What Happens Before Design Starts?
A clear brand strategy affects all aspects of business if tied to the needs and expectations of target audiences. Our Brand Strategy Manager works to build empathy with users, bringing a brand’s competitive advantage to life through naming and story.
Maria Royal
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Brand Strategy Manager
Design thinking is central to brand development at Nimble.
It ignites a process that builds empathy with the people we design for and demands a meaningful solution that meets their needs. That’s why Nimble. starts projects with a Discovery Phase before ever digging into design. It’s not an extra step along the path to receiving a logo or website or piece of marketing collateral. It’s because at Nimble. we know that how well we communicate isn’t determined by how well we design or write or speak, but rather by how well we are understood by our audience (through story and visuals). And that starts with realizing the power of simplifying to amplify — distilling project challenges down to their core essence in order to design a simplified experience capable of amplifying the impact of brand on place to end users. Through Discovery, research and data shapes a well-defined brand strategy tailored directly to audience needs, emotions and environments. Without a solid strategy at the helm that dovetails with business objectives, design is subject to bias and preference instead of playing an active role in shaping the outcome.
Basically, a lot happens before design starts. Said differently by Charles Eames —
"The role of the designer is that of a good, thoughtful host anticipating the needs of his guests."