IXD103 -Introduction to Exploring Identity
This is the first class of the new semester and the first class of our new module, Exploring Identity. We were shown a PowerPoint introducing us to the module, first by showing us how much each half of the assessment will contribute to our final grade for this module:
- Body of work: 60%
- Research 40%
Since this is module is all about Identify the deliverables, we are instructed to produces are to create two individual brand identities.
A set of brand guidelines for our main brand (A modern bank)
- (Includes wordmark, logomark, colours, webpage (with link) & app screen)
A set of brand guidelines for our own personal brands
- (Includes wordmark, logomark, colours)
Books for Research:
- “Marks of Excellence” by Per Moller up
- “Designing Brand Identity” by Alina Wheeler.
Branding
To start a branding process, it would probably be a good idea to fully establish what a brand and branding actually is. So, I’ve looked up a few definitions on what people define as a brand and how to start creating one. The website “Investopedia” defines as this, “The term brand refers to a business and marketing concept that helps people identify a particular company, product, or individual.” (Fenton, 2022) While “Wikipedia” gives this definition of a brand, “ A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller’s good or service from those of other sellers.” I was also trying to find a more specific and simpler definition of what a brand actually is. I found the website ‘Branding Journal’ where the had an article published all about branding and exploring how to define it. I originally came to the website as they had a definition of a brand from another source, that I was interested in but it was equally as complicated as the previous two definition I found. It was infact the websites explanation of the definition the sourced which I found to be equally simple but effective in letting their audience know what the word “brand” means and how it is used in the business world. The writer of the article explained to the reader, “You can consider a brand as the idea or image people have in mind when thinking about specific products, services, and activities of a company, both in a practical (e.g. “the shoe is light-weight”) and emotional way (e.g. “the shoe makes me feel powerful”)”. (What Is Branding? | The Branding Journal, 2022). So based on all these definitions I’ve collected I would say that a brand is how a company forms an identity and image to then advertise to potential customers.
What is Branding
So, having distinguished what a brand is, I wanted to define and layout what branding is and how it obviously coincides with a brand and the difference between the two words. I first used the last website I visted to help define what a brand is, “The Branding Journal”. ‘The Branding Journal’ seems to define branding as “Branding is the process of giving a meaning to a specific organization, company, products or services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds.” (What Is Branding? | The Branding Journal, 2022). I then found another definition from a website called “Oberlo”, which states that branding is “Branding is the process of creating a strong, positive perception of a company, its products or services in the customer’s mind by combining such elements as logo, design and a mission statement.” (What is Branding? – Why is Branding important? – Get the Answers Here, 2022) To better differentiate ‘branding’ from ‘brand’ I started to seek out sources from the web which made it a point to try and differentiate the two terms. I found a website called ‘Fleurir Online’ where they defined ‘branding’, as “Branding is the set of actions that you take to build a brand. It’s a process that you go through to influence how others perceive your brand. Branding is essentially a marketing tool.” (Rowland, 2022) I like this definition the most so far as it clearly outlines the intentions of branding and what it means for businesses.
We were also given quotes from famous designers on their opinion on what a brand exactly is:
- “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room” Jeff Bezos, Amazon
- “Branding is about making an emotional connection” Alina Wheeler.
- “Design happens in context, and research is simply understanding that context” Erika Mule
We were also introduced to the process of branding and the order in which these actions should be performed:
The branding process is defined as being “The branding process is the systematic approach used to create, communicate and strengthen a firm’s brand. It consists of a number of sequential steps. These steps may vary depending on who is implementing the process and the specific outcomes the firm is trying to achieve.” (Frederiksen, 2022)
- Conduction research – Research is essential to examine the current position of the brand and investigate which direction the brand should go in to maximize its potential.
- Clarifying strategy – A brand strategy is essential in showing which direction a brand should take, for it to grow
- Designing identity – This is where designers will use their experience, intuition, imagination, and creativity to develop the strategy into a visual representation of the brand.
- Creating Touchpoints – This is where you take the identity created in the last stage and developing it over a range of touchpoints, which are essentially any point of contact between a business and its customers.
- Managing Touchpoints – Managing your brand identity assets requires a long-term commitment from company owners/directors to building and maintaining the brand. To make a brand a success, it requires ongoing monitoring and input.
As mentioned before, we’ve been tasked with creating the branding for a modern bank, with our target audience being 16 -25-year-olds.
We were also then given examples of the strategies to help identify what it os that are target audience wants out of our brand.
Interviews and Observation:
- Challenge Assumptions
- Gather User Requirements
- Get ‘out of the building’,
- Goals, Behaviour, Context
- Motivation and needs
Online Survey:
- Easy way to gather user requirements
- Both quantitative and qualitive
- Powerful
- Ambiguous
- Cheap
We also given a list of things to remember while going through this whole designing process. Remember:
- You’re dealing with people
- People are not data points
- They are easily lead. So, avoid leading questions.
- Use plain English and avoid jargon!
Identify Target Market: User Personas and Empathy Maps.
Based on all the information we were given; we were tasked with creating a user persona of the exact type of person we would want to market our bank towards. This was to better immerse ourselves in the branding process and with more of an emphasis on who we are marketing this bank towards. Based on what I researched on a user persona, it seems like user persona are the creation of a fictional character, who is essentially the perfect potential customer, a brand should market their goods or services to. It’ very important for a designer to understand who will be using their product. Knowing my audience will give me the key to figure out the features and design elements of my bank brand, instead of mindlessly stabbing in the dark with my design decisions like colour, tone of voice and USP.
We were also presented with an empathy map, something which I had never really heard of. However, based on what I’ve looked up it would seem like an empathy map Is a tool used when a designer is collecting data about customers to better understand their target audience. It allows a UX designer o visualise a customer’s needs, condense customer data inro a clear simple char, and help designers see what customers want/not want in their goods and services By referencing a empathy map a designer can systemically find answers without having to play a guessing game.
Generally, there seems to be six key steps in a empathy map, that will enable a designer to collect information about ideal customers to be able to put yourself in their shoes, when thinking about their needs during the designing process. The six different elements of an empathy map a designer should input are:
- What the customer thinks and feels
- What the customer hears
- What the customer hears
- What the customer sees
- What the customer says and does
- The customer’s pains
- The customer’s gains
Feel
This section obviously focuses on the customers honest emotions and feelings in their daily life. Its important for a designer to find out what really matters to potential customers.
Hear
This is where the designer identifies who or what is influencing their potential customers. Are they getting info and being influenced by family members or friends, possibly they may trust the media or advertising more?
See
Apparently, this is where the designers investigate what is happening in the market, what are their competitors doing? What are their friends doing and using?
Say
What are potential customers saying out in public, are the things they’re saying accurate or are they not reflective of their actual concerns and opinions.
Pain
The pains section is where you want to find out what are their fears, frustrations, and obstacles they have in their everyday life. This information can be used to find out what is stopping them reaching their goals and desires.
Gain
The gains section, this were you highlight your target audience’s success and how the obtained it. This will also include what makes them happy on an everyday basis.
User Persona:
Empathy Map:
Self – reflection:
When Daniel, our lecturer, let us know that the object of our branding for this module would be a modern bank, I was honestly concerned. I don’t know very much about banking and how it operates, and the fact that I must create my own bank brand from scratch seems quite intimidating. I have done branding in the past and its quite a lengthy process and hard to finalise ideas, so I feel like this will be made worse as a bank’s branding seems far more complicated. I will also admit I find branding for a bank quite boring, as I find the entire topic of holding and managing money extremely tedious and dry. I understand that it must be done to live your live, but it just comes off as so serious and I don’t find very inspiring at all, in terms of concept. This is mainly because all banks operate under the same system of securely looking after their customers money, while also lending it out to people. They all operate under the same framework, so trying to find a unique selling point might prove to be very difficult. However, there might some benefits to this task, as I fall under the age range of my target audience. So, it might be a huge benefit in the branding process, as I as a young person can easily tell what will and won’t be appealing to people in my generation. For instance, I know that most young adult will not want to engage with a bank brand that has reams and reams of text in the majority of its marketing, as that will only come off as intimidating to young adults, especially those who are just starting to consider opening a bank account and don’t know much about the whole process. Secondly, I think it might be good to try primarily focus my branding on those young people who have yet to create a bank account, as from what I’ve seen from my own personal experience, people don’t actually change from the banks they first started off with all that often.
Reference list
Fenton, W., 2022. What Is a Brand?. [online] Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand.asp [Accessed 26 January 2022].
Frederiksen, L., 2022. The Branding Process for Professional Services Firms – Hinge Marketing. [online] Hinge Marketing. Available at: https://hingemarketing.com/blog/story/the-branding-process-for-professional-services-firms#:~:text=The%20branding%20process%20is%20the,firm%20is%20trying%20to%20achieve. [Accessed 26 January 2022].
Oberlo.co.uk. 2022. What is Branding? – Why is Branding important? – Get the Answers Here. [online] Available at: https://www.oberlo.co.uk/ecommerce-wiki/branding [Accessed 17 April 2022].
Rowland, L., 2022. Brand vs Branding – Is There A Difference? | Fleurir Creative. [online] Fleurir Online. Available at: https://fleurironline.com/brand-vs-branding-vs-brand-identity/#:~:text=So%20in%20summary%E2%80%A6-,Your% 20brand%20is%20how%20others%20perceive%20your%20business.,how%20others%20perceive%20your%20brand. [Accessed 26 January 2022].
Bibliography
https://conceptboard.com/blog/create-a-customer-empathy-map-in-6-easy-steps/
https://www.hotjar.com/blog/user-personas/
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand.asp