Design is an Emotion.

And emotion is a part of design. Emotional design grasps attention and induces emotional reactions in an audience. Whereas this sounds super theoretical, we truly believe in the power of the emotions, that designers can foster.

Nowadays, Design has gotten much more important for our society, especially through digitization and social media channels. By saying this, we not only mean a beautiful Instagram post or a nicely captured image. If you want to reach people with what you do, you should have an authentic, moving story behind it. Be real. Do your research, get to know your audience, and learn what their needs are. As Designers, we do the same to ensure we not only create designs, but emotional experiences.

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Say something

„A basic design is always functional but a great one will also say something.“

– Tinker Hatfield, Nike

It’s all about associations

It’s all about associations on a personal level, not just on Social Media. People love (!) to interact. The more personal, the better. Every day, all of us are facing personalized, filtered ads, based on what we like, what we buy, or who we follow. Honestly, we cannot remember the last time we have watched a television commercial. Why? Because it’s unemotional and made for the broad masses of society – sadly, this won’t reach a single one of us. We love the idea of personalized ads, but for brands, this can be a tough challenge since you will need a lot of content that convinces.

Successful brands will need a well-planned marketing strategy with plenty of strong insights, and last but not least a wonderful visual identity that provides consistency and recognition.

Good design is pleasurable

Emotional design starts with trying to understand your audience’s goals and feelings. A designer should do this in collaboration with you, to provide you with solutions that match your target group, and also, most importantly, solutions you feel comfortable with. Especially if you’re an individual or personal brand, make sure to decide on elements in your Visual Identity that tell who you are as a person. Designers create for people, not for brands. You are the one who will use this Visual Identity the most. Authenticity is the most mentioned value for the people we work with.

Create for people, not for brands.

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Interaction and communication

Before we start working on a new brand, we’re always looking for emotional responses, that people can resonate with and will create greater value for your company. The goal is to create thoughtful, reflective designs that feel right and get stuck in your mind. When setting your branding goals, making a good impression on the persons who will interact with your brand should be one of them. It’s not just ‚a thing to do‘, it’s a mindset every brand should have and evolve. Always keep in mind: In our society, interaction and communication are key, and the emotions between people and brands are a huge part of it. Collecting information about audiences and their way of living can help us to understand the differences.

Three Levels of Emotional experiences

Impression – People’s reactions to your design; such as friendly customer service, uncluttered website, or some informative or inspiring Instagram Reels. It deals with the quality from look and feel, and sensory involvement, giving people a delighted feeling. In theory, we call this Visceral Design, and it deals with the appearance of something.

Behavior – People evaluate how your design helps them achieve goals and with how much effort. People estimate how well things function. Your goal should be to satisfy them and convince them you’re a good match since this is the step where they form their opinion about your brand, product, or service. This is what we call Behavioral Design, and involves the functioning.

Reflection – After they encountered your brand, people will consciously review your benefits. This step describes the complete impression of your branding and estimates how much your product or service will change their lives. If they’re happy, they might stick with you, form an emotional connection, and share their experience with their network. This step is known as Reflectional Design and refers to the long-term impact of your brand.

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Make your brand an impactful, delightful experience.

Elevate and Inspire

Combining these three steps can create a truly appealing, memorable, emotional Design. A Branding that will inspire, elevate people’s mood, and add a renewing vitality to a brand, enabling people to establish a naturally emotional bond. Likewise, people associate feelings with what they encounter. Your design should feel different from others, and be reliable and pleasurable. So, when integrating experiences, memories, and values, a well-curated Visual Identity is important. No matter if online or in the real world, your Visual Identity will not just make your Branding more effective. It will make your brand an impactful, delightful experience.

Create to improve

We believe, as Designers, it is our task to create things that last and that contribute positivity to society. All our emotions are constantly shifting according to our environment. We are living in a world where people are spending most of their conscious time in the digital world. Our tasks as designers have moved to develop experiences that help people to exist online just like how they would offline. Therefore, the role of a designer is to both understand how we are affected by the products or services we design and how they can be developed to improve the associated emotional experience and improve our lives in the real world, at least a little bit.