05 / 06Brand Strategy / Market Analysis / Visual Communication

Capstone

Making the data something you can feel.

RolePerceptual Map & Visual System DesignerProjectBrand Strategy / Market Analysis / Visual Communication
Market
Gap
Mama Mia
Paglia
Johnsonville
Jimmy Dean
Local heritage
Astro mapThe market as a system of gravity.Distribution / emotional position / opportunity
At a glance

A collaborative academic analysis identifying a potential gap between emotionally resonant positioning and broad distribution. My individual contribution was translating the team's findings into the perceptual map and supporting visual system.

Collaborative Academic Project2026Four weeks
Brief
Translate a collaborative analysis of Saxonville and the 2008 sausage category into a perceptual map that clearly communicated the competitive landscape and potential market opportunity.
Role
Perceptual Map & Visual System Designer
Deliverables
Perceptual map, supporting visual system, visual mapping lenses, and presentation materials
Outcome
The final perceptual map was formally presented as part of the Capstone analysis and received positive instructor feedback for its distinctive visual interpretation.
Question

Where could Saxonville stand apart within a crowded category shaped by reach and emotional positioning?

My contribution

I translated the team's research into a perceptual map and four visual lenses that make the same market gap easier to understand.

Outcome

The final map was formally presented and received positive instructor feedback for its distinctive visual execution.

capstone.strategyvisual research system
1/5
A SOCIAL FIELD STUDYCAPSTONE
emotionreachscale

ONE GAP / FOUR MAPS

capstone.strategy one market gap, mapped four ways.

01 / 05
Mapping the market opportunity

Data becomes
a landscape.

Four supporting mapping lenses, color, texture, orbit, and atmosphere, make the same competitive relationships understandable through different forms of visual thinking.

01 / 04 / One dataset, four visual languages

The same gap,
felt four ways.

Each landscape keeps the original relationships intact while changing the way a viewer enters the information. Color, texture, scale, atmosphere, labels, and position work together as translation, not decoration.

01 / Color mapWarmth becomes hue. Reach becomes scale.
Functional / coolEmotional / warmMama MiaPagliaLocal heritageMarket GapJohnsonvilleBob EvansJimmy DeanHillshireConAgra
Horizontal position = emotional warmthCircle size = distributionColor reinforces warmth
02 / Texture mapReach becomes density. Warmth becomes softness.
Mama Mia
Paglia
Local heritage
Market Gap
Johnsonville
Bob Evans
Jimmy Dean
Hillshire
ConAgra
Sparse texture = local reachDense texture = national reachSoft edges = emotional positioning
03 / Astro mapThe market behaves like a system of gravity.
Market
Gap
Mama Mia
Paglia
Local heritage
Johnsonville
Bob Evans
Jimmy Dean
Hillshire
ConAgra
Orbit distance = difference from the opportunityPlanet size = distributionGlow = emotional warmth
04 / Atmospheric layer mapA vertical, cinematic reading of the landscape.
National / widest distribution
Broad distribution
Regional distribution
Local / narrow distribution
Cool / functionalWarm / emotionalMama MiaPagliaLocal heritageMarket GapJohnsonvilleBob EvansJimmy DeanHillshireConAgra
Higher layer = wider distributionFurther right = greater emotional warmthShape + label preserve meaning without color
Perceptual map of the 2006 competitive landscape plotting distribution size against emotional positioning
05 / Original sourceThe map that
started it all.

The original perceptual map appears last as the source of truth. Every color, texture, orbit, and atmospheric layer above preserves these same competitive relationships.

End of projectLet's talk