Ki-oon
#digital #branding #edition #manga
Digital era editing
Ki-oon is a French manga publishing brand.
It distinguishes itself from its competitors by being the biggest independent manga edition in France. It is also the first to produce its own manga, without being solely in collaboration with Japanese publishing houses.
Manga publishing in France currently faces three problems:
– The dependency on Japanese publishing houses,
– The manga targer that’s limited,
– The emergence of digital technology.
Ki-oon is already trying to tackle the first two problems, but is having difficulty grasping the shift into a digital era.
Identity needs a facelift in order to start the changes to come.
The current one is considered too childish by a large majority of readers, who no longer relatewith the brand.
The proposed new logo is part of a dreamlike and evasive atmosphere (one of the values of the brand).
The symbolism of the moon is used here to echo the legend that exists in many countries that when two people look at the moon at the same time, their hearts and minds come closer together.
This new logo is also inter-generational, and universal.Ki-oon producing manga from different countries (which makes its difference), finds no interest in identifying with Japan.
In addition to identity, the world of manga needs to be dusted off.
Currently manga are classified according to their “target audience“, i.e. :
– Shojo : manga for young girls,
– Shonen : manga for young boys,
– Seinen : manga for young adult men,
– Josei : manga for young adult women,
– and so on.
Considering the thousands of themes and millions of different manga’s existing, a classification by mood would be more appreciated by the readers. Indeed, readers are more likely to discover a manga that they would enjoy, according to their mood of the moment, rather than according to their gender and age group.
The most important step in updating the brand in the digital world is via the website.
Currently the site is no longer updated, except for the publication of articles. The site also has no purpose of its own.
It would be necessary to find an added value, to attract users. Giving a purely informative purpose to the site would allow users to search for manga ideas, get information on the latest news and manga in general, etc..
One of the big dangers of digital technology for manga publishing is the appearance of free scans, which are mostly illegal.
In the minds of customers, it is therefore very difficult to imagine having to pay to read manga online. Especially since the target is quite young, and does not necessarily have their own wallet.
The solution would then be a Simulpub application, that is to say an application to read manga chapters directly after their release (in Japan or elsewhere).
Instead of charging chapter by chapter as is usually the case, the idea would be to charge a monthly subscription to access the reading. This would limit illegal reading, for example on Netflix and illegal downloading.
Design by Floriane Dorp