IMPACT Annv Spl: Elsie Nanji on essentials of good design

Elsie Nanji, Managing Partner, Red Lion Publicis, writes about seven ways design can add to one’s communication strategy.

1. Good design can simplify the most complex problems and make it easy to understand. Apple is a perfect example where we see brilliant yet simple design solutions for all kinds of complex needs. Be it the logo, the typeface or even the childlike simplicity in naming each product, and of course, the products themselves - simple, clean design is always central to the brand.

2. Design, when it speaks from the heart, puts your brand into the right mindset at a single glance. Your audience should be given the opportunity to discover the meaning and intention of your logo themselves. This will help to create a memorable and entertaining experience between you and your audience.

3. If there is a possibility of designing an endearing character like the ZooZoos, you will be quickly transported into a world of fun and laughter. Good design should above everything entertain and engage your audience, the various design interpretations of the simple ZooZoo has evoked much empathy for brand Vodafone. It helps a commercial transcend into the realm of ‘entertainment’ and thus makes its growth ‘organic’.

4. When your client’s product is already of the finest design, make the product the hero, design your own aesthete to reflect the same sensibility. Already, today’s consumer culture is accustomed to a very intense and stimulating media, and, therefore, you cannot be too demanding on your audience either.

5. Design can transport you to a world where there are no limits. For the Four Seasons Rooftop bar, Aer Bar, was designed like a futuristic spaceship, shaped like half of an egg, resting on a deck poised to take off into another planet. The furniture too echoed the design concept with alien organic shapes.

6. Choosing your colours wisely can revitalise your brand. Colours can play a very important role in logo design as they can elicit different feelings and emotions from us. Interpretations of color may vary depending on age, gender and cultural demographics, so your choices of colour should be carefully considered depending on your target market. Bisleri was blue, when we discovered most bottled water available in India was blue as well, with many imitators. We carefully considered the aqua green colour, bringing a new freshness to mountain water, and the sales jumped by 18 per cent on the packaging alone, despite being the largest selling mineral water in India. No advertising, just the aqua green colour used everywhere, tempos, trucks, signage, even the handcarts were painted green. Bisleri changed the category code to green.

7. When there is knowledge and collaboration between the designer and the various functions and outside resources, the possibilities are endless. They pull together threads from different functions, disciplines, fields, and sectors, and integrate them into a new and “holistic” understanding. A technology geek may not know why a designer needs to know simple things that may be basic knowledge for him, but the designer envisions the end result. Look up http://thewildernessdowntown.com/. In this video, for instance, the medium becomes the message and in the world of multi-tasking, design and technology fuse together to give us a unique gripping experience, customising itself to suit the viewer, until the very end.

(Elsie Nanji is Managing Partner, Red Lion Publicis.)