Key Design Trends

“Products are realized only as necessary artifacts to address customer needs.”
-David Report

Everything gets designed, even the product itself. To understand what should be considered in the process of design we should consider what the customer really wants. David Report would suggest that it’s only the experience that matters. That means that everything we do in design needs to start with the formation of an idea that addresses on question: What kind of experience is going to be pursued by your target audience?

Case Study 4

Archetypes are the collective images and associations that build an identifiable character in our minds. In design they are useful in that they can be used to create a personality for your brand that your target demographic.

When an archetype takes on a persona that the customer can identify with there is a bond that ties them together like would happen with two people who relate with one another. The need for people to make associations with strong identifying brands is key to the development of a personal identity. In the context of the new socially connected society that is being created as we speak brands that reach out to people from within their social structure are charged with the task of relating to an individual on such a personal basis that they will openly accept the new brand into their circle of trust. Once that connection has been made, however, that brand is part of a network of "friends" that share similar benifits as "real friends" such as trust and loyalty.

Professional skateboarder Tony Hawk has created a brand around the name he has made for himself. Through the graphic styles, events, and products the essence of his brand revolves entirely around the life of the underground skateboarder. For Hawk it was easy to keep his brand personality in line with everything he stands for because it is who he is. The lesson that can be taken from his brand strategy is that although not every company can have a real person to relate to they should all represent an archetype that can be personified as easily as Tony Hawk. Looking at the one line of cloths build on the Tony Hawk name it's easy to see the person he represents throughout his product line. You can see some Hawk clothes here: http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/ourbrands/tonyhawk.jsp?searchTerm=hawk

Design is Central - Blog #3

One of the lacking aspects of design is in the failing to produce work for the purpose of innovative communication and just putting more junk into the pool of trendy pieces that have no value beyond their initial impact. Lasting design provides substance and tangibility. It starts to fall back to the old Bauhaus ideology that form follows function. Function isn't just a characteristic of physical products but of all things that take up any part of our busy days.

There are many brands that manage to keep your attention with flashy design, and sex appeal but what will the future of those brands be if they fail to provide a lasting vision and necessary value to people who are constantly bombarded with new possibilities to chose from. Here are a few brands that have, in some way done an exceptional job in getting their message across to the right people.

Scion
The car-maker Scion uses design to appeal to a youthful group of buyers who want to have the freshest ride on the road and have little concern for the vehicles performance and make quality. The sites and advertizements use very effective methods of customization and interaction to get people more involved with the experience and define the personality of the brand. You can see one gimmick that they cleverly add to their site that suggests that you will have some awesome interactive experience but to use it you must first log into facebook so that your friends will see that you've been to this site. To me this brings up questions about user privacy. Does Scion go to far by marketing an online experience in exchange for ad space via your social network?
http://www.scion.com/rstc/

DARPA
This defense initiative is a government run program that is well known for their use of community based programs to leverage the power of viral marketing, public research and events to push technological advancement. The quality of their design is in the communication of their message. They know that if you give people something fun and challenging to do you can delegate the legwork to the masses. The autonomous vehicle competition is an example of one such occasion where DARPA benefits from the hard work of hundreds of scientific minds work towards their cause. This article shows the commitment of those who participate:
http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/index.asp

Greenpeace
This activist organization uses gorilla campaigns to have their message heard loudly. As a business they do not accept funds from governments, corporations, or political parties (wiki). This is following suit with their civil disobedient brand personality that speaks to more than 2.8 million independent subscribers who make up virtually all of their funding. There is no apparent quality to the design of their brand outside of the fact that they are heard by the people who need to hear them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenpeace