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Design

2016 Design Trends

November 16, 2016 —

2016 Design Trends

2016 Design Trends: Observations and Thoughts “As long as the work is appropriate, distinctive, and (ideally) emotive, you won’t go far wrong. Trends come and go, again and again. If you try to avoid what’s popular today, you’ll probably find yourself creating something that was popular ten or twenty years ago. Stick to the brief, and only show your best ideas to the client.” – David Airey, Graphic Designer Aware and Informed Disclaimer: As designers, we take trends seriously. Not to follow, but to ensure we are acutely aware of the trends that are shaping the world we live and design in....
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How Creative Design Brings Strategy to Life for Businesses

October 24, 2016 —

How Creative Design Brings Strategy to Life for Businesses

Embarking on a brand strategy project is an investment. We know it takes dedication, time, resources, planning, and a collaborative, open mindset. And in order to get true value from a strategy project, businesses have to be able to clearly explain the strategy, its meaning, and its value to people across their organization. This is where the power of creative design comes into play. Powerful Strategy Isn’t Just a Deck A strategy that simply sits in a presentation deck with a small group of people holds no real value for your business – no matter how smart the strategy is. It needs to come...
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Product Design and Brand Strategy?

January 17, 2017 —

Product Design and Brand Strategy?

Product Design and Brand Strategy? Too often marketers and product developers don’t see the connection between product design and brand strategy. We’ve noticed this trend, especially with technology companies. Products can suffer growing pains if they are conceived, gestated, and born into the world without the guiding hand of the brand. On the flipside, brand strategy can have an enormously reassuring influence on the design of a product. In fact, our brand strategies exert positive influences on the product designs of most of our clients, in direct and indirect ways. Here’s how....
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The Look and Feel of Your Office Space Matters

August 5, 2014 —

The Look and Feel of Your Office Space Matters

Your Office Space Reflects Your Brand The office space of workplace is part of a complex mosaic of opportunities for your brand to reach out and touch people in meaningful ways. Take a moment to reflect on what your office decor signals about your brand. What are these signals are saying and how do they resonate with the people who matter to your business? An Organized Office Space Shows Dependability When a visitor walks into your office that is tidy and has a clear system of organization, studies show that the visitor tends to feel more at ease. Because of this, they are more likely to do...
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The Design Process: Interview with Emotive Brand Senior Designer

July 25, 2016 —

The Design Process: Interview with Emotive Brand Senior Designer

The Design Process Matters At Emotive Brand, we work each day to bring brands to life through strategically informed design. And doing this requires a multi-step process. Wayne Tang, a senior designer in the studio, adds a rare balance of analytics and creativity to the design part of the process. With his background as a mechanical engineer, Wayne brings a logical focus to all projects, a honed systematic approach, and an ability to see the big and small picture to us help deliver the best design solutions for our clients. In this interview, he explains and discusses his design process at...
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5 Common Mistakes in Brand Design Today

June 12, 2018 —

5 Common Mistakes in Brand Design Today

The Brand Design Journey If you’re looking for a brand design or redesign, you’ll need more than a logo or a new website. Brand design is bigger than that. Designing a brand entails designing every moment and experience people have with your brand. It’s about every touchpoint, and these days nothing goes unnoticed. Brand design reflects how your brand looks and how it feels. This means colors, graphic language, typeface, photography, and your logo. In the end, brand design is what brings the brand to life. It’s what makes your brand recognizable and powerful to the people that matter...
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Brand Guidelines: An Interview with Emotive Brand Senior Designer

June 29, 2016 —

Brand Guidelines: An Interview with Emotive Brand Senior Designer

The Importance of Brand Guidelines Emotive Brand hinges itself on the ability to transform businesses through brand strategy and strategically informed design. Miguel, a senior designer in the studio, works to bring brands to life by creating clear, inspired, and emotive brand identities. In this interview, Miguel discusses a process of branding that is often overlooked: building brand guidelines. Read to learn more about the importance of having a roadmap for your brand and how it should be used to create maximum impact. Why might businesses overlook the importance of brand guidelines? They...
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Strategy for the Strategy

May 16, 2016 —

Strategy for the Strategy

Strategy from a strategist. When I started my career, I had some mentors who warned me that my world was going to be different from theirs. The main change was that due to downsizing, client companies no longer had people on staff to manage creative agencies. Instead of working with people who knew communications and branding, I would be working directly with vice presidents of marketing or human resources who had only vague ideas about how they work. That was good advice. But it missed an even bigger change. My mentors believed the clients would have a strategy, and it would be my job to...
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Launching a Global Re-Brand: Interview with Brand Strategy Firm, Emotive Brand

May 3, 2016 —

Launching a Global Re-Brand: Interview with Brand Strategy Firm, Emotive Brand

As an Account Strategist at Emotive Brand, Sarah plays a pivotal role in helping us transform global brands in to more empathetic, purpose-led, and meaningful companies. Her ability to connect the worlds of writing, research, strategy, and design make her the perfect point person for tackling the nuances and challenges of bringing a new brand strategy to life. In this post, Sarah shares her thoughts on why a global brand rollout can be tricky, gives guidelines on how to tackle obstacles that might arise, and execute a successful maximum-impact launch. A global re-brand is a large...
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Uber Rational: A New Brand

February 4, 2016 —

Uber Rational: A New Brand

Yesterday, Uber launched a new brand identity, and it has sparked a lot of media attention. It’s amazing that an app icon update and a new website can create so much buzz, attention, and debate, but it got us thinking: What’s the real impact of changing an already established brand identity? We believe brands need to consider both rational and emotional needs when embarking on telling their story. Uber’s new identity focuses on telling a rational story about what they do. But it lacks the emotional impact of why they do it and why consumers flock to it. ‘Why’ is critical because...
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