Live Branding Q&A with Ethical Design Agency "Clear Honest Design"

Clear Honest Design is an ethical design and development agency that was created to help solve many of the issues facing society today, by making those who are finding and pushing solutions more effective.

Clear Honest Design is an ethical design and development agency that was created to help solve many of the issues facing society today, by making those who are finding and pushing solutions more effective.

They have worked with a wide range of partners, tackling problems as diverse as climate change; the use of weapons in war; homelessness; free movement and immigration; youth political engagement and many more. From Save the Children UK, to the University of Cambridge, to the Progressive Alliance - Clear Honest Design work with people who are passionate about ushering in a new future... like you!

What to expect in our Live Q&A:

After so much amazing content all about branding in this Masterclass, we figured you might have some followup questions. This is the perfect opportunity to ask an amazing branding expert all of your burning questions!

Clear Honest Design are going to be talking about how you can communicate your world-changing ideas, convincing both people who already share your values, as well as converting those who don’t, to your way of thinking. They’ll help you tailor your design brief so that what matters most, your values and purpose, don’t get lost in the creative process.

11am BST, 30th October 2017

The live video will play below. You may need to refresh the page at the start time of the live event. You may also experience a slight lag if you arrive late, so please try to arrive on time >>

Key Takeaways

What is design?: Design is not art, design is not just making things look pretty. Design is problem solving, it is whatever the most effective solution is. Sometimes that solution might not be pretty, or cool, but it always has to solve a problem in the most effective way possible.

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

• What is your purpose: Never lose sight of the reason why you’ve decided to make something, what is the social problem that you’re trying to solve. Does a solution already exist? Does the problem really exist? Cross reference every decision you take against your purpose, and if the problem you’re trying to solve isn’t made better, think again.

• Who is your audience: Think about who it is that is most likely to want to use your ‘thing’. Not everyone will, and that’s OK. Over time you can widen your audience, but at the beginning, know exactly who you’re going to be speaking to. Create imaginary profiles for each different type of audience. What will appeal to them? Why? Why don’t existing products / services solve their needs? Why does yours?

• Where do you draw your Inspiration from: Imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Find other companies that you think are doing a great job, deep dive into why you think what they do works. Take inspiration from a wide range of sources, and industries, and then think about how you could use what you learned in your own design.

• How will people find you : You might have the most incredible product, the most beautiful design, and the most innovative site there is … but how will people find out that you exist in the first place? Often the most boring stuff is the most important. Too often people focus all their energy on presentation without realising that first things first you need an audience.

• Are you being honest : A large part of deciding to try and promote social or environmental good is accepting that you may not have the total solution, and that your offering may not not be right for everyone. Be honest about who this is for, and be open and transparent about the choices you’ve made. If you feel you can’t justify a decision you’ve taken, then ask yourself why.

How do you choose someone to work with

You won’t necessarily be able to find someone who shares your exact purpose and vision exactly, who lives and breathes it - but you can find someone who you trust to bring your idea to life in a way that doesn’t compromise on any of your values. You could ask a couple of questions when first making contact with a designer / developer / agency. E.g. if you’re using packaging, would they instinctively use sustainable or recycled material? If no, then bare in mind that you will want to be more involved on a granular level than if you went with an agency who share your values.

OR

Putting it all together

Once you’ve thought about all these things, then you can put them together and start to think about starting to create your design. We’ll give you tips and tricks to make sure that even with no design experience, you can avoid the pitfalls of bad design. Where to find great fonts, choose a colour palette, where to get good imagery etc.

Useful Links

Type Resources:

https://fonts.google.com - Best free font resource there is
http://brandmark.io/font-generator - Explore Google font combinations and colours in a real webpage context
http://typewolf.com - Type inspiration from around the web
https://www.reliablepsd.com/ultimate-google-font-pairings - Simple, reliable Google font pairings

Colour Resources:

https://www.grabient.com - Cool gradient inspiration
http://colorhunt.co - Colour palettes galore
http://www.palettable.io - Or, a colour palette generator to help you build your own

Stock Photos:

https://unsplash.com
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
https://www.pexels.com
http://foter.com

Google Image Search: click 'Tools' immediately below the search bar, then change 'Size' to 'Large' and 'Usage rights' to 'Labeled for reuse'