When it comes to brand design, it’s not the Wild West. Designers aren’t playing around in Photoshop and hoping for the best (despite how easy they might make it look). Every brand designer follows a set of elements and principles of design to create an aesthetically pleasing and functional composition.
You can harness design principles to help your brand stand out from its competition and attract the right people. In this blog, I will share 10 principles that can transform any design process and simultaneously give you the best possible result.
The Potency of Exceptional Design
Exceptional craftsmanship is a crucial component of a thriving and enduring business. Vitsœ, a company that has recognized this truth for the past 60 years, serves as a prime example.
Vitsœ has worked with Dieter Rams for a long time. He created the modern storage system that made Vitsœ successful. His creations have been around for 60 years, and they are still helpful and look nice.
Rams keeps making his ideas better. He believes great design can make products or services last long. To understand this, it is essential to know how design adds value in many ways.
Functionality:
At its core, a well-designed product or service is purposeful and efficient, effectively fulfilling the needs of its users. It streamlines user interactions and facilitates ease of use, making it indispensable to customers.
Aesthetics:
Captures the attention of potential customers and evokes a sense of trust and professionalism. An attractive design will likely be shared and discussed, amplifying its reach and impact.
Emotional Connection:
Resonates with users emotionally, fostering a sense of attachment and loyalty. This connection can result in long-term customer relationships and brand advocacy.
Brand Recognition:
Strengthens brand identity, helping businesses stand out in a competitive landscape. A cohesive visual language across all touchpoints convey a consistent message, making the brand memorable and easily recognizable.
Longevity:
Ensures that products and services remain relevant and desirable for extended periods. This reduces the need for constant updates and revisions, leading to cost savings and increased sustainability.
Enhanced User Experience:
The excellent design prioritizes user experience, ensuring that products and services are intuitive and enjoyable. This increases user satisfaction, positive word of mouth, and business growth.
What are the principles of design by Dieter Rams?
Let’s start with (my favourite designer) Dieter Rams. Back in the 1970s, he put forward 10 principles of design that still ring true today, and they are:
Is innovative: Innovative design means developing new ideas and creative solutions. It helps make products and services stand out, making them more exciting and helpful to users.
Makes a product/service helpful: A well-designed product or service serves its purpose effectively. It fulfils the needs of the user, making it valuable and practical.
It’s aesthetically pleasing: which means it looks friendly and visually appealing. When a product or service is attractive, it captures attention and creates a positive impression.
Makes a product understandable: makes the product easy to understand and use. This means that users can quickly figure out how it works without confusion, making their experience more enjoyable.
Is unobtrusive: Unobtrusive design is simple and doesn’t distract from the product’s purpose. It supports functionality without drawing unnecessary attention to itself.
It is honest, representing the product or service accurately without making false promises. Users can trust that the product will do what it claims to do.
It’s long-lasting: it remains valuable and relevant over time. It doesn’t become outdated quickly, which means users can enjoy it for a longer period.
Thorough down to the last detail: Every design aspect is carefully considered and executed. Attention to detail ensures that the product or service functions well and looks polished.
Environmentally friendly: Environmentally-friendly design takes into account the impact on the environment. It uses sustainable materials and practices to minimize waste and pollution, helping to protect our planet.
Good design is as little as possible: This principle means that good design is simple and minimalist. It focuses on essential elements without adding unnecessary features, making the product or service easy to use and understand.
What your branding needs to have to stand out…
1. It has to be simple
Intricate designs have a place but perhaps not in your branding. A simple logo will be much easier to recognize than one with complex parts, especially when seen from far away. Keep your branding simple to make it easier for your audience to spot you out of the crowd.
Take the cleaning product Swiff, for example. One of their goals was to create a brand as ubiquitous as other well-known household cleaning products. So for their logo, I chose to keep it simple and stick to one colour. Using the blue is bold, recognizable, and has the flexibility to be rolled out across several different channels.
2. It needs to elicit an emotion
Have you heard of emotional branding before? This branding taps into a consumer’s emotions to form a strong bond or connection. Consider what fonts, colours, and lines might be used to create the right ‘vibe’ for your brand.
For example, the beauty brand Sira Skincare is created to appeal to Gen Z, so the colorful, bold branding reflects this audience. Their logo is also infused with ideas of ‘Flower Power’ and women’s empowerment, which is a cause that many Gen Z women support.
3. It’s got to be scalable
Like the design principles above, a brand must have enough room to allow the business to evolve, not limit its growth. When designing a brand, think long-term and build in growth from the get-go.
4. It should be versatile
From print to digital, product to the interior, your brand should be versatile enough to be used in various contexts. It can be helpful to map out where your brand will appear when you begin the design process – we always do this at Courtney Kim Studio – to ensure you have the right assets in the correct format.
5. It has to be memorable (and recognizable)
What can sometimes happen unintentionally is that you create a brand that’s similar to another one you’ve seen before. Ensure you get a few people to weigh in on what has been created so you don’t accidentally get existing branding!
To match the brand’s goal to expand into anti-aging and sensitive skincare products, I refreshed the logo and packaging to give it a more modern, luxurious feel. You can see the generous use of white space, which adds to the product range’s overall high-quality look and feel.
6. Any tagline or motto needs to be short!
Like your logo, any tagline or motto you attach to your brand must be brief. Working with an experienced copywriter can make all the difference here, as a lot can be said with few words.
Take the Nike tagline, for example: ‘just do it.’ Could you imagine it being so memorable if it were something like, ‘we think you should do it’? It doesn’t quite have the same right about it, does it?!
7. It should have a little ‘you’ in it
As a Founder or business owner, adding a sprinkling of your personality can be the special sauce your brand design needs to stand out. Whether that’s your favorite color, an icon that symbolizes what you believe in, or a catchphrase, you always say, bringing in the person can instantly take a lackluster brand from forgettable to memorable.
8. It has to match your business
I’ve saved the most obvious but often overlooked design principle for last. Your branding must match your business, so if your goal is to represent your professional law practice in the right light, make sure the branding reflects this.
Most importantly, invest in support of a branding designer with experience designing the brands you admire. They can guide you through the process and make sure you get the results you’re looking for.
Innovative design is vital for various reasons, as it significantly contributes to the growth and success of businesses, industries, and societies as a whole.
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We love working with premium lifestyle, and retail brands. If you’re looking to create a stand out brand that will stand the test of time, get in touch with our team today to see how we can help.