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Product Branding

Lesson 18 from: Creating Brand Identity Systems

Brian Schmitt

Product Branding

Lesson 18 from: Creating Brand Identity Systems

Brian Schmitt

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Lesson Info

18. Product Branding

Next Lesson: Branding Motion

Lesson Info

Product Branding

besides identifying the product is coming from a company, branding can be central to product creation and launches because it captures the spirit of the company and governs the consumer relationship to me, this means an integration of brand into product rather than application of brand onto product for process, try to work on projects at the beginning so that your branding work will be a part of the product process and your design insight into the consumer can also be considered applications of branding, feel natural and integrated into the design rather than being something extra. The brand is a mark of quality and recognition other than integrating the branding and logo into the product with the creative team, brand designers can select materials and branding for the company's products, packaging, UI systems, signage and badging, retail displays, communication, uniforms and even delivery trucks. When you're working on product branding in your brand identity system creation, collabora...

te with the product teams as often as early as you can work to understand their process and also share your brand values, mission and spirit that you've developed with them, engage in as much cross pollination as you can um, and and try to work with them so that when you're creating branding, um they can integrate it into production. Um and the branding is done with the production process in mind and the production process is done with the branding in mind. Um, so this goes all the way back to the brief and what we talked about in the beginning on the brief is understand how the branding will be produced. Um, so this is a very early question that we're getting around to, but it's integral. So um as I mentioned on the okay project because we're creating uh water and bottles, um we needed to design the bottle first. I knew that based on that we had a product to brand, so I needed to think about the printing process and how we were going to get the branding onto that product from the very beginning. So there's been an ongoing conversation about bottle printing um from the very start that has influenced all the branding. If you know the primary end product, you should design the branding system with this in mind. Don't limit the branding to only working in one medium though, even a digital only brand, they still need to have printed business cards, building signage and other items physically produced When I was working at Nike and working on the Air Force one project, We worked with the product teams on creating a new logo for Air Force one that could then go on to the product on lace, locks and brand, the shoe, as I mentioned before, this was a project of um finding typography that came from the brand and um taking something that was already called Air Force One af one and putting that into a logo that's that's then integrated into the product, I like branding that that feels like it's always made to be there. Um that feels like it's a part of the product, it feels like the product couldn't exist without the branding and the branding couldn't exist without the product. Oftentimes this means that the product is the brand, it has an iconic form and so you know, your job as a branding designer might be to design a logo and then fix it onto a product. But it also, you know what I'm getting to hear might mean that you are creating the mindset, the spirit of the company and making sure that that finds its way into the product design itself and it's less about the logo and more about the entire package. This is some of the power of branding is to be able to have that influence and say, you know when you're creating these products um you know how how is branding integral to them? How do we create pieces that you can then use the signature um elements that are, you know, a part of the production process from the beginning. Perfect example of this is tom ford sunglasses. Um All sunglasses need hinges and I's quality ones or metal hinges by integrating T monogram into the metal hinge of his glasses. Tom ford was able to create branding that felt like it was a part of the product um that was perfectly set into it um and meant to be there from the beginning. I suggest you read the book by Dieter RAMs as little design as possible. Deena rams and his career at braun show how you can use a thought system to create a timeless aesthetic through consumer products. If you're designing a digital product, make sure that you create all final design for the app, an app store to ensure that the typography, color, logos, patterns, photography and all of the elements match your branding program. If you're designing a printed or packaged piece, go to press checks to see proofs to ensure quality. If you're working on a physical product, this usually means designing files, rounds of samples with a factory and signing off on branding, whatever it is that's going to get your product made, make sure that you're involved in signing off on the branding and all of your brand identity system and all the work that you've done to date when it comes together on product, make sure that you're there um, ensuring that it turns out good.

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