The Backbone of Design
Do you know what is the backbone of design? What every designer does before they have to create their masterpiece. The answer is research, and it is one of the most important parts of the design process. Research is used by both small-time designers, and huge multi-million dollars companies that want to increase the revenue of sales. Many designers use research as a way to get to know about their client, their client’s problem, and to make sure that they satisfy their client and the customers. Research also helps a designer’s perspective shift from a designer for a client, to a potential consumer of the client. The other thing that research does for a designer is that a research-driven design can help define an audience, support a concept, advocate for an aesthetic, communicate with a target audience, and create effective message for the audience.
The ADT alarm system sign, is a sign that ADT gives to its customers whenever they sign up for their alarm system that secures the customer’s house, and allows 24/7 protection from potential buglers, attackers, and etc. My opinion of the sign that ADT has made, is that it uses a psychological tendency in the form of a stop sign shape and blue color. The company use of the shape of a stop sign to connect it to the meaning of the stop sign, while the color is blue because it represents tranquility, and calmness, in which may have an affect on the person they might want to rob your house.
What design can achieve when backed by research is that the Danish Design Center (DDC) discovered that companies that operated on the top of the model called Design Staircase, in which that had a 20% more growth in revenue, a significant return on the design investment, and a increase in exports. This example tells us that when design is integrated with the business objective than there will be increase in revenue. Also, if design is integrated as a part of the corporate culture, then it becomes a tool for innovation and a predictor of success. The picture above shows us that companies that don’t use design are in the bottom of the stairs, while those that use design as a integrated part of the part of the company and as a means of innovation, are at the top of the stairs. This staircase gives us a metaphorical idea, about companies that don’t use design, and companies that uses design, and where they would be on the design staircase.
