The Power of Design in Brand Communication
Design is something we interact with on a daily basis. From a billboard on a highway, the glowing signage of a bar to the books on our shelves, we can find it all around us.
We can’t escape it — we interact with design when we purchase products, read printed materials and navigate our electronic devices.
When brands properly harnesses the use of Design in communication, they become unforgettable….so let’s explore the world of design a little bit.
THE WORLD OF DESIGN
Design cannot be defined with just one word, considering how vast it is. It takes many forms and spans across disciplines. The fields of design include fashion, graphic design, web design, product design, interior design and industrial design to name a few.
For the purpose of this article, Design will be treated as a key tool in brand communication and will showcase instances of how design was used in the communication of brands.
BRAND COMMUNICATION AT A GLANCE
Brand communication is simply the interaction between a brand and its stakeholders (Investors, employees and customers are typical stakeholders of any brand).
Through this interaction, the brand engages to maintain top of the mind awareness and stakeholders are informed, enlightened and reminded of the brand’s strengths, values and promise. The promise might be in the form of a product or service. In any case, brand communication helps reinforce the ideals of a brand among stakeholders and persuades them to buy into new goals.
With this brief explanation about brand communication, let’s dive back into design and later we’ll see how design is essential in brand communication.
GRAPHIC DESIGN — PLAYING WITH SHAPES, TYPOGRAPHY AND IMAGES
Graphic Design in its most basic definition is the art of combining shapes, typography and images to visually represent ideas and messages.
If typography, shapes and images are combined in a pleasing way, but don’t represent an idea and don’t communicate anything, then such a combination is just art. This does not by any means undermine art and artists or the role of aesthetics in Graphics. As a matter of fact, if a design is not visually engaging, the idea represented in it and the message to be communicated will be missed. So a design must be both functional and emotional to be effective in its purpose.
SHOW IT DON’T SAY IT
In an overcrowded marketplace where brands are constantly looking out to make their products or services stand out from the crowd, the power of Graphic Design cannot be underestimated. It is important to understand that every design is an opportunity for a brand to tell its story and to bring a brand’s intangible values to life.
The pictures below are some of my favourite examples where brands communicated with design:
Starbucks & GO: There is no Starbucks logo on the left design the story of how a cup of Starbucks coffee gets you going is told by juxtaposing Starbucks and traffic lights.
Noone grows ketchup like Heinz: On the right design, Heinz is practically saying they don’t have artificial flavours in their ketchup bottles.
Most brand owners see design as luxury and don’t pay attention to the quality of design created in their organisations. It is seen as superficial and not a key tool in the totality of their brands.
If brand owners come to see design as visual cues that direct their customers, then the use of design in communication will be maximized. Designs are symbols representing ideas and sending signals that cannot be communicated efficiently by any other means….so let’s start designing…
I hope you loved this piece…. Leave me a comment on your design challenges, and I will be sure to get right back at you.
