EXPERT DESIGN – THE POWER OF THE DOODLE

This Friday (20 September) is National Doodle Day, which is a brilliant initiative from Epilepsy Action UK. It is an annual auction of celebrity drawings and doodles to raise money for the worthy cause . We all love a doodle don’t we?

From a very young age, we’re encouraged to pick up a pencil and let our imaginations go wild. From the mark making of toddlers through to the people like us, who look after expert design for a living, a doodle can mean a thousand words.

Well, not so much a doodle as such. Unless we’re talking about the famous Google doodles, the word ‘doodle’ almost downgrades the thought process and creativity required to create nice logos – as well as the range of creative collateral that comes with it.

Design. That’s what we’re really here for. And design can, quite literally, be the difference between business success or failure.

More than just a logo

Yes, we have all heard this before. It’s also as true today as it has ever been.

Logos are clever little things. So, their importance shouldn’t be discounted. Colours, fonts, images and words all tie up nicely together to create a (hopefully) positive and lasting impression.

There’s a logic behind each of those choices too. Colours are not picked at random. Each colour sparks a certain emotional reaction is us which needs to tie in directly with a brand’s values. Broadly speaking, for example, blue is used to convey strength and dependability and yellow is used to convey clarity and warmth.

Fonts work in a similar way too. They need to be legible, stand out and establish the hierarchy of each line from company name, to strapline and any additional information which may be included. Just like the clothes you choose to wear, font choice sets the tone for your design and overall brand.

Every choice therefore needs to accurately reflect your company. And, they need to be memorable to create brand awareness. That in turn builds brand equity and it is only then that they are likely to convert into loyal customers.

Booming business

Design can be hugely beneficial for business. Yes, expertise in design and creative will cost at the outset. But, there’s huge potential for great ROI. In fact, The Design Council claim that every £100 a design-alert business spends on design, it increases turnover by £225.

The adage that content is king still holds true – but it may not be the reason that you lose your website visitors. There are so many design-related reasons which can be deal breakers with potential customers. These include difficult navigation, crowded layouts, too much copy or just a boring design. One study found that 94% of people reject a website based on design – and only 6% on content. So, it’s got to look good before anything else.

Customer experience

The importance of design is not restricted to digital communications, of course. We know that we’re not supposed to judge a book (or anything else, for that matter) by its cover … but we all do. That’s why product and packaging design is important too. We can’t be blamed for picking one shampoo over another just because the bottle would look better in our bathrooms … can we?

In fact, one researcher took this even further and found that product and packaging are intrinsically linked and can influence the experience of each other. Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink discusses how a study found that adding 15% more yellow to the green on the easily-recognised 7Up packaging meant people reported more lime or lemon flavour – even though the drink had remained the same.

This is why the job of a designer is to do more than just create a doodle. Good design is about dressing your business to impress but being able to back up your choices with an authentic experience in the real world too. It is about making that design malleable and transferable across a range of online and offline touchpoints to tell a full brand story. It is about catching the eye of your target consumer and keeping it there.

The design team here at Theme Group know their stuff. We will create something brilliant whether your launching or updating your company’s branding. We can then get it all over marketing channels too, with our complete digital service. Contact us to find out more.