- My first impulse when starting a project,
like most designers, is to put the pencil to the page.
In that initial meeting with a client,
I find myself solving a problem in my head.
This would be fine if there were no real issues to manage
and I only cared about the form and style.
But, in order to do the right job,
I need to buckle down and research.
As we've already discussed,
I need to understand the current brand strategy,
competition, audience, goals, strengths, and weaknesses.
The best way to find this information
is to sit down and talk with people.
If the client is a small company or sole proprietor,
I talk with the owner.
If there are more employees,
I make appointments to meet with as many as possible.
I want to know what the CEO thinks.
And I also want to know what the person
who delivers the pizzas think.
The information is broader
and more realistic with more input.
And you might get some free pizza.
Talking to the pizza delivery person
may not give me the information I need
to determine a brand strategy and course of action.
But it will help me and the client
to know how well the employees understand the brand.
If everyone at a company is aware of the values and goals,
we're doing great.
But if everyone has different ideas,
the message internally and to the outside world
can be almost anything.
I want to learn about the client's competition.
The person I'm interviewing
may be able to name their closest competitors,
but it will take more research on my part
to learn about the next level of competition.
Every organization has unexpected competitors.
I can do this research online, in a library, or in person.
When I was working on an admissions project
for a university,
one of our designers began the application process
for several other colleges.
This gave us great insight
about the competition's communications and responses.
I even once worked as a salesperson for a day
at a major department store to have a better understanding
of their customer service philosophy.
Identifying the correct audience is critical.
Surgical marketing with clear messages can only happen
when you know who you are trying to reach.
Otherwise, you're telling the story so broad nobody cares.
That's called spray and pray.
You can determine who the current audience is
by talking with your direct contact for the client,
salespeople, communications department, and marketing.
Identify a few customers to hear their point of view.
Typically, the CEO will be the best source
to determine who the audience should be in the future.
Another good tool is online analytics
for a website or Facebook page.
Values, goals and promises
are the territory of the owner or CEO.
I think of his or her information as the core.
I've seen many instances where a designer says,
"My client isn't sophisticated.
I need to educate them."
Or, an employee will insist the direction is wrong.
But in the end, if the CEO decides the company
is about sustainable practices, innovation, creativity,
and risk-taking, then that's the right direction.
It's his or her company.
It's our job as designers to make that vision tangible.
A good practice
is to identify a client's strengths and weaknesses.
Often they may be too close to the issue
to clearly identify all the strengths and weaknesses.
He or she may recognize that the product is good,
but unable to see that the customer base is disappearing.
Or something good,
such as the ability to attract the best talent
because of the forward-thinking and human-centered policies.
The point here is not to open the dialogue
for a complain fest.
And people love to complain.
Steer the conversation to productive ideas,
rather than individuals.
That William won't clean his food out of the refrigerator
isn't particularly relevant.
You're looking at the areas that are working
and those that can be improved.
It's important to not cheat yourself on this phase.
It's your time and expertise
that is gathering a wealth of information
that the client doesn't have.
It's a hard job and it takes time and intelligence.
Make sure you have a phase and budget in your contract
specifically for research.
This is valuable information
that can have an enormous impact
or prevent a car crash a few miles ahead.
Without this step,
jumping into the visual design on a branding project
is like a doctor operating
without asking a patient any questions.