Dani’s big day out at Birmingham Design Festival!

June may be officially festival season but rather than heading out to camp in a muddy field, our designer Daniella Atherton had another venue in mind – Birmingham Design Festival!  Here are some of her key takeaways from attending one of the UK’s largest celebrations of local, national and international design.

Birmingham Design Festival  is an annual event that combines an exciting mix of discussions and exhibitions covering everything from graphic design and illustration to product and digital creative concepts. Design has always been one of Harris Creative’s core services and our ability to keep offering our clients fresh new ideas and innovative solutions is one of our biggest strengths. That’s why I was keen to attend the event and find out what’s new in the world of design and more importantly, how these new trends can help our clients.

Don’t be afraid to push boundaries

One of my favourite speakers at the event was by book designer David Pearson, whose lecture on  ‘An Acceptable Level of Miscommunication’ was really insightful.

The discussion centred on the pre-existing perceptions people have about shapes, images and typography and how designers can use them to either reinforce or subvert these views. He used book design as an example but his focus on engaging with the audience is equally as applicable to other marketing assets. From teasing a design theme to create a visual journey for the audience or creating a puzzle with the imagery, his advice to treat your audience with respect and not to steal their ability to create an image in their own mind was a refreshing take.

Don’t lose the human element of your designs

Another key speaker was Stefanie Posavec, a specialist information designer who spoke of ‘Creating With Data In A Post-Infographic World’. In construction marketing, so much of the collateral that we create is to inform or instruct and so I was particularly interested in taking a deeper dive into how data can be more effectively ‘designed’.

Stefanie discussed the importance of creating data based designs that connect people and communities through shared experiences. Essentially, rather than just ‘present’ data, it’s vital to communicate it in a way that is both meaningful and impactful. This may seem like a fundamental part of marketing but with so much data automation from AI now available, it is important to maintain and protect the human aspect of the design process. This can give more creative freedom too in terms of how the data is presented. If the design becomes too messy or complicated, create a more relatable summary instead. See it through the eyes of your audience, not a bot!

The importance of good design

Good design is an integral part of any marketing campaign and is essential to creating a strong brand identity. But it’s not just about looks and in the world of construction marketing and B2B communications, it’s important to consider how your audience connects with your design on both an intellectual or emotional level. So if you are looking at your logo, brochure, advert, website or even the branded mug of tea on your desk and thinking that there is something missing, there probably is…and we can most likely help put that right.

Contact us today to find out more about Harris Creative’s design services.