"Can You Design This For Me?"

Updated: Feb 12, 2021

A common misconception of designing is that it's to make things look pretty, to make things pop, or to make it look attractive.

Sure, that's part of designing. But that's not what designing is as a whole.

Designing goes deeper than that. Waaaay deeper.

Designing aims to solve a problem.

This is how an early sketch looks like, but definitely messier than this

What sort of problem?

There are lots of instances where this is true.

A business could face a problem because the packaging of its premium product line does not justify the hefty price tag.

A business could possibly face a problem because they're on Instagram, but little attention was put to craft a clear message, causing confusion to their audience.

A business could also run into some trouble if they have the most delicious fizzy drink, packaged in a distinct red can but placed next to some Coca Colas. It might not be the best move if they wanted to stand out.

Notice how you can easily spot the unhatched egg? It stands out, but without being too different from the others.

These problems (amongst other ones) are some examples of a perfect scenario where designing can thrive.

What are the steps forward?

Good quality product, hefty price tag? A beautiful design for the packaging that screams luxury and functionality could be a way to move forward.

Is your audience confused on Instagram? Designing a clear message, niching down, and perhaps having a proper content strategy may help.

Tasty drink in red, but no one is picking it up on the shelf at the store? Designing with an aim to stand out for shelf presence is definitely important. It needs to grab attention or in other words, look interesting for people to pick it up!

But these things wouldn't be that easy to pull off in real life without a proper brand or creative strategy, without a proper designing plan.

Is there a way for us to avoid this?

Luckily, we can minimize this problem at a very early stage of the branding process.

The first thing we would ask you before we even think about designing would be:

Who's it for?

What sort of audience are we talking to? who are we aiming to show this to? What's their age range, and what are their interests? What are their pain points and what kind of solution are they looking for?

When you choose to build your brand with us, we go through a series of questions that produce specific groups of the target audience. This gives clarity to both sides and gives a clear direction for the designing project.

What we always remind ourselves and our clients is this quote that goes a long way, from Seth Godin.

It's not about what you like, it's about what they like.

This means that we should always keep in mind that we must design in such a way that it sends a signal to our target audience, and not shape it so much according to how we would like it to look. That can come in during the vision and goals.

First, we a target audience and really dig into their point of view and be in their shoes, link this to the goals and vision of your business and the message you want to tell them, and only then the designing part can start.