PlusOne Design works at the intersection of creativity, design, and business. What is your approach to turning a brand’s vision into a design language that creates a lasting impact?
Design is the first thing a human eye sees, the heart feels and the mind makes a judgement of. And in today’s day and age it is as fast as a couple of seconds. So our job often is to make everything from the company’s business and brand vision in terms of sales & equity come down to those few seconds. Design language helps create coherence so every time a brand communicates, at any touch point it speaks one language. When the consumer sees it 10 to 100 times, it starts creating a memory structure in the human mind. The more powerful your design language, the better returns you get for your media spends and eventually better business.
We understand the power this holds and work very closely with our clients to unlock this superpower for them. For those 2 seconds to be most effective there are at least 200+ things we do at our end to get it right. The list is very long but it always starts with a deep understanding of the business, the brand vision and often people behind it. We like to do deep immersions with the stakeholders, depending on the job at hand – through meetings or workshops. The second stage is understanding the consumer and the brand from their point of view through deep research. Once we have all this our think tank works on connecting all the dots to come up with the direction the brand should take and define what it stands for. It is then broken down into several mediums – words, visuals, ideas, sounds, motion assets etc, basically different ways the brand will communicate the one thing it stands for in beautiful ways that can capture the consumers mind and heart.
So yes, we do a lot and we charge for not just what you see but all the 200+ things we do to make sure your brand grows manifold.
As Co-Founder and Creative Head, how do you balance creative experimentation with the practical business goals and expectations of clients?
The process is well defined for us but often it’s time and a client who understands the value of giving time to the process that is important. Creative explorations need time and freedom to thrive. In a service industry with no norms you always have people who are ready to deliver very fast and at less cost but not deliver differentiated output. The clients that come to us value and are seeking differentiated quality output. Over the years with our experience and with the right systems and processes in place we’ve managed to strike a fine balance to be able to deliver quality in terms of design that works for both business and timelines.
In an increasingly digital-first world, what role do you believe strong visual identity and design play in helping brands stand out and build deeper connections with their audiences?
Like I said earlier, the time you have to grab anyone’s attention while scrolling past these days is just a couple of seconds. Design and visuals are the first thing the human eye sees. The more eyegrabbing and differentiated your visuals are, the more chances for your product to be seen and experienced. A coherent visual identity and design helps people remember you and connect deeply with what the brand stands for. The advantage a great design can give is unreal for a logical mind to decipher. But the disproportionate business advantage it gives is truly being made the most of by some smart businesses today. Now is actually a great time for designers and design agencies like ours who specialise in creating brand identities, design systems and differentiated visual language.
What are some of the biggest changes you have witnessed in the design industry, and how is PlusOne Design adapting its creative approach to stay relevant in a rapidly evolving market?
AI has democratized design today, anyone with a little good taste can dish out content. But what differentiates us now and always has is the solid differentiated approach & experience we bring. Our designs are not based on fads or trends but what a human mind feels when they see and interact with it. We always start with a deep understanding of what the design needs to achieve and marry it with a differentiated original execution approach that can stand the test of time and growth.
Looking ahead, what emerging design trends, technologies, or shifts in consumer behaviour do you believe will have the biggest influence on the future of branding and creative communication?
Augmented reality will be big soon with design blended with the physical world where we could interact with it through mixed-reality headsets. So think 3-D interactive spaces and experiences.
Fluid and dynamic brands systems that work well across mediums where they change shape, colour depending on the environment.
In the midst of a lot of AI slop I believe consumers will seek authenticity and content that is differentiated and evokes emotion. More consumers will rely on communities instead of ads to make the decision to buy.
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jeevika@thefoundermedia.in
