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![[ Reflections: Ideal Identification, Competitive Advantage and Brand Valuation ]In this week’s material, the three concepts that stood out to me were ideal identification, competitive advantage and brand valuation.I found that identifying ideals is somewhat daunting at outset- often, we’re beginning with intangible feelings and subtleties. That can make it hard to pinpoint the ideal precisely. From the feedback I received, I think that extracting ideals is a process of refining vision. I felt that I had the right idea with my brand ideals for my tea industry brands, but I just needed to keep refocusing and refining my vision until I harnessed the essence of the ideal.Competitive advantage was another concept that stood out to me. It makes sense that in the competitive business world, it would be advantageous to be keenly aware of what your competitors are doing. The competition helps shape and prime the market for all of the brands in an industry, and those who are nearest to your target market, are the ones from which you can glean the most knowledge.The third concept, brand valuation, was a new term for me. While this concept is probably the most foreign to me, it is definitely a practice that I could benefit from. Quantifying the value of a brand in financial terms gives the brand and its designers power in the eyes of a business. It backs the so-called intangibles with numbers, which can give your campaign much needed leverage.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/461910345a4f4225777c18ebcd0efe91/tumblr_migkhuS9Sy1s2izbmo1_1280.jpg)
[ Reflections: Ideal Identification, Competitive Advantage and Brand Valuation ]
In this week’s material, the three concepts that stood out to me were ideal identification, competitive advantage and brand valuation.
I found that identifying ideals is somewhat daunting at outset- often, we’re beginning with intangible feelings and subtleties. That can make it hard to pinpoint the ideal precisely. From the feedback I received, I think that extracting ideals is a process of refining vision. I felt that I had the right idea with my brand ideals for my tea industry brands, but I just needed to keep refocusing and refining my vision until I harnessed the essence of the ideal.
Competitive advantage was another concept that stood out to me. It makes sense that in the competitive business world, it would be advantageous to be keenly aware of what your competitors are doing. The competition helps shape and prime the market for all of the brands in an industry, and those who are nearest to your target market, are the ones from which you can glean the most knowledge.
The third concept, brand valuation, was a new term for me. While this concept is probably the most foreign to me, it is definitely a practice that I could benefit from. Quantifying the value of a brand in financial terms gives the brand and its designers power in the eyes of a business. It backs the so-called intangibles with numbers, which can give your campaign much needed leverage. -
![[ Reflections: Build Relationships, Research Diligently and Facilitate Understanding ]During this course, Defining Client Needs, the three concepts that stood out to me most were building relationships, researching diligently and facilitating understanding.In building successful relationships with clients, there are many parallels to personal relationships. These parallels include a comprehensive knowledge of the client and a necessary foundation of trust. There are many layers to relationships, and many constantly shifting factors to consider. Rather than being a static thing, a relationship might more aptly be called a relating, because it is a continuous, cyclical process. As people change, so do their companies and the brands that represent them, so we need to be able to constantly see them with fresh eyes.Doing diligent research was another concept that I thought was omnipresent. We must diligently research our clients, their companies, their industries and intended audiences. It can be tempting to skim over these relatively lackluster parts of the design process, but if you do, you run the risk of wasting your own precious time, as well as your client’s. Diligent research will make any design project more strategic, relevant and impactful.The most imperative concept, in my opinion, was facilitating understanding. Facilitating understanding is not only something that we must do with our clients, it is also the goal of most design projects. The point of visual design is to communicate information, so when your designs work, you are facilitating understanding in the mind of your target audience. A design can be visually impressive, but if it doesn’t communicate the required information, the design has failed. It can be easy to mistake the deliverables as the end-goal of a design project, but it’s really the effect of the deliverables in the minds of the audience that is truly the goal. That’s why I believe facilitating understanding is the most important concept- if you don’t, your designs will not likely fulfill the needs of the client or the target audience.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/3616118d3fd82e5f4e4c9d99c9984d2f/tumblr_mhn270zNB71s2izbmo1_1280.jpg)
[ Reflections: Build Relationships, Research Diligently and Facilitate Understanding ]
During this course, Defining Client Needs, the three concepts that stood out to me most were building relationships, researching diligently and facilitating understanding.
In building successful relationships with clients, there are many parallels to personal relationships. These parallels include a comprehensive knowledge of the client and a necessary foundation of trust. There are many layers to relationships, and many constantly shifting factors to consider. Rather than being a static thing, a relationship might more aptly be called a relating, because it is a continuous, cyclical process. As people change, so do their companies and the brands that represent them, so we need to be able to constantly see them with fresh eyes.
Doing diligent research was another concept that I thought was omnipresent. We must diligently research our clients, their companies, their industries and intended audiences. It can be tempting to skim over these relatively lackluster parts of the design process, but if you do, you run the risk of wasting your own precious time, as well as your client’s. Diligent research will make any design project more strategic, relevant and impactful.
The most imperative concept, in my opinion, was facilitating understanding. Facilitating understanding is not only something that we must do with our clients, it is also the goal of most design projects. The point of visual design is to communicate information, so when your designs work, you are facilitating understanding in the mind of your target audience. A design can be visually impressive, but if it doesn’t communicate the required information, the design has failed. It can be easy to mistake the deliverables as the end-goal of a design project, but it’s really the effect of the deliverables in the minds of the audience that is truly the goal. That’s why I believe facilitating understanding is the most important concept- if you don’t, your designs will not likely fulfill the needs of the client or the target audience. -
![[ Reflections: Create Trust, Drive Desire & Involve Yourself Personally ]
In this week’s material, the three concepts that stood out to me most were creating trust, driving desire and involving yourself personally. I really liked what Kit Hinrichs was saying about creating trust in his video on business and design. His perspective is that clients don’t hire him because they think he’s the best designer- they hire him because they trust that he understands their business and has their best interests at heart. This really struck a chord with me, and it’s something I’ll definitely keep in mind when building relationships with clients. Articulating your understanding of your clients, to your clients, is key in establishing this level of trust. It makes sense that in business relationships, as in personal relationships, trust plays a crucial role.Another key concept was driving desire. In the business world, desire manifests as client needs. Every business, every client and every consumer has needs. Designers who perceive these needs are in a powerful position to fulfill them. The rewards for this are huge, especially in relation to creating trust. This concept is imperative if you want to create lifelong customers- for you and your clients.My last concept ties in with the other two- involving yourself personally. These three concepts are all part of the process of building relationships. Chronologically, in the relationship process, involving yourself personally would come first. I think involving yourself personally is actually a lot like falling in love- you listen intently to every word the other person says, you maintain an insatiable desire to know everything about them and you want to do everything in your power to make them happy. When you involve yourself personally, you become attuned enough to fulfill desires, and fulfilling desires lays a foundation of trust on which you build a mutually beneficial relationship.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/38ed201b9cef4b9dda7b78c01148ce8b/tumblr_mhbtw1eQCI1s2izbmo1_1280.jpg)
[ Reflections: Create Trust, Drive Desire & Involve Yourself Personally ]
In this week’s material, the three concepts that stood out to me most were creating trust, driving desire and involving yourself personally.
I really liked what Kit Hinrichs was saying about creating trust in his video on business and design. His perspective is that clients don’t hire him because they think he’s the best designer- they hire him because they trust that he understands their business and has their best interests at heart. This really struck a chord with me, and it’s something I’ll definitely keep in mind when building relationships with clients. Articulating your understanding of your clients, to your clients, is key in establishing this level of trust. It makes sense that in business relationships, as in personal relationships, trust plays a crucial role.
Another key concept was driving desire. In the business world, desire manifests as client needs. Every business, every client and every consumer has needs. Designers who perceive these needs are in a powerful position to fulfill them. The rewards for this are huge, especially in relation to creating trust. This concept is imperative if you want to create lifelong customers- for you and your clients.
My last concept ties in with the other two- involving yourself personally. These three concepts are all part of the process of building relationships. Chronologically, in the relationship process, involving yourself personally would come first. I think involving yourself personally is actually a lot like falling in love- you listen intently to every word the other person says, you maintain an insatiable desire to know everything about them and you want to do everything in your power to make them happy. When you involve yourself personally, you become attuned enough to fulfill desires, and fulfilling desires lays a foundation of trust on which you build a mutually beneficial relationship. -
![[ Reflections: Differentiate, Take Risks & Know Your Audience ]
Reflecting on this week’s material, I thought that the most important concepts were differentiation, risk-taking and knowing your audience. While creating a brand that clearly communicates its intentions is paramount, as designers, we must also make sure that we’re communicating these intentions in a way that is unique and differs from the competition.
We live in a world where there is an abundance of choices- for everything. This choice abundance greatly affects how consumers make their decisions. Because most people don’t have the time, funds or desire to research every product that exists, we rely on brands to help us come to quicker decisions about the things we choose. So, even when a brand communicates its intentions well, if it doesn’t properly differentiate, it runs the risk of being overlooked by the consumer.
Another concept that really resonated with me was risk-taking. In the design world, anything that is new, original, powerful or different is often viewed as risky, both by the clients and their audience. However, I feel that as creatives, it’s our responsibility to constantly try to find that acceptable edge. It can be tricky, because the acceptable edge is precariously balanced at the edge of a cliff- you want the absolute maximum innovation that can be accepted by the audience, but you don’t want to go too far and fall off that figurative cliff.
You strike that balance through a comprehensive knowledge of the audience, which is another really key concept. And in order to truly know your audience, you not only have to do diligent research, you have to be empathetic to them. Truly knowing your audience is not unlike truly knowing a friend. You have to know their habits, their likes and dislikes, what they’re feeling, how they interact and perhaps even what they like to eat. With market research, the tools and methodologies are pretty straight-forward and easy-to-grasp conceptually (focus groups, demographics, surveys, etc.). However, the more intuitive, empathetic part can be more difficult to pinpoint, because it involves some subjectivity.
Out of these three concepts, the one that comes most easily to me is probably risk-taking. I like to push limits, question the status quo and exist outside of the box. Research is an area that I could probably be more efficient in- not because I can’t do it, but because I can! I can get stuck in that initial planning phase of a project, wanting to explore every option. I feel very confident that I can streamline my process with some better habits though. I first realized this when I was reading Making Ideas Happen, by Behance founder Scott Belsky. That’s when the light came on for me- process can help me design better, faster and more effectively.
Connect with me on Behance! http://www.behance.net/amyblunden](http://25.media.tumblr.com/162b938d2783bc3d3cf4fc805452fc27/tumblr_mgyjxhgLCT1s2izbmo1_r1_1280.jpg)
[ Reflections: Differentiate, Take Risks & Know Your Audience ]
Reflecting on this week’s material, I thought that the most important concepts were differentiation, risk-taking and knowing your audience. While creating a brand that clearly communicates its intentions is paramount, as designers, we must also make sure that we’re communicating these intentions in a way that is unique and differs from the competition.
We live in a world where there is an abundance of choices- for everything. This choice abundance greatly affects how consumers make their decisions. Because most people don’t have the time, funds or desire to research every product that exists, we rely on brands to help us come to quicker decisions about the things we choose. So, even when a brand communicates its intentions well, if it doesn’t properly differentiate, it runs the risk of being overlooked by the consumer.
Another concept that really resonated with me was risk-taking. In the design world, anything that is new, original, powerful or different is often viewed as risky, both by the clients and their audience. However, I feel that as creatives, it’s our responsibility to constantly try to find that acceptable edge. It can be tricky, because the acceptable edge is precariously balanced at the edge of a cliff- you want the absolute maximum innovation that can be accepted by the audience, but you don’t want to go too far and fall off that figurative cliff.
You strike that balance through a comprehensive knowledge of the audience, which is another really key concept. And in order to truly know your audience, you not only have to do diligent research, you have to be empathetic to them. Truly knowing your audience is not unlike truly knowing a friend. You have to know their habits, their likes and dislikes, what they’re feeling, how they interact and perhaps even what they like to eat. With market research, the tools and methodologies are pretty straight-forward and easy-to-grasp conceptually (focus groups, demographics, surveys, etc.). However, the more intuitive, empathetic part can be more difficult to pinpoint, because it involves some subjectivity.
Out of these three concepts, the one that comes most easily to me is probably risk-taking. I like to push limits, question the status quo and exist outside of the box. Research is an area that I could probably be more efficient in- not because I can’t do it, but because I can! I can get stuck in that initial planning phase of a project, wanting to explore every option. I feel very confident that I can streamline my process with some better habits though. I first realized this when I was reading Making Ideas Happen, by Behance founder Scott Belsky. That’s when the light came on for me- process can help me design better, faster and more effectively.
Connect with me on Behance! http://www.behance.net/amyblunden
