Challenge

I work in the design industry. I deal with big organizations and/or creative agencies. The  company I work for is a service provider and helps clients express and translate their  brand values through typographic means such as custom font solutions. It is a highly  specialized niche service which needs a lot of explanation at the top and at the bottom of  a sales funnel: at the top because it is a quite pricy service and not all stakeholders  involved are aware of the necessity and power of custom typefaces in branding and at the  bottom because people involved in later stages of a (re)design project are even less  familiar with branding/marketing topics, are on the execution side of things and try to  sustain the status quo against organizational pressure from the top ranks. Therefore I’m  usually facing a multitude of challenges which includes a diverse group of stakeholders  and where a substantial part is ﬁnding common ground among decision makers and  executers throughout the entire process: from acquisition, to education, ideation,  execution, delivery and implementation. The preferred method to achieve my goals is to  utilize the Design Thinking tool of Storytelling.

Selection

“Every great product, every great service, every great institution has a story behind it.  Every great brand has a story and that story connects to the emotions, the characters,  the values of the people that, that live that product every day. Storytelling's always been a  part of business.” –– Week 2, Storytelling Tool

I couldn’t agree more with the quote above. I’m utilizing Storytelling because stories are  primal, fundamentally human and highly eﬀective vehicles to transcend profession, class,  gender, age or any kind of social or geographical dialectics. The collective reception and  co-creation of stories unites stakeholders across organizational silos and helps to work  towards a common goal.

Application

In my latest project I had the opportunity to participate in a redesign of a major European  clothing retailer. My job was to custom ﬁt a typeface towards the needs of the clients –  both the responsible design agency and the retailer himself. I used to make use of  storytelling in previous projects but this time I tried to emphasize this design tool even  more. One of the reasons to do so was the surprisingly profound involvement of the  retailer which made me to multiply my eﬀorts in order to convince three parties at a time –  the retailer, the design agency and my design director.

I ﬁnd that one of the most overlooked tasks of a brand consultant or any kind of brand  service provider is simply listening to the client. Though it sounds so easy it is a diﬃcult  task which demands quite some grit. I experienced client meetings where the participants  were bewildered about this rather passive approach during the ﬁrst meeting. In order to  create a common story one has to listen what the other has to say. In my professional  environment it is usually the brand that speaks – or the brand manager on its behalf. My  job is quite simple: to help to articulate the essence of the brand with abstract means  such as a typeface.

In order to do so I carry out workshops with the client side to isolate certain brand values  that are important to emphasize and translate into a set of letters. If a brand is elegant

and feminine one would play with high-contrast serif typefaces and rather narrow  proportions. The opposite applies for rugged masculine brands. They ask for low- contrast, almost brutalist shapes. Of course this is just a brief and stratospheric view  since one can express certain characteristics through countless measures in a typefaces  such as: contrast, curve speed, weight, width, horizontal proportions, vertical proportions,  and many more.

In this particular case I used storytelling elements to connect the contemporary means of  crafting garment and applied the processes metaphorically to a typeface. Repetition,  uniformity, scale, resolution, details, materiality are factors that are relevant and were put  into consideration. The research and ideation part was presented as a in-person  presentation including details of the typeface contrasting details of modern day garment  and its production machinery.

Insight and Approach

To convey an emotional set of brand values or a brand story into abstract geometrical  shapes is an intimidating endeavor. I’m intrigued though that through storytelling these  abstract shapes becomes relatable. We are all wired in a similar way. The hardest part is  not really the translation for me but the communication and presentation of my work.  Especially the educational part plays more and more a substantial part in my work since I  realize that the more I become a professional the bigger the gap of knowledge gets  between me and the client. Focusing more on visual sensitization through workshops,  presentations and videos is something I spire to do for my next client.


Challenge I work in the design industry . I deal with big organizations and/or creative agencies . The company I work for is a service provider and helps clients express and translate their brand values through typographic means such as custom font solutions . It is a highly specialized niche service which needs a lot of explanation at the top and at the bottom of a sales funnel : at the top because it is a quite pricy service and not all stakeholders involved are aware of the necessity and power of custom typefaces in branding and at the bottom because people involved in later stages of a ( re)design project are even less familiar with branding / marketing topics , are on the execution side of things and try to sustain the status quo against organizational pressure from the top ranks . Therefore I ’m usually facing a multitude of challenges which includes a diverse group of stakeholders and where a substantial part is ﬁnding common ground among decision makers and executers throughout the entire process : from acquisition , to education , ideation , execution , delivery and implementation . The preferred method to achieve my goals is to utilize the Design Thinking tool of Storytelling . Selection “ Every great product , every great service , every great institution has a story behind it . Every great brand has a story and that story connects to the emotions , the characters , the values of the people that , that live that product every day . Storytelling 's always been a part of business . ” – – Week 2 , Storytelling Tool I could n’t agree more with the quote above . I ’m utilizing Storytelling because stories are primal , fundamentally human and highly eﬀective vehicles to transcend profession , class , gender , age or any kind of social or geographical dialectics . The collective reception and co - creation of stories unites stakeholders across organizational silos and helps to work towards a common goal . Application In my latest project I had the opportunity to participate in a redesign of a major European clothing retailer . My job was to custom ﬁt a typeface towards the needs of the clients – both the responsible design agency and the retailer himself . I used to make use of storytelling in previous projects but this time I tried to emphasize this design tool even more . One of the reasons to do so was the surprisingly profound involvement of the retailer which made me to multiply my eﬀorts in order to convince three parties at a time – the retailer , the design agency and my design director . I ﬁnd that one of the most overlooked tasks of a brand consultant or any kind of brand service provider is simply listening to the client . Though it sounds so easy it is a diﬃcult task which demands quite some grit . I experienced client meetings where the participants were bewildered about this rather passive approach during the ﬁrst meeting . In order to create a common story one has to listen what the other has to say . In my professional environment it is usually the brand that speaks – or the brand manager on its behalf . My job is quite simple : to help to articulate the essence of the brand with abstract means such as a typeface . In order to do so I carry out workshops with the client side to isolate certain brand values that are important to emphasize and translate into a set of letters . If a brand is elegant and feminine one would play with high - contrast serif typefaces and rather narrow proportions . The opposite applies for rugged masculine brands . They ask for low- contrast , almost brutalist shapes . Of course this is just a brief and stratospheric view since one can express certain characteristics through countless measures in a typefaces such as : contrast , curve speed , weight , width , horizontal proportions , vertical proportions , and many more . In this particular case I used storytelling elements to connect the contemporary means of crafting garment and applied the processes metaphorically to a typeface . Repetition , uniformity , scale , resolution , details , materiality are factors that are relevant and were put into consideration . The research and ideation part was presented as a in - person presentation including details of the typeface contrasting details of modern day garment and its production machinery . Insight and Approach To convey an emotional set of brand values or a brand story into abstract geometrical shapes is an intimidating endeavor . I ’m intrigued though that through storytelling these abstract shapes becomes relatable . We are all wired in a similar way . The hardest part is not really the translation for me but the communication and presentation of my work . Especially the educational part plays more and more a substantial part in my work since I realize that the more I become a professional the bigger the gap of knowledge gets between me and the client . Focusing more on visual sensitization through workshops , presentations and videos is something I spire to do for my next client .