Blog3 - Krista Craft

Belgian clothing designer Martin Margiela is using design as brand in a very effective way. The boutiques that carry the clothes designed by Margiela are as unique as the cities in which they are located. Each store offers something different to each customer depending on which location they visit (his boutique in Taiwan was formerly a Burger King restaurant). Each individual design gives a different feel to the brand, which in turn reflects the product. I found this to be a good example because by designing his brand as a unique experience for each customer, he creates a sense of individuality while giving the brand structure because even though all of his boutiques are quite different from each other, the salespeople working in the stores all wear white lab coats as their uniform. As stated in the David Report, the experience is shared only with the few people who manage to find the stores, because they are far from the main fashion districts of the cities in which they are located. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Margiela)

Design certainly plays a central role in the brand that is Apple. The design behind Apple products is what the brand is to many people. Apple products are sleek, shiny, and efficient. In the David Report, Dieter Rams states that that good design is innovative, makes a product useful, is aesthetic, helps us to understand a product, unobtrusive, honest, durable, consequent to the last detail, concerned with the environment, and is as little design as possible. Apple products meet all of these design principles, even though they were first written in the 1960s. For example, the iPhone is innovative because it was the first cell phone of its kind and made the use of mobile apps popular, the design makes the product useful by having a simple look and feel that does not get in the way of the operation of the phone, and it is aesthetic because of this simple design. The design of the phone’s interface also helps us to understand the product by being fairly intuitive, and it is honest because it does exactly what we ask it to do. The design is durable as well. Perhaps not physically (over time), but the design is sure to last for many years to come. The iPhone is consequent to the last detail, with each detail thoroughly thought-out. The design is concerned for the environment of the user, by being such a small size and weight, it was designed with the end user in mind (the Earth’s environment is even taken into consideration with Apple’s technology recycling program). The iPhone also has as little design as possible, it is about as simple as it can be, which makes the design that much more powerful (less is more). The design also plays a central role in the communication of the product. The product more or less speaks for itself with its simple and clean design.

The Swedish company Poc works good design into their line of safety equipment for skiers, snowboarders, and bikers. On their website, you can choose the color of a ski helmet and then pick the perfect goggles to compliment it (http://www.pocsports.com/products/combo.asp). The website states that their helmets and goggles are “designed and engineered for optimal synchronization, as one unit.” This allows the customer control over what their finished product will be, and they will know that they have something unique. I found this to be a good example because the product incorporates safety and style, which may lead to more people wearing helmets while they are on the slopes. The design communicates in the marketplace of outdoor sports by showing that this is a brand that understands many people’s desire to look fashionable on the ski slopes.