin, but I hope we will, and always shall be, friends and allies."
After this, Emma takes a deep breath.
"I'll buy you an appetizer by way of apology," she offers then. "Regardless, though, hm. Installation shouldn't be hard - do you have a diagram of the wagon? I doubt it'll be a major issue, but that might make it even quicker. And wonderful!"
Emma leans forwards to ask with conspiracy in her voice, "What's it like?"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline nods in understanding.
"Of course, Professor. And I wish you luck with those ambitions of yours, whatever they may be." She replies. She definitely didn't want to feel like she was holding Emma back, after all - the professor must have so many more plans to work on.
At the mention of a diagram, Jacqueline reaches into her bag for a notebook. From the looks of it, it was the same notebook she had useful to take notes on the panel they had delved into the Berry Caves to repair.
"I have some right here, actually." She replies, flipping through the pages. "You can see some of the previous iterations too, if you'd like."
Once she's found the right page, she offers the book over to Emma for perusal. The vehicle in question seems to have undergone quite a bit of revision - the design became a bit more stream-lined and efficient over time, though still allowing for protection. There would be enough room for the Kinship to travel comfortably, as well as to store their wares and ingredients.
Somewhere along the lines, it seemed as if a kitchen had been inserted into the design, as well.
"Mrs. Croze let me look at some of her notes a while back and they helped make the design a little more...realistic." She explains.
"Oh, and, while we're on the subject..." She points to one side of the vehicle, and makes a circle with her finger.
"I was thinking we'd put your logo about...here. Ours will go on the other side." It seemed she still had every intention to hold up that particular part of the bargain.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Ahh, dear Meredin," Emma says. "I can see her sensual lip prints all over this design..."
Flip flip, read read. "It's good that she wants to make it smooth," Emma says. "It's like a ship, you know - normally these things don't matter, but you'll be travelling swiftly enough to cover twenty, thirty miles in an hour... at that point, wind resistance does make a different."
Adjusting her glasses, she says, "Oh yes! The logo! I need to hit up that artist boy. He sent me a robot but he hasn't caught up with me about my commission."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Sensual lip prints...? Jacqueline...decides not to think too deeply about that one.
"Yes, I imagine this will make things a lot easier...both for us and on the vehicle, as well." Jacqueline agrees with a nod. "It should allow us to get more distance out of the motor, as well."
Sure, she could always stop and recharge it...but she didn't want to have to be doing that all the time, after all!
As for the logo...
"Hm...maybe I should see about hiring someone to make one for us, as well. I had a few logo designs in mind, but I've caught wind of a few...grumblings, about them. I'll see what the others have to say about it first, though." She comments.
She thought the three Spirits howling at a moon with 'CK' written on it was an excellent idea, thank you very much, Shalune.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Exactly! Less energy spent pushing wind aside," Emma says with a small and firm nod. "I also realized I should install a voltmeter so that you can check the overall charge. I'll also teach you how to properly dump the sulfuric acid and replace it, in a common sewer or other location, when it becomes necessary."
POLLUTION! That's someone ELSE'S problem!
Emma finishes off her sandwich in the mean time, before she says, "I was also thinking, now that you've expanded this somewhat, on - well, it's a detail, but if I'm correct in how it would work, it would let you charge 'on the go' while drawing from the other set of battery tanks. But that seems like something to do once we've had an actual, factual working model, rather than refining on speculation without factual input."
Then there is a pause. "Are they in these drawings too?" Emma asks, enthusiastically. "I don't know the slightest thing about logos. I thought about just drawing - HETFIELD, you know, but in a glossy metal box - but I think my name's a little too long for that, don't you? It wouldn't be sexy, wouldn't catch the eye. Maybe 'EMMA,' for the motors..."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
"Oh, yes, I think those would both be incredibly useful!" Jacqueline says. Both the voltmeter and knowing how to replace the acid were things she would probably need to manage during the trip.
She goes quiet for a moment and listens as Emma explains her other idea. Jacqueline ponders this, nodding in understanding.
"Oh...yes, I see...that would be quite something..." She says with a nod. It would be great if they could get that to work, but Emma was right in that it'd probably be better to make sure their current idea was working before they tried to make changes.
As for logos...
"Oh, of course." Jacqueline replies with a nod, flipping ahead a few pages. It was certainly an...interesting...collection, among which was the aforemention Three Wolf CaraKin. Most of them were mere outlines, but some of them had been filled in, in a manner befitting Jacqueline's...unique design philosophies.
In other words, an incredibly gaudy color scheme.
She takes a moment to think about Emma's own ideas.
"Hm...if you want 'Hetfield'...you could try paring it down into 'HF'...or 'HI', for Hetfield Industries...though the latter might be mistaken for a friendly greeting...but maybe that's a good thing!" She suggests. "EMMA wouldn't be too bad, either."
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Oh, oh," Emma says, tapping her fingers over the three wolf one. "This is amazing. I can feel the spirit from it. - Ha ha! Well," she says, as she flips to the color samples, "I don't know how you could get a greeting out of 'H F,' but it's a way to do it."
"But yes," Emma muses. "I really should brand those things. After all, they're like my working cattle, now, aren't they?"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline chuckles proudly. Emma only seemed to be encouraging her further. ...The other members of the Kinship may possibly want to run an intervention before they end up with something horrific as their logo, to avert the worst possible future.
She nods, then.
"Yes, of course. I make sure to include mine on all my potion bottles." She says. She rummages through her bags and sets one on the table for reference. There, in the corner of the label, was the logo for her old business.
"The most important thing in business is getting your name out there, after all!" She says proudly.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
SOON
"Is that.... E M M A on that continent, sir...?"
"It would appear to be so. Captain, the planet has achieved hashtag branding."
"Fascinating..."
BUT HERE AND NOW,
"That is terribly clever. I'll have to remember that... Are you abandoning your old trademarks for Cara-Kin?"
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Truly the worst possible future...or, perhaps, the greatest?
"I imagine Jay's Curatives and Curios will continue to live on in some form, but...well, it's not just about me now, after all." Jacqueline replies with a nod. "Taking on the CaraKin logo advertises all of our services, making things better for all of us."
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"I think," Emma says, "you should keep it up. It's important to keep your own identity, even if you're now in their group. Or something like that. However," Emma concludes, with a wave of the sandwich crust, "I am told I"m arrogant and presumptious."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline chuckles slightly.
"I can't imagine anyone would tell you that to your face. I certainly haven't noticed." She replies, then glances back down toward the bottle.
"...You have a good point, though. I suppose I could keep the Curatives and Curios logo on the label, at the very least. I think that would be a good compromise." She decides. It wasn't as if anyone had told her to take on the CaraKin logo - it was something she had decided for herself. But, in a way, it was probably for the best not to get too tied up in it that she forgot herself.
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Oh you're too kind!" Emma says, adjusting her glasses. "But I know I have a few charming eccentricities. And I can listen to people talking about me through my sound collection machine."
Does she really have one?
"Mm hmm," Emma says, nodding. "Maybe fifty fifty. Or put Cara Kin up top. This way if you ever take on another person's line of curatives, you can have different market segments. Some for the rugged Diggers who need relief now, and the others for mild children and invalids."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline's...going to assume that's probably, hopefully, a joke. Accordingly, it gets a good-natured chuckle.
"Well, none of us can say we're devoid of them." She replies with a nod.
She nods again, this time in acknowledgment of Emma's advice.
"Hm...that's a good idea, actually. I don't know if you've met Matilda Whitehead, but we picked her up recently...I imagine we'll be selling some of her wares, as well, so your advice comes at a good time." Jacqueline replies with a nod. "So, it might be useful, to differentiate our wares in that way."
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"I can't say that I have... Does she have any need for my motors?" Emma says, genially.
She's not kidding.
"Why, which line is she in? I could use some mild treatments myself, just for the day to day grind of metal slivers and sore backs."
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Would Matilda need motors? Jacqueline couldn't say for sure, she didn't know her that well.
"I'm not sure. I'd have to ask her. She does have a rather fascinating ARM, though." She replies.
"As for her line...she's a compounder so her wares are similar to mine, but different at the same time. There's a little overlap between us, but I think she's still trying to find her niche." She explains.
"Of course, if you're looking for a treatment like that, I have a potion or two that might just do the trick..." She pauses for a moment to rummage through her bags and produce a sample of said potion for Emma.
"They'll help soothe the body, after a grueling fight or even just a hard day's work!" Had she practiced that sales pitch before, or did they just come naturally to her?
<Pose Tracker> Emma Hetfield has posed.
"Mm. I'll have to look her up," Emma says - before reaching out to take that sample. She turns it over. Pursing her lips, she says - as her eyes raise above the rim of her glasses -
"What's it mix well with?"
She totally means liquor.
<Pose Tracker> Jacqueline Barber has posed.
Jacqueline chuckles knowingly. One gets the feeling she's been asked similar questions before.
"Oh, I imagine you could mix it with anything, as long as you remain within the recommended dosage."
In other words - go nuts, Professor Hetfield. Do as your heart desires.