What makes a good designer?

Image: Shutterstock

In a world overloaded with businesses, logos, websites and social media sites, good branding is more important than ever.

So what makes a good brand designer?

It is not only the singular creative thoughts of a designer that counts. If a designer relies on this alone, design for branded communication will lack in sense and lose touch with its purpose.

It is a designer’s ability to rationalise cognitive response to emotional stimuli through the eyes of another person that makes them effective. Only when a designer is operating in this area, are they able to position their own ideas and creative process to connect with today's consumer through their work.

Why is this important for brands?

This type of process helps designers to create work that disrupts overloaded markets, not drown in them.

To understand the importance of creating the right type of brand imagery, we must look at the conscious mind and how it interprets this type of visual stimuli. We can then understand why it is important for a designer to have an empathetic connection with another person, or people, cultures and so on.

To start, understand that we are driven by emotion. As humans, we work by rationalising our emotional response to different stimuli. It is our interpretation of our own feelings when provoked by these different stimuli that define the choices we make.

It is not just the ability to come across different stimuli that is important. This is something we do every day thousands of times. A lot of the time, we reject what we come across because it doesn’t fit with our own unfolding narrative or sense of self. To understand this is important.

Test this for yourself: when it comes to adverts for example, they are everywhere, online, on TV and in the high street are just a few places you will have come across them in their hundreds. How many can you recall from yesterday? Are you surprised with the low number answer you have provided yourself with? Perhaps. 

Ownership of imagery in the conscious mind.

We have discovered that to come across stimuli especially visual imagery, in our every day lives is simply not enough to have impact on us. This is because the decisive step did not take place: Conscious image ownership. To quote neuroscientist Antonio Damasio: “The decisive step in making of consciousness is not the making of images and creating the basics of a mind. The decisive step is making the images ours, making them belong to their rightful owners, the singular, perfectly bounded organisms in which they emerge.”

When we decide to pay attention to something it is because it resonates with us on some level. It fits with our internal narrative so we seek to find out more.

Telling stories.

How does what we have decided upon consciously owning develop? We tell ourselves stories. This is part of our cognitive response to stimuli, and helps develop the depth of conscious ownership.

So it looks like it could fit. Time to analyse.

During this decision making process we gather new and existing information and work out if what we have come across is suitable. When coming across a branded product or service, the story of that brand, its communication and relevance comes into conscious play. This knowledge brings to light the importance of engaging brand communication across all touch points.

We will draw on past experiences and current ones as we begin to tell ourselves a story of how this product or service fits into our lives. If it is something we really desire, we will even tell ourselves lies to make it fit in with our narrative so that we can justify our decision to, make a purchase, for example.

An example of self-story telling: We know fast food might not be good for us, but ‘I’ve earned it today’ or ‘I haven’t got time to cook a meal, ‘I shouldn’t buy a 6th cup of coffee but I need it!’ It works all the way up; ‘My car is fine, but I think this one would be even better because...’, ‘That house in the country would be a great place to relax’. Your self-story telling creates the vision that the brand communication helped to provoke.

Consumers are in charge and are ultra-savvy.

Consumers have the world at their fingertips. They are more informed than ever and the branded products they buy have touch points everywhere: The high street, events, social gatherings, the internet of things; websites, apps, social media.

Consumers are likely to come across all types of brands several times, before making a purchase. This means that consistent brand communication across all platforms and environments is paramount.

There are a huge array of brands aggressively advertising, hoping that your conscious mind will interact with them. This is complicated because we have the consumers general dislike of adverts, they do not like them interrupting their lives - the use of ad blockers is rocketing which proves this.

It is not that people do not like adverts. To quote Mark Goldstein: “People hate advertising in general, but they love advertising in particular.” To quote Cindy Gallop on this statement: “If you ask the man or woman on the street; ‘So what do you think of advertising?’, they’ll say; ‘Oh I bloody hate it.’ But if you ask the man or woman in the street, ‘what’s your favourite ad?’ they’ll say: ‘Oh I really love that Nike advert...’ and so on.

It is not our knowledge about how we work as humans that is important – knowledge is a commodity. It is the ability to understand all the above and apply it to our creative process that is the decisive step. This is what makes a good designer. 

Simon Bell.

Simon is the creative director and owner of Sensation Creative.

To enquire about Simon's branding services via Sensation Creative in the UK please email:

Simon(dot)Bell(at)SensationCreative.com

See examples of Simon's work, meet his team and learn more at: www.SensationCreative.com

Brand consideration: User experiences.

I’ve been thinking about the purchasing journey and in particular, the role that brands play in user experiences.

Becoming ‘experiences’ aware is the first step. Big business gets it. It not a case of ‘user experience’ but a case of ‘user experiences’. The plural is key.

If you consider where and how often we potentially interact with brands it starts to make sense: in the high street, in print, in the supermarket, online with e-commerce, social media, then environments that support social events and so one. Brands are practically everywhere.

Added to this, every brand is vying for our attention from all these different platforms, using a mixture of sophistication data driven algorithms to find us, and emotive advertising to capture and hold our attention.

It’s crazy.

The sheer volume of information and choices we are facing can be fantastic but also confusing. As consumers, it’s not surprising that sometimes we’re a bit bamboozled by it all, at times splitting hairs as we make up our minds over a purchase.

Given the vast range of products and services available to us, often available in just a few clicks via e-commerce, it’s also not surprising that brand loyalty is increasingly hard to maintain. And yet, even in these ultra-competitive times, the opportunity is always there for brands to win. And they do, some very well too.

You don’t have to be a huge multi-national to win. Okay, sure it helps but the playing field is more level than ever; anyone can create a logo and a website – for free, and millions of people have done just that, it’s practically become a right.

However, it doesn’t mean that it’s all good. Not by a long way, everything has become a commodity: A logo – so what. A brand - who cares. A website – you mean another one. No one cares. This is why user experiences are so important now.

Largely due to this, ‘ideas’ have become the key currency in helping drive business and brands. Good ideas are okay. Great ideas fuel passion, attraction, keep us engaged, create movements and get us to participate. All vital for branded user experiences - especially where purchase is the goal.

Here are a few of my basic thoughts and advice on branding that helps to create good user experiences.

Start with the basics. Your logo and brand name encapsulate all your brand stands for. Consider the brand name, how it’s pronounced, and with global reach, consider the impact different languages could have on this.

Consider different operating environments for the logo: from old school business cards and stationery, to printed media, up to large format print, and then right back down to a profile image on social media. Make your brand identity scalable; the first rule is that people can read it, if not you’ve already failed because that’s a bad experience so fix it – fast.

Create consistency in your marketing and advertising adds to great consumer experiences because it helps to make sense and maintain clarity in the long run.

My feeling is that generally, after seeing one advert, it’s perfectly possible, but fairly unlikely that a consumer will make a spontaneous purchase right there in that moment. Even in the supermarket where this type of action is more common, a better educated view points to purchase decisions being more likely to be based on previous interaction, research and word of mouth recommendations. This type of pre-purchase consideration may well happen quite a lot prior to purchase as we seek to clarify our choice with reassurance of its suitability.

The suitability scenario takes into account that many of us consumers are creating our own sense of brand using a combination of reality and social media which is especially important to consider.

People want to be associated with stuff that is good. In terms of product or service this could mean that we have special preferences for social responsibility, ethical values, products that are non-damaging to the environment, and that are drenched in authenticity and provenance.

Of course this is in addition to the product or service making them feel better about themselves, quite possibly in a multitude of situations and doing the job it’s supposed to do in the first place. This all adds to brand experiences and brand value so bring it into the equation.

Advice: Consider how you would shop for a product or service and what turns you on or off in that decision making process.

Brands that lack in consistency and authenticity can cast doubt in the mind of the consumer and can be off putting. Brand consistency, consistent advertising or story telling across all platforms and environments will help to eradicate any doubts that the consumer may have when interacting with a brand leading up to purchase.

Take care with elements such as typeface colour palettes, images and your message. As humans we experience the world by quantifying our emotional reactions to different stimuli. We base our choices on this. Think about how that alone effects brand communication and user experiences.

The best brands take what can often be complex communication of products or services, and make it simple. Aim to do this. Remember, we’re all over loaded with information and we don’t like adverts, so if something resonates and makes sense, you’ve created an emotional connection with that person. Hopefully a positive one. To do this, it must happen quickly or you’ll end up missing out and starting over.

I subscribe to Dr Barbara Frederickson’s evaluation of love; that it is created from ‘micro moments of positivity resonance’ and this is how it grows. Think of each moment of consumer interaction as an opportunity to build on positivity resonance for you brand.

Leave room for the addition of social responsibility, environmentally friendly points, authenticity and provenance in your equation – this will help to build trust and so adds value.

More than ever, we want instant gratification, especially in the fast consumer goods market. When people do get to the point of purchase, make sure it’s equally as considered as the journey by creating a simple, intuitive process with potential questions available to be answered instantly. This will help relieve any last minute doubts that may arise.

Think about all the platforms and environments that your brand could appear; in print, business stationery, printed adverts for magazines, leaflets and company literature. On the high street; billboards, shops. In social environments; events such as exhibitions, live music or sporting occasions with sponsorship or adverts. This list continues digitally, with websites, apps and social media and so on.

Link all these together and it adds up to how the consumer experiences your brand at each touch point.

To summarise: Good brand ‘user experiences’ are led by considering how we engage with brands today across all the various platforms and operating environments. They seek to create a consumer centric, holistic almost merry-go-around scenario, where we consumers can jump on or off at any point, whilst ensuring that the brand journey doesn’t break apart at any time and continues to make sense - no matter which part of that journey you’re at.

Simon Bell,

Director, Sensation Creative.

SensationCreative.com

How our brain processes images

Understanding primary emotional engagement has always been fascinating to me.

I was doing some research and came across perhaps the most well articulated reason for good design that I've come across from a lady called Laurie Manwell. In a video I was watching Laurie says this of our brain working out imagery:

"We assume that when we are looking at something we are analysing it based on the visual information that is entering the brain from the eyes, but this is not entirely accurate. In fact visual stimuli transduced by the rods and cones in the eyes and sent by electro chemical signals to the central nervous system via the optic nerves does not go directly to the occipital cortex which is the primary region responsible for processing information. Instead it first goes to the lateral geniculate nucleus of the thalamus, another region of the brain that is a part of the limbic system and important to emotional arousal.

To put this in simpler terms, this means that you can experience an emotional reaction to something before you are consciously aware that you have even seen it, which in turn effects how you see it."

If you didn't already understand how important good design is, perhaps this helps shed a little light on things.


Simon Bell

Director
Sensation Creative

Updated branding for Art in the Heart

Updated branding for Art in the Heart.

Art in the Heart is an inspirational art gallery and gift shop offering a vibrant range of original paintings, ceramics, sculpture, glass, textiles and accessories. 
They source all pieces from talented artists, many nationally or internationally recognised, who want to share their passion for creativity with all art lovers.

About the updated logo design

The ‘signature’ logo design takes inspiration from the nature of the business including; name, type of product offering and retail style. The new logo for the visual identity is symbolic of this dynamic flow. 

Relationships with the new branding

The products on display and being sold at Art in the Heart are predominantly small quantity, limited edition runs, or one off original pieces of art. Due to their exclusive nature, and as a direct reflection of accompanying handmade and personable qualities, I have designed a logo ‘symbol’ that is a unique piece of art – free of any pre-created fonts, which has been crafted by hand. I felt this was necessary in order to inject deeper meaning in to the brand creative: richer connectivity with artists and arts based products, greater authenticity and provenance.

The logo type (font, below displaying ‘Art in the Heart’), is simple, clear and free of unnecessary clutter. It creates a sense of authority and has been chosen so that it does not detract or conflict with the feel and direction created by the logo symbol. This helps to position overall visual communication style.

From a business perspective, the logo has real purpose. A great deal of logic and sense is attached to the creative and emotional context of the design. In addition to communicating what Art in the Heart does, attention has been carefully applied during the design process to help create positive engagement with the logo.

Although by its very nature, art (and therefore design) is subjective, there are steps that can be taken to guide reaction. Some of these include omitting negative elements (clutter, unnecessary complexity), and including aspirational qualities (seen in positive shape and flow), is also a key part of how this design works.

It is hoped that emotional stimulation will lead to a positive relationship with the logo subconsciously and/or consciously; on impact, during future participation with the brand and through memory recall.

The new logo is a big step forwards, yet remains true to the original concept in positioning the letter ‘A’ within a heart shape. In terms of overall experience the design delivers warm, friendly and expressive feelings. It has a refined, crafted nature to the design which adds a touch of class, elegance and personality. All of which are traits often attributed to the art world, and all of which we tend to warm to as humans.

I hope you like it.

Simon Bell,

Director

Sensation Creative

My big question is...

My question is: 'what comes after love in branding?'

Inevitably, it opens up more questions; What will happen when people are sick of emotionally driven content and are turned away from it just like benefit driven, yell-to-sell, style advertising? Will we switch off our emotions or discover/find engagement in a more complex communication strategy?

Is there a level up on love; perhaps a multi-layered sensual experience that taps in to intelligence quotient and emotional quotient whilst delivering the brand message.

Is a constantly re-framed formula based on desire, the right path to tread? In other words, will we take a step back from nirvana, to create branding with more strength and appeal based on what we can not resist?

The former seems to be inevitable, the latter, it's already started but a level up on love?

Neuro-science will categorically provide new proof of the brains way of processing emotion, bringing tangible quality to creativity - something that is still fairly new but hugely significant. Will this transform the way we do everything and even reform education?

I happen to think so.

What an incredible time to be a part of the global mix.

Whatever happens, I'm very much intrigued, and looking forward to the next 30 years plus in business as part of the creative industry. During this time, and wherever this takes me, I hope that I'll discover an answer to all these questions and more.

Simon Bell,

Director

Sensation Creative

The Holy Grail of Business

It's the holy grail of business: create a branded product that people like so much that they end up falling in love with it.

As a result, they don't just buy your branded product or service once or twice - they become loyal to it. And not just for a reason, but beyond reason; beyond price, beyond attribute often becoming a life long repeat customer and brand champion promoting it freely whenever the opportunity arises.

Which business inspired person doesn't want this? Yet you'd be surprised at how many people in business will not place the words 'love' and 'business' any where near each other. 

But they should because people love lots of stuff; from other people to products, brands, places, and so on. I love my family and friends. Professionally I love to understand brands and branding. For fun, I love cooking, and the related tools I have to help me make dishes. I love Tangle Foot beer. There are loads of other products I love too. I also love the Lake District and India. Now that's a 'whole lotta of love' as Led Zeppelin once sang - a band I love. 

Out of necessity, you'll probably purchase something. How many times have you made a purchase, with partial need attached because you had to have it? And did you end up paying more than you could have paid with a similar product? Even more intriguing, did you willing pay for something that isn't as good as another product and pay more for it?

For example: the top of the range Windows phone is technically better in just about every area, but more people will pay more money for the iPhone 6. The stats prove this. That's love working in business right there. If you can create a product that people love, it makes business sense.

When everything else is the same; the same big data, the same technology, the same type of service or product, seeking to creating meaningful, emotional connections that carry human value seals the deal. Lovemarks by Saatchi & Saatchi proves this time and time again.

So okay great, if people love stuff they will pay more for it. My question is:

What is love?

To gain some understanding on this would be to gain a massive edge in business. Why? Because people are willing to pay more for stuff they love.

To start with, how would you describe love?

Most of us would agree with this statement: 'Love is an emotion'. And perhaps you would also agree this statement 'love is the strongest emotion of all'.

But have you ever thought about 'how' and why we fall in love with someone or in the case products that business creates and sell, with something? Is love at first sight possible or is it something profoundly more complex? Or is it a mixture of lots of different things all coming together a precisely the right moment?

Dr Barbara Frederickson a distinguished professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, author, keynote speaker and a lady whose work I greatly admire describes love quite brilliantly: Love can be thought of as ‘micro-moments of positivity resonance.' The more we experience positive moments, the more we build up a rapport with who ever or what ever is providing it.

There is a lot of science behind this idea which you can read about in Dr Frederickson's book; Love 2.0. But what makes these micro-moments so attractive to us that we actually fall in love? Are we learning to love through rationalisation of our thoughts or is there something that strikes us even before this happens?

Great thinking is changing. Science is adding its weight and our understanding of our own self is evolving; Rene Descartes famously said 'I think therefore I am'.

However based on scientific findings, neurologist Donald Calne is famously quoted as saying: 'The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions.'

This would suggest that humans are emotionally led. We act primarily on our emotions, before rationalising them as part of a past experience process which leads us to being able to form our own conclusions.

Now remember Descartes: 'I think, therefore I am'. But is this actually correct?

Enter Neuroscientist/neurobiologist Dr. Antonio Damasio. Described 'As a leading neuroscientist, Damasio has dared to speculate on neurobiological data, and has offered a theory about the relationship between human emotions, human rationality, and the underlying biology'.

His thinking takes our understanding to another level.

Damasio's work is responsible for an updated, and in my opinion corrected version, of Descartes famous quote with one dramatic and fundamental change to the wording. Damasio replaces reason with emotion to read: 'I feel, therefore I am.' A closer inspection of his work provides conclusive evidence to support this.

You feel; this is an emotion.

You rationalise; this is thinking.

You conclude; How do I rate this experience.

You choose: Do I want more or less or this. (Will I build up positivity resonance and fall in love)

'I feel, therefore I am'. Emotion trumps reason. Studying Dr Damasio's work will provide you with the evidence to support this. You can find out more by taking a look at the Neuromarketing World Forum 2014 Keynote given by Damasio.

This is why smart brands invest so much in to emotional based marketing and advertising. They're seeking to create these micro moments of positivity resonance. This is because savvy brands realise that the brand boom time is over, people realise that most comparable products do the same thing; all beer tastes pretty good and gets you drunk, washing powder washes your clothes to a brilliant white and so on. 

In order to keep up and win your attention in a time where people have simply switched off to advertising, brands are becoming more caring, more authentic and more emotionally orientated in their communication. In effect, more human, more loving.

Why is this important to understand? When you get an understanding of how we work as humans, not just at face value, but understanding the real deep emotional context of what we truly crave, we can begin to create things with real purpose; from human relationships all the way through to love of our favourite products.

If you want to truly win in business, you'll not dismiss the fact that love and business are, by their very nature, intrinsically related. Act on love, get it right and you'll get a serious return on your money.


Simon Bell,
Director,
Sensation Creative

An irresistible edge

As the supermarket price wars continue, the consumer is winning and the traditional big 4 are losing out.

After the recent news on Tuesday that Tesco had issued its fourth profit warning in a year and lowered trading profit expectations by £1bn, an article in the Financial Times asked: What has gone wrong at Tesco? And they aren't the only ones asking the questions.

I don't know many people that claim to love food shopping. Right there, with a lack of love, it's going to be hard to create a premium.

In the UK food is treated by the masses as a non precious commodity - it's seen as a 'right to have'. Therefore largely, it's perceived value has been lowered. Supermarket discounters such as Aldi and Lidl have realised this and delivered what the consumer wants. Unless you're a massive foodie with a high interest and likely higher value perception of food, the chances are you'll be tempted by the lower prices that the discounters offer.

Tesco and the like can win again but building soured / broken consumer relationships takes time and effort. To get back on track, traditional supermarkets will have to offer price and great user experience which delights and inspires.

And they better be quick. Aldi are already making stores bigger and better, making the weeks shopping less painful financially and enhancing in-store experience. To really win, traditional supermarket brands must do all this more effectively and show that they are helping to make the world a better place - all at the same time.

We know that technology changes markets and abundance drives down market value. Tesco and the like can hide behind stats but simply, savvy, switched on consumers are voting with their feet and they are saying that Aldi broccoli at 49 pence tastes just as good as the rest. This consumer movement would also suggest that the other discounted items all either taste great or they do the same thing.

You can see why the discounters are winning. But there is something else that I've noticed that is giving Aldi an unseen edge...

Having visited Aldi, Morrisons, ASDA and Tesco recently, in my area all the staff are all quite friendly. However, the staff in Aldi have an irresistible edge. Why? I think part of the reason is due to a united team spirit and also because they are winning as a business - it creates a feel good factor.

I've said this before; humans do business and we react to this. We don't often rationalise it, but subconsciously we can feel it: it's authentic, rubs off on us and if it's good, we feel good.

You can't buy this feeling but you can experience it and the Aldi staff are creating it. This is a huge part of internal brand communication. When it's done authentically, it becomes irresistible. It's viewed entirely differently by consumers who long ago have become deaf to the standard corporate auto-cue.

To fix a problem, first you have to recognise it. It's nearly always the small businesses and entrepreneurs that notice these market opportunities whilst the corporate giants sit pretending that nothing is happening. For savvy SME's it could be time for some 'Branding from the Edge'. Learn more > 

Simon Bell

Director

Sensation Creative