Produktutveckling i stadens tjänst
en explorativ studie om design av souvenirer
Place brandingPlace marketingSouvenirProduct developmentJönköpingAmbassadorInstagramPlace brandingPlatsmarknadsföringSouvenirProduktutvecklingJönköpingAmbassadörInstagram
It is increasingly important for cities to attract visitors, potential new residents and businesses. Jönköping is one of the cities working with place marketing, a strategy that intends to mediate a positive image of the city, in order to accomplish just that.People often have a need to preserve the memory of a trip into something tangible. Anyone visiting Jönköping encounters a souvenir choice, much like the one in many other cities. Linked to the idea of positive place marketing, our work aims to investigate how we as product developers can create a product that en¬hances the image of Jönköping based on the thought that all residents are con¬sig¬nors. Accordingly, we develop three different products from the residents' own image of the city.Our research questions are:Based on the photographs, what image of Jönköping do the ambassadors mediate of their own city?As designers, what in Jönköping's history versus the image of Jönköping today, can we seize in order to give products for visitors a sense of authenticity?As designers, how can we use knowledge of place branding in the development of souvenirs?We performed interviews within three different aspects: history, souvenirs and place branding, all focused on the city of Jönköping. The interviews and a work-shop formed the basis for the further design process.This work has resulted in three products: the matchbox Det nya Jönköping i en historisk förpackning, highlights an important part in the city's history and becomes a conversation piece. Lek dig genom Jönköping want to show visitors what the city offers, and distinguish it from others, from the on-site. Detaljerna gör staden is an every¬day object and function can get residents to begin to discover the details of their own city.Through the use of knowledge and theories of place branding and souvenirs, we would argue that we have found a way to actually catch the residents' image of the city in a number of products. We also believe that it would be able to apply this type of project in other locations to create more authentic and at the same time innovative souvenirs.