Brand value by design: the use of three levels of recognition in design

The design of a product acts as a carrier of various symbolic meanings. These meanings are a result of experiencing all the specific design characteristics together in the complete product. The separate design characteristics will build up to a total image, which will evoke certain associations. Some of these associations are explicit, such as ‘the angularity’ of a product, and some of them are more implicit, such as ‘a sophisticated design’. Those implicit values are often referring to the brand values of a company and the translation of these values is crucial for a company to develop a strong brand. However it is a quite difficult job for designers to evoke the right associations in products. Earlier research showed that the implicit values are the most important values to integrate in the product, considering the quality of the resulting designs. This paper will discuss a framework which contributes to a better understanding of the values of a brand and the translation of those values into new product designs. The framework was tested in educational practice, which showed that the improved framework will support young designers in the process of analysing, explaining and integrating implicit values into new iconic designs.