It is disturbing to think that design, which you’d instinctively think is an evergreen profession with constant demand, isn’t capturing young people the way it did for me.
Talking with one friend today, who worked with me in the 2000s, she asked if people were just downloading templates and thinking that was design. Unfortunately, there are indeed some who do this.
This runs counter to what makes for good brands and organisational success. Going back to first principles (which I didn’t expect I’d have to do approaching 40 years into my career), branding is:
'the methods in which the organisation communicates, symbolises and differentiates itself to all of its audiences'.
How do your audience members, which could include your customers, feel when they deal with you? This could include
- the impressions they get when they see your logo
- how they feel when they speak to someone in your organisation
- whether they believe you’re a good corporate citizen and someone they want to do business with or buy from
- whether they might be proud enough to wear your logo.
Even in commodity businesses, you will still find yourself needing to differentiate yourself from a competitor.
And while some might argue that consumers don’t go into this depth of inquiry when choosing product A over product B, I believe there’s still an advantage to doing it right.
At the very basic level, A might be more famous than B, attracting customers to it. That is the role of having done your marketing right. A well defined brand plays a part in terms of reinforcing the message to the audience. Say one thing and do another, and there’ll be someone on social media quick to point out your hypocrisy. But define it well, stick with the messaging, and that, at the very least, builds fame.
How you do this rests on some tried and trusted rules. Some are founded in good design, when you are signalling to audiences who you are. Some things don’t change rapidly. Certain colours elicit fairly consistent responses. Serif typefaces convey greater authority than sans serif ones. We find certain proportions more æsthetically pleasing than other ones.
A company that understands not just design principles but the wider business environment - vision, strategy, brand, brand equity, organisational performance - is, therefore, more indispensable in a world that is trickier to navigate. When times are good you may be able to rely on growth from a buoyant market. When times are tough, the investment in real expertise needs to be made - as hard as this is for many organisations to understand. This expertise does not come cheaply, and it is certainly not found in downloading templates. It can only be found through careful inquiry.
Step One: Brand strength can only come from the right company asking the right questions of a client - and being able to deliver.
Just think of two things here:
- if no one does anything new, things will stagnate;
- if you don’t do anything differently, you won’t get noticed.
Step Two: elevate brands so they become catalysts for positive change, and help their organisations become purpose-driven. I quote my colleague Giuseppe Cavallo:
"It is our collective responsibility to place human beings at the centre of the economy, shifting the paradigm so that the market serves humanity, rather than the other way around. Business leaders bear a moral duty to see people as more than just consumers, embracing a broader vision of success that encompasses human happiness and well-being. In so doing, they will not only respond to increasing expectations from all their stakeholders, but will increase their chances of winning in the market, too."
He adds (my emphasis):
"By putting purpose at the centre of their operations, conscientious brands aim to make a positive impact on society while still achieving financial success. Profit is not neglected: it is put in a systemic context. And it is worth noting that studies demonstrate that companies that are guided by a higher purpose normally overperform in financial terms those that operate in a profit-first mode."
Rather than reinvent the wheel, check out his article here. Design is needed now more than ever, and, as a tool in branding, can ultimately be beneficial for the organisation, and taken further, the wider community and humanity.
Jack Yan is an external board director of Insight Creative
