Design can be seen as a graceful curl of dark Belgium chocolate on top of a cupcake: a nice touch, but nothing more. What downturns in the economy have shown us is that design is actually more fundamental to success than a lot of companies had given it credit for.<\/p>\n
When the competition got fierce, being able to differentiate yourself, show your true personality and gain a bit of consistency really helped the cream to rise. A lot of that was aided by great design.<\/p>\n
In our mind-meanderings, we came across a great piece of research from Warwick Business School on behalf of the Design Council UK to back up what we\u2019ve always believed: great design can help your business make money. In short, the research shows that design helps:<\/p>\n
Drive innovation and gain a foot in new markets<\/em><\/p>\n Differentiate products and services to attract customers<\/em><\/p>\n Strengthen branding so people recognise and trust you.<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018Music to my ears,\u2019 I hear you cry. But wait \u2013 we\u2019ve got more to throw at you!<\/p>\n The research also highlighted a little paradox: The greater the requirement for design to prove its contribution through detailed financial analysis, the more conservative the design approach is taken \u2013 resulting in a lower impact on performance.<\/p>\n So you\u2019ve got to ensure it\u2019s not about the bottom line, to ensure it really is about the bottom line. Well \u2013 sort of.<\/p>\n The thing about brand is that it\u2019s all about building relationships and lasting ones take a long time to grow. You don\u2019t want a whirlwind romance that ends in heartbreak, you want to find your true love and live happily ever after. And we all know you can\u2019t put a price on love.<\/p>\n In his book Well Designed, Jon Kolko suggests that \u201cengagement is achieved by designing products that seem as though they have a personality or even a soul. These products feel less like manufactured artifacts and more like good friends.\u201d So, in an elegantly crafted nutshell:<\/p>\n \u2013 Use design to differentiate: It\u2019s all about you. Sure, you need to know what the competition is up to, but focus on what makes you different and ensure that comes across in the design. Find your personality and express it. Need more convincing? The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. A little survey by Teknikf\u00f6retagen, an employers\u2019 organisation for Swedish engineering companies, looked at the profitability of firms that invested in design and those that have not. Those that did were at least 50 percent more profitable. So there we have it. Good design is pretty integral to your success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Design can be seen as a graceful curl of dark Belgium chocolate on top of a cupcake: a nice touch, but nothing more. What downturns in the economy have shown us is that design is actually more fundamental to success than a lot of companies had given it credit for. When the competition got fierce, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":879,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[45,32,48,49,46,47,50],"class_list":["post-178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips-tricks","tag-consistency","tag-design","tag-engagement","tag-partnerships","tag-pays","tag-personality","tag-success"],"yoast_head":"\nNot a Holiday Romance<\/h3>\n
Finding Your Soul<\/h3>\n
\nAt the end of the day, great design shows you at your best. It extends your personality so that customers know immediately what you\u2019re all about. As a result, they\u2019ll trust you, fall in love with you and never look elsewhere.<\/p>\n
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\n\u2013 Integrate design and branding: Go the whole hog! A consistent look and feel will help you stand out, bind your team together and ensure your customers trust you.
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\n\u2013 Trust your designer\u2019s talent: Simply having an opinion doth not a designer make. Designers actually train because, believe it or not, there is a science behind the art. It\u2019s subtle but powerful and worth doing properly.<\/em><\/p>\n