Personal projections in artists’ works: Implications for branding

Abstract

This paper summarises the findings of an in-depth, qualitative study of the communicative qualities of 10-year-olds’ artistic productions in several media: pen-and-paper, digital graphics created with a touch tablet and the programming language Logo. Sixty-nine per cent of viewing teachers’ statements about the children's learning preferences, styles and personal attributes were confirmed with information shared by the children's teachers, parents, and the children themselves during interviews. There were no discernible differences in the accuracy of perceptions among works developed with different production media. Viewing teachers knew nothing about the children's ages, genders, backgrounds, school experiences, preferences, or other personal attributes. The results of this study, considered within the context of long-standing literature on the use of artistic works as projective devices with children and adults for psychological assessments, suggests that brand symbols and logos may reveal information about their creators that is perceived subconsciously by potential consumers and that could influence consumer behaviour. Recommendations for further research to confirm or refute this supposition are offered.