Design is not only something seen but something experienced. The designer’s challenge is to create meaningful experiences for the end user. In other words, the design should be significant, relevant and heartfelt. The designer uses aesthetic elements including type, color and texture as triggers to create meaning, achieve a positive audience experience and build brand loyalty.

The designer’s challenge is to create meaningful experiences
for the end user.

The idea of building loyalty through meaningful experience is the foundation for design strategy. It should be considered in the design brief before any concept is developed. The design cannot be developed on the basis of price and performance if it is intended to create a meaningful experience. A greater understanding is necessary. To be meaningful, design needs to connect on five successive levels of significance:

• The first of these deals with basic information: “What is it and how does it work?” The design is being identified and categorized by the customer. Their attention is captured.
• The second is: “How much does it cost? Is it within my reach?” Here the customer is forming an opinion and considering the value of the design.
• The third stage is: “How will it benefit me? How does is make me feel?” This is the emotional, try-it-out level. You’ve at least made a sale. The customer is seeking an experience but has not made a commitment.
• The fourth is, “Does it suit me? Can I see myself using it? Does it fit my values?” This is a subconscious level centering around the customer’s values and sense of identity within their culture; most brand decisions are made or broken at this level. The seeds of loyalty have been planted.
• At the final stage the customer asks, “Does this fit my world as I perceive it; is it comfortable with my paradigms?” The customer remains loyal as long as it seems right to do so.

Given the job of creating meaningful experiences, designers function in a role far more complex than that of a mere production artist or decorator. They need the freedom to develop concept within the prescribed guidelines and the permission to suggest “what if”. Clients do well when they let go of personal preferences and traditions and allow the designer to do what he is asked to do (create a successful design experience for the customer), and be open to consider other possibilities the designer might conceive.

A recent post about goal achievement by Michael Hyatt  prompted me to consider why people go into business, launch services and products and subsequently ask me to develop graphic assets, web sites and branding.

I’ve observed that successful enterprises are in it for their customers and not themselves. What they receive in return – income, influence and growth – are by-products of meeting needs and providing solutions. Why a business or organization exists is key to its prosperity. If it’s self-serving, people won’t stay around for very long. When customers don’t see value or benefit, they move on.

Here are the whys behind a few of my clients’ enterprises:

What is the why behind your what?

Does it matter if a design is good or not?

Before we can deal with that question let’s ask a more basic one: What makes a design good?

To answer that question, we should first begin with what good means. Without a definition, it’s unlikely that any design can be considered good or not, since there would be no standard.

Good embodies three ideas: benefit, fit, and value. If something is good, it is useful and beneficial. It is not harmful, destructive or compromising. Its use results in good things.

Things that are good also fit well… they’re appropriate to the situation. If something is good then it’s not out of place or inappropriate. It specifically addresses the need or purpose it was created for.

And if something is good it has value… it enhances and builds up. It makes something desirable and worthy, or is in itself desirable.

Good design contains all these qualities: value, fitness and benefit. A design that does not work, does not communicate, does not add value, does not fit its audience or represent an enterprise appropriately is not good. And that matters, doesn’t it?

There are other businesses do exactly what yours does. The customer you seek has choices, and may or may not choose you. What will get you noticed? Your business needs to stand out and separate from the rest of the crowd. It needs to be the anomaly.

An anomaly is something that deviates from what is normal, standard or expected. Much of the time we think of anomalies as undesirable: Fitting in is better than standing out. Standing out makes you a target, unacceptable or open to ridicule. But in marketing and promoting your business, fitting in does nothing to grow your business.

Being different is one thing. Being different in a marketplace in which every other business is trying to be different is the key. One way to stand out is through effective design solutions specifically tailored to your business and your audience. You won’t find effective graphics through a crowdsourcing site or by holding a contest. The prevalence of stock photography, motion, illustration and canned logos is not going to help you stand out. The plethora of visual sameness lulls your audience to sleep. Wake them up with custom design specifically tailored to your business. Custom design solutions will differentiate your enterprise and increase its influence in the marketplace.

Make the investment. Be the anomaly.

Why should people buy your product?

People buy things they love. Our stuff becomes part of us, like a permanent accessory. Objects help us define ourselves and identify with each other. Through them we find mutuality and acceptance.

How do people fall in love with stuff­? How does a product carve its niche in the hearts of consumers to become that “gotta have” item that, if you don’t have it, you just don’t quite measure up? It’s first an issue of seduction, and second of satisfaction.

The things we love help us feel good. When we feel good, we look good — we feel desirable, attractive and valued. Whether it’s designer coffee, that special pair of skinny jeans, or a robust Harley-Davidson, our things reinforce what we believe is good in ourselves; they bring out the best in us; we see them as positive reflections of who we are. We build our culture around the things we love, both personally and corporately.

The things we love are precious. We associate them with good friends, good times, favorite places and activities. They become irreplaceable items, necessary to our daily function, and meaningful because of how they help us connect, engage and get things done.

The things we love are sensual, providing pleasure and contentment through sound, sight, taste, smell, and touch. These are very individual choices. What pleases one person will not please another. We need to first connect personally with the aesthetics (that would be the design) of the thing. After that, further connections are made. The more connections we make, the more we fall in love with the item.

How can you invest your product or service with “lovability”? Here are a few suggestions:

• Love it yourself. If you’re not passionate about it, how can you engender passion in another?
• Know your market. Your market is people, not statistics. Spend time with your market before you offer your product.
• Be patient. Give people time to react and respond to your product.
• Design it well. Design adds value and meaning to your product. Visual communication should be consistent and noble. Don’t rely on your own sense of style; invest in design created by an expert. And finally:
• Follow-up. Find out how your product is really being used. Do folks like it and talk about it? If so, they’re creating a culture around it, making it a necessity for lifestyle maintenance.

To be promoted in our design-driven culture, a product must be packaged in such a way that it becomes meaningful to the person using it, so that they become an evangelist for it. This requires thoughtful planning and execution of a design strategy. Although you cannot ensure a desired customer response to your product  just because you have a plan, investing in good design increases the likelihood of lovability because it increases recognition, differentiates in a visually-cluttered world, communicates reliability, and creates affinity. In short, good design increases overall desire and appeal.

You cannot market anything these days without creating some sort of culture around it. You cannot can’t create culture without design.

I made new business cards.

New cards are necessary from time to time because we tend to outgrow our old ones. Not only does our information change, but we are in need of a fresh look.

Business cards are still very much a part of business networking and face-to-face marketing. They’re a tangible leave behind that fits in the pocket and serves to remind the recipient of your presence and prowess. They’re like souvenirs – mementos – of an encounter someone has with you.

Have you made new cards recently?

As designers, are we working to please the client? If that’s our purpose, I suggest that we’re missing the mark a bit. If in fact the client has a customer base, the design needs to engage that audience. The challenge is to create meaningful experiences for the end user, not the client. In other words, the design should be significant, applicable and heartfelt so that the target audience will develop connection and loyalty. The designer uses aesthetic elements including type, color and texture as triggers to create meaning, achieve a positive audience response and build customer loyalty.

It follows that design is not created for the client but for the customer. Think about that for a moment. When a client regards design only as something that makes their business look good and they want the designer to produce their ideas, they are engaging in short-sighted thinking. This can be detrimental to the goal of the design; alternative solutions won’t be considered and the final result may not achieve a meaningful connection with the client’s customers. The client needs to let go of assumptions about how their projects should be developed. What they ask the designer to do may not be the best thing given what they want their customers to experience. For example, the client may ask for the design of a brochure when an interactive video would create a stronger connection.

Given the job of creating meaningful experiences, designers function in a role far more complex than that of a mere production artist or “decorator”. They need the freedom to develop concept within the prescribed guidelines and the permission to suggest “what if”. Clients will be well-served to let go of personal preferences and allow the designer do what he is asked to do (create a successful design experience for the customer), and be open to consider the many possibilities the designer might conceive.

Ultimately, if the audience is reached and responds as desired, the client should be pleased. Design for the audience, and the client will also be satisfied.

How can you invest your product or service with “lovability” and create devotion in your customers? Here are some options:

• Love it yourself. If you’re not passionate about it, how can you engender passion in another?
• Know your market. Markets are made up of people, not statistics. Spend time with your market before you offer your product.
• Be patient. Give people time to react and respond to your product.
• Design it well. Design adds value and meaning to your product. Visual communication should be consistent and noble. Don’t rely on your own sense of style; invest in custom design created by an expert designer.
• Be inspiring. In general, people take hold of things they believe will make their lives better. Address that potential. Surround your product or service with words and images that speak to their needs and desires.
• Be genuine. Don’t promise anything that can’t be delivered.
• Be consistent. Staying power is important in building a brand and marketing. Plan regular connections over time with your audience, but don’t wear out your welcome. Change it up every so often.
• Be responsible. Listen to what people say about your product, both pro and con. Follow up. Fix what needs fixing.

What are some of the ways you create lovability?

I was asked by a client to re-design a print ad laid out by someone else.

The original layout (above, left) was cluttered and confused. The ad, for an author’s book signing events in upscale communities in Los Angeles County, was going to appear in a local cultural magazine. What was needed was a visual solution that supported the specific message (from Nazi Holocaust victim to survivor to thriving psychologist and author), was informative, and that appealed to the intended audience.

The original raised a lot of concerns: it lacked structure, hierarchy, a relevant color scheme, a headline, appropriate type and typographic design, proportion contrasts and visual “heroes”. Additionally, it included a poorly contrived re-creation of the Barnes & Noble brand identity, which is really not appropriate. The actual identity should have been used.

I designed my make-over from the ground up. I began with a formal structure to unify the various elements and imposed a symmetrical balance. Through hieratic scaling and isolation I made the author and her book the heroes of the design. They are now the focal point of and the visual entrance into the design.

I created a real headline from a block of text in the original and reduced the number of fonts to two, scaling the various text to appropriate sizes. I incorporated a color scheme that was neutral, warm and stabilizing, and which didn’t compete with the text. I revised the entire layout to establish a natural flow of information and create an orderly presentation. The result is a simpler layout that is easy to understand. The ad is now unified, appealing and relevant to the author, the book and the intended audience. The perceived value is increased.

Dr. Erica Miller web site.

Graphic design represents ideas and values. A design is not in itself the idea, but the expression of it. Design points to something greater than itself. In most cases design serves as an ambassador, not as the self-expression of the designer, but as the expression of a business or organization to its audience. The value of a design is in how and what it communicates.

If your business or organization is a worthy enterprise, shouldn’t it be represented by something that is equally worthy?

If you were to choose an ambassador to represent your interests to the world, wouldn’t it behoove you to choose someone who will represent you accurately and deliver your message clearly; someone who cares how you’re presented and how people respond to you? You’re not going to simply drive by and pick someone off the street corner to do that. You’re going to carefully select from qualified candidates.

If your design assets represent your interests, why wouldn’t you want them to be as carefully chosen?

If a business is worth establishing and customers are worth pursuing, why not make the appropriate investment? You should be concerned that your graphic assets are serving your interests and representing your enterprise in the best way possible. A worthy enterprise deserves the investment in and the cost of a worthy ambassador.