This is a the written version of a talk I gave at UX Camp Brighton 2014… I would imagine it differs greatly from what I actually said.
Brand space has never been more accessible.
Consumers’ time has never been more scarce.
What does this mean for the way we work?
I have been developing a short worksheet over the passed year or so for certain jobs. Its purpose is to collate the different influential factors on a rebranding or redesign of content brands – in this instance one thats sits on multiple platforms. It I have been using it in lieu of user research but I think it would sit well with it or before it on many of my more recent jobs. The most recent time I used it I felt I didn’t have a strong enough starting point before I undertook the trust part of the work. We shred the document between the key figures of the job and I quickly got back this great picture of where we needed to go.
Unit Editions, design book publishers, hosted a talk to celebrate the success of their amazing book Manuals 1: Design & Identity Guidelines. The panel consists of Sean Perkins (North), John Lloyd (Ex-Lloyd Northover) and Tony Brook (Spin/Unit). The discussion was hosted by Adrian Shaughnessy.
It opened a tribute to Massimo Vignelli who passed away earlier in the week. In the winter he had written the forward for the book and provided much encouragement and excitement about the project. Some of his quotes set the tone for the evening including:
“Anyone who says that a manual is a creative straight jacket is a moron. Without a manual you will end up speaking a dialect. A good manual allows you to speak a language” Massimo Vignelli
Or, why user-focused questions are the only way to make successful products
What could content brands be asking themselves about their customers before, and whilst, making and iterating their products?
I work with both large and small brands and I think that design that focuses on the user is neither new nor the exclusive territory of big brands with research budgets and huge dev teams. Every scale of operation can make a picture of its customers and their needs. What is important is that teams are analytical and involved in ways of thinking about the situations in which people buy and use their products to be successful.
Listening to Mike Meiré talk last night at the Istituto Marangoni was both wildly entertaining and strangely down to earth. It covered (almost) everything an art director deals with. To hear someone who operates in that sphere of both client and creative say things that you and your colleagues have said or – more regrettably – should of said countless times was quite inspiring:
These are the major iterations in the development of a logo I have been working on with HappyBlad. Don’t worry – there were some smaller steps too.
ideas/forms/functions 