The “Rebranding Laboratory” project initiated by StudioPros design company conducts experimental reshaping of brands on the market. What are the reasons? Founder Li Yixuan analyzes 3 major brand design and design process dilemmas!
This “DesignBIZ View” column was published in the “Design New Business DesignBIZ” e-newsletter issue NO.027
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Taiwanese designer, founder and design director of StudioPros. He once worked in the IBM Consulting team, focusing on introducing various aspects of design based on User Experience. He is good at cross-domain integration and the possibility of building a brand.
The rebranding laboratory is a long-term project initiated by StudioPros. We regularly lead partners who are interested in branding to practice brand experience research methods and experimentally reshape brands in the market. We believe that the issue of brand re-engineering is not only about visual optimization, but also about introducing user needs and experience into the brand design process, studying and defining the brand in a more coherent way, and creating results that integrate both visual and strategic aspects. In this article, I hope to share with you the original intention and content of the “Rebranding Laboratory” and explain how StudioPros implements our design ideals through it.
Why start a Rebrand Lab?
Reason 1: The importance of clarifying problems and understanding users before designing has long been ignored.
I used to work for IBM and often worked with the team to build various products. At that time, we always spent a lot of time doing user research and usability testing, and objectively analyzed the problems encountered by the product through various design methods. , clarify what really needs to be solved, and then proceed to product development. After founding the company, I began to be exposed to a large number of issues related to rebranding. I found that the thinking of “clarifying the problem first and understanding the users” can easily be rushed through due to time constraints. The design process is often just for speed and only considers the design. Subjective preferences from higher ups in the team or organization, or even conjecture coming from the customer window. In such a state, although the early implementation will be very fast, when it comes to design decisions, it is extremely easy to be unresolved. In the end, everything will be repeated, and there will be no consensus.
Design preferences are inevitably subjective, but in fact, all needs and discussions should not be focused on the preferences of the design team or internal organizations. In addition to the inefficiency of the process, it may not necessarily bring better sales and results to the brand in the end. It may just Produce a “more pleasing to the eye” vision. Therefore, it is very important to clarify the problem and understand the users before executing the design. Through this process, everyone can judge the design direction from the same perspective. When discussing the visual direction later, we can think objectively from the user’s perspective. .
Reason 2: Visual design education often only emphasizes vision but not strategy, and it is difficult to prescribe the right medicine for design.
During their academic career, most design students always spend a lot of time pondering vision and constantly pursuing techniques or technologies. However, when you leave school and enter the workplace, you will always find that there is a gap that is difficult to cross – no matter how good your vision is, the proposal may still fail. Whether a project will be paid for by customers depends largely on the design strategy and whether it solves customer problems.
Design strategy is not just a visual discussion of line thickness, font style, and the meaning of patterns, but needs to be discussed from a more macro perspective, such as visual styles corresponding to different market entry points and target groups, focusing on different brands Visual interpretation of technical features, etc. When solving customer problems, you must prescribe the right medicine, so finding the real “symptoms” is very important.
But unfortunately, I couldn’t learn this mentality during my academic career. I had to go into the workplace and be constantly frustrated before I could slowly understand it. Therefore, we hope that through the topic experiments of the “Rebranding Lab™”, we can expand participants’ thinking about design to another level.
Reason 3: Bold changes and innovations in commercial projects are not easy
After many large international brands rebrand, they are often criticized for the fact that the overall feel has not changed, but a lot of money has been spent. But this is a very reasonable situation, because when the organization is large and the impact of the product is huge, even small changes can have a huge impact. Enterprises must be responsible to consumers and investors, and it is indeed too risky to change blindly, but this does not mean that big changes cannot be made; since business needs to compromise with reality, experimental projects must be more bold. , we hope to provide some different possibilities on the enterprise side through experimental methods.
Achievements and Impact Created by the Rebranding Lab
There are many problems that cannot be changed at once, and it is difficult for us to change the current situation on our own. But if you want the environment to be different, you still need to start taking action. Therefore, we led many students and designers who are interested in brands to create and experiment together. It is currently in its fourth year and a total of eight sets of works have been completed for four sessions. Here are a few recent cases to share with you.
Case 1｜Fourth session work: Brand identity and experience design of TSMC Gift Department
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, referred to as TSMC or TSMC, is the semiconductor manufacturer with the largest market share in the world and the company with the largest market capitalization in Asia. We found that TSMC’s branding system and standards are relatively lacking. As a result, there are often no applied standards for the appearance and packaging of external or internal gifts. Therefore, recipients cannot visually identify the uniqueness of the company’s brand. Through preliminary research, insights and design strategies, this project redefined TSMC’s brand tone, planned a complete brand aspect for the company, and launched corporate souvenirs with recognition, consistency and brand value through the gift department to deepen the Employees and customers’ recognition of TSMC’s corporate image.
Case 2｜Fourth session work: Taipei Dazong Walk Brand Identity and Experience Design
The Taipei Longitudinal Walk, launched by the Taipei City Government in 107, is an urban long-distance hiking route with a length of 130 kilometers and a total of 8 sections. It is also the first long-distance walking trail in the capital. It is based on the participation of all people and experiencing the charm of Taipei’s mountains and forests. Allowing the public to have a glimpse of the panoramic view of Taipei from different angles. However, when the public thinks of the Taipei Zongtong Walk, they may have a vague impression that it “seems to be just an ordinary hiking trail.” Due to the lack of specific information and distinct brand image, it is difficult for people to feel the uniqueness and uniqueness of this brand. attraction.
Therefore, from the perspective of rebranding, we strengthen the core value and positioning of the brand through research and analysis, reshape the identity and improve the brand impression and user experience.
In addition to the above two sets of cases, we have also delved into different topics in the past and explored the possibilities of different brands, such as: Xiaobei Department Store, Sihaiyoulong, Taiwan Grand Fleet, Taiwan Sugar, and Weili Zhajiang Noodles; in addition, we have also provided services for epidemic prevention Thinking about problems and designing solutions.
Write at the end of the article
We hope that this article will not only share the context and thinking of the rebranding laboratory, but also hope that through the above content, it will provide designers or owners who are interested in branding with different ways of thinking. If designers want to better understand the process of brand design, in addition to spending time on visuals, they may also think about whether they can try to reorganize their thinking through a more complete research process, which may lead to very different results. .
I hope everyone can find a sense of accomplishment and enthusiasm in the process of exploring design.
This “DesignBIZ View” column was published in the “Design New Business DesignBIZ” e-newsletter issue NO.027
✦ Click here to subscribe→ Get first-hand observations from designers, creative directors, and entrepreneurs!
More about “Rebranding Lab”
Complete work: https://www.behance.net/trlab
Official website: https://www.therebrandinglab.com/
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