“Design led” is a phrase that frequently causes people who commission design work to shudder. They sometimes feel that anything that’s “design led” will have ignored their expertise, thoughts and suggestions along with the opinions of other people whose job it is to approve the project and perhaps pay for it. The work will probably be airy-fairy, look over designed and have no substance. They equate “design led” with “non-marketing led”.
It’s good to remember that your designers have been honing and developing their skills for quite a long time and consequently have a lot to offer. So trust them and let them use their talents to produce something that will contribute towards the aims that you included in your original brief.
Remember too, that an essential part of creativity is its subjectivity. If it makes the designer laugh then it’ll probably make the reader laugh; if it gives the designer a warm feeling it’ll almost certainly do the same for the reader and so on.
Great creative ideas appeal to those elements that are common to all of us - or at least common to the people we are trying to reach - our target market. And that should warm the cockles of any marketeer’s heart.
Clockwise, left to right: Back-drop banner for The Chris Braid band; Website design and build for Goldman & Rankin, furniture manufacturers; Company Brochure for Qinus Consultants; Branding device for Salamanca Risk Management; (centre) Logo and brand identity for Reiff Property Agents.
