I’d have to say what I found most interesting about branding in this module was the building of a connection between the user and the brand. It was an idea I looked at in week 01 but has stuck with me ever since and made me reassess the ways I interact with other brands in real life.
The idea starts with the concept that a user can have different levels of engagement with a brand. The first level; functional engagement; is that the user uses a brand simply because it works. The brand does what it is supposed to do and does so efficiently. The second level is emotional engagement; the user uses a brand because they like it. They have used a brand enough to know it is the brand they like and enjoy using it. The third and final level is self-expression, where the brand becomes part of the user's identity. The user feels connected to the brand and relates it to being part of their own image, willing to incorporate it into their daily life and through this promote it.
When I first looked at this concept, I was interested in it, but having completed this module I understand this differently and it has taken on a whole new meaning. At first, I assumed this to be about the user, and that the user was making the choice to have a self-expression relationship with the brand, and while there is an aspect of the user's choice, it is mainly that the brand has manipulated itself into creating a self-expression relationship.
When designing my bank brand, I began to understand the level of consideration that went into each and every aspect of branding. From the name, the colours, and the way it presents itself through type and tone of voice; each aspect of a brand is designed to elicit a particular response from the user. Because of how detailed and thought out a brand should be, when creating the self-expressive relationship the brand is really finding a user that fits the brand, rather than the user finding a brand that fits the user. It’s like the brand is a master key, it won’t unlock every keyhole on the planet, but it will unlock a group of keyholes which while each individually different, the master key has been designed to unlock.
I find it such a fascinating idea that essentially brands are designed to manipulate their users into wanting them through design choices that users won’t notice, but may evoke an emotional response. I’ve really noticed this idea through the Brand New blog. While it may sound obvious, the best brands are the ones that are designed best. I don’t necessarily mean designed in regards to just logos and names, but the way it all comes together. Something I noticed through the project was that the aspects of the brand always work best when brought together. I think this means that if one aspect of a brand has not had much care or thought put into it, it may not stand out as bad, but it may stop the brand from developing the self-expressive relationship level because that part of the key won’t fit the lock.
In conclusion, the aspect of branding I found most interesting was the user-brand relationship and how that is developed through meticulous thought and design to be able to achieve a self-expressive user relationship.
To be honest I didn't enjoy the start of this module. I found myself feeling somewhat lost and unsure of where to take my project. I found it initially hard to begin to think the way branding requires and I think the way the project started quite slowly didn’t give me the momentum I needed week to week. However, once I began to understand branding more I began to enjoy the project more and more. Like I said in the post about the aspect of branding I found interesting, brands work best when all the aspects are brought together, and I think when I got to bring the brand together in the rollout it really took off for me. This ended up being one of my favourite projects this year and I’ve really enjoyed being able to spend a long time building it up. Taking a brand from values to name to logo and so on is a process I’ve got really invested in and am really pleased looking back on how my project has grown and developed over the weeks. Branding is something I could now really see myself doing in the future.
Part of the reason I’ve enjoyed this project so much is the way the brief was set out. A banking brand isn’t a particularly interesting thing to build so the project demanded me to give it as much as possible. I really like being challenged in my work and getting to turn something somewhat boring into something interesting is something I’m finding myself enjoying more and more.
I think the strengths of my project have been in the rollout, and seeing how I can use my brand in various ways. While I did like designing the merchandise and stationary, I really enjoyed designing the information book and even more left-field ideas like the Jenga set. The freedom to push how my brand can be interacted with was a really interesting and fun part of the project for me. This way of pushing the brand was something I enjoyed experimenting with further, and a particular highlight for me was the icons and images made from the reassembled logo which I felt worked really well throughout the brand.
Another part of the project I felt was a strength was my approach to both the app and the landing page. I think both were designed well but the thing I was most pleased with was how they felt different in function but the same in the brand. I designed them both very differently, using more darker colours and formal layouts for the app while being more bright and playful with the landing page. Although the two styles are different, I was pleased that they both felt part of the same brand, which was initially a concern for me.
There have also been parts of the project that I feel I would do differently or would like to have done more of. For example, I didn’t explore photography for the brand, something I conscientiously did as I wanted to make the brand's imagery from the logo shapes to make a really consistent and recognisable brand. I feel it was the right decision and the brand wasn’t hurt by the lack of photography, but I think it might have been interesting to explore unorthodox photography styles that might aid the pre-existing style.
The other main thing I would like to have explored more was the landing page. While I was happy with my finished product, I would have liked to add more animation to the page and have the pieces actually falling. I think the approach I finished with worked well but this is something I will explore over the summer as it will be interesting to see how I could do it, and help me develop my after-effects skills. I also would like to develop the prototype into a webpage, which is something I will revisit.
Overall this project has been really enjoyable. I’ve discovered a love for branding and look forward to seeing how the skills I have learnt here will shape my future projects.