How Design Will Look in 2018
Consider this analogy: If digital communication is about the everyday questioning of what we want to convey, then design is when you think about how to express it. This reasoning leads back to the meaning of design: resolving a problem with the smartest, most unique and coherent solution.
The issues faced by Reputation Squad are often quite challenging. The learnings of our Creative Studio are a great representation of Reputation Squad’s everyday tackling of problems. Throughout 2017 we have faced new and different dimensions of design: UX, animation, chatbots, print magazines, data visualization, video-stories and social media-friendly formats…
That’s why today, we’re sharing 5 topics that have been simply essential to our year 2017. We’ll be seeing a lot more of these ideas over the following months.
How to design a Chatbot
The fusion of two very different arts — web interfaces and storytelling — push copywriters and designers to constantly question their work. We find that this puts their skills to more innovative use.
At Reputation Squad, we helped accelerate a startup named It’s Alive! It gave a simple solution to people wishing to build their own Messenger chatbot.
In January, they even custom-built a chatbot for the luxury watch brand, IWC. Explore the historic tale of the timeless Swiss brand!
Offline X Online
Video didn’t kill the radio star. As a fully digital agency, Reputation Squad is reluctant toward the idea that digital can fully replace paper. However, this doesn’t mean that print media will not have to evolve and become something different.
We support the creation of print magazines, also publishing Reputation Squad’s very own, titled The Networker. It is entirely written and produced in house. The illustrators come from all over the world. We like to brief, exchange and create a unique visual solution to illustrate the articles we write.
Social media & co.
When talking Social Media, Design represents the key to a perfect compromise. Corporate and institutional communication often follow very strict rules concerning messaging, visual identity and wording. The risks of an overly conventional approach is ending up with dry content, which won’t really seduce anyone in their audience. And especially not on social media.
Graphics, illustration, animation and a wise use of your color palette can elevate your brand’s products, reputation and overall influence.
Media thinking
They say media outlets are exploring new business models. They’re questioning their role online. We can say with certainty that successful companies and institutions have grasped the golden rule: their strategy is changing and their websites are shifting to a media environment.
Illustration vs Photography
Every day, 40 million photos are posted on Instagram. From using our mobiles to our computers daily, the number of images that we are subjected to each day is huge.
We can even say that we suffer from overexposure to images: we don’t even see them anymore. Also, photos online are often reused by many medias and agencies. We believe that illustration can be a strong solution to produce a tailor made and unique look and feel. Produced by our graphic designers or by a team of freelance illustrators, illustrations will undoubtedly continue to develop in 2018.
