7: Emotion of Form and Touch Points
There can be no doubt that the visual form of a product elicits an emotional response: from sports cars to cell phones, the way people feel about a product, at least initially. For most products, the visual form is the first sensory data they receive and sets a mood that other sense data can either reinforce or undermine.
The author uses the term "touch point" to identify an interaction between customer and brand. The way in which an interaction is designed should be geared toward leveraging the emotions of the customer in a positive way.
The visual form is often the first idea producers have in designing a product, and significant money is spent on a design that "looks good" to those who behold it - but it cannot stop there. There are ample aphorisms about superficial beauty, and a strong negative reaction when it is only skin deep.
It is also not entirely about aesthetic pleasure. A product that looks good creates an emotional response that is reflected in what it is. A coffeemaker that adopts the design elements of a sports car does not look good - it looks preposterous. Even a sports car that looks good but does not deliver performance becomes a joke to anyone who doesn't own it, and an embarrassment to anyone who does.
The author also speaks to emotions associated to a parent brand versus a product brand. There are certain commonalities to every vehicle in the BMW line, but each vehicle has certain visual elements that support the emotions appropriate to a sports car, a sedan, or an SUV.
The need for common themes/features is important, but often overlooked, when companies attempt to extend a parent brand. (EN: It might also be worth considering, if there are conflicts between the parent brand and a sub-brand, it may be a better idea to launch a new brand than to try to extend the parent. Consider the flop that Levi's had when it attempted to sell business suits.)
Distinctive Design
The author dwells, rather too long, on the distinctiveness of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, which since its revival is a brand that commands a high premium, and has a fanatical body of customers. The visual style of a HD motorcycle and the sound of its engine are very distinctive, and owners can easily discern the genuine article from close imitations. HD has been careful to maintain the design elements across its entire line of motorcycles, and ensuring that new models follow the conventions to a sufficient degree that the product is recognizable as being an HD motorcycle - and more importantly that the emotions related to HD are not contradicted..
The author also mentions automotive designer Harley Earl, who is credited with bringing styling and brand differentiation to the automotive industry from 1927 to 1958 - many recognized features (such as tail fins, wave-shaped bodies, and polished chrome) were his, as was the technique of clay modeling and developing concept cars to gauge reaction. Working for General Motors, Earl sought to differentiate the several brands produced by the conglomerate, and some of the basic elements he created (particularly the grill of various brands) are still carried forward to the present day with little alteration.
For new brands, a visual identity can be strategically designed and thoughtfully planned to support the company's product emotion strategy - though the author suggests that some new companies focus on getting a basic product to market that they miss this opportunity, which could be the reason they fail to gain a loyal following.
For established companies, it may be a question of carrying forward the distinctive elements of the past, or even rebranding when necessary to shed the old image. Whatever decision is made should be informed and deliberate.
Integrated Brand Identity Map
The author returns to Navistar, who in designing the Lone Star line did a survey of truck designs from the 1920s to the recent day, revealing 18 different eras of design - suggesting the industry failed to identify a successful theme, or to be consistent enough to establish one. This gave them a blank slate to establish a distinctive design, as there were no conventions to violate by choosing some elements from various eras and combining them with contemporary automotive themes.
In general, it was concluded that design needed to appeal to the basic emotions of feeling "sexy, intriguing, spirited, and bold" - these were broadly applicable, such that design elements would be reflected to some degree in the visual design of all of their trucks. Their Pro Star line was another long-haul truck - add "honorable, proud, professional, optimistic, and confident" to the base emotions. Similar analysis were done on each of the "star" lines of vehicle. The Lone Star line, as the flagship of the fleet, would make the boldest statement. The author presents a matrix of the "core visual language" with the six key visual areas compared among various products on the other axis.
The author suggests this practice to be broadly applicable: while every company and product line have certain idiosyncrasies, there is generally a familial relationship between the brands of a given firm, common attributes, and distinctive brand attributes. Being deliberate and consistent is important.
Visual Brand Language
The author invites the reader to look around their own homes to find products made by different providers. Chances are your refrigerator, dishwasher, stove, washer, and dryer are made by a single brand, yet each looks distinct. The author refers to the Whirlpool Corporation specifically, which "has worked diligently" to maintain consistency yet have a separate visual brand language for each of its lines.
(EN: Thinking about it, it seems likely to have three dimensions, as many firms have a number of options for products - there is the company brand, the dishwasher brand, and two or three models. It's a lot to keep tract of, so it's a wonder it's done as well as it is. However, I wonder if the work is really as meticulous as the author implies - it could happen by laziness, to start with a base model and make modifications to create some visual differences, without really considering the emotional component. That's not a criticism - systematic approaches often simply formalize what was already being done informally.)
The author contrasts the (alleged) emotional portent of two brands: Whirpool's brand identity values simplicity and effectiveness that saves time and effort. Kitchenaid is more concerned with the relationships around its appliances, the sense of togetherness and giving that comes from food-related interactions in the home. The brand a customer chooses reflects the emotions that are most important to him.
The author suggests that visual brand language is a basis for intellectual property protection. When a component such as a handle or grip is sufficiently differentiated from competitors' offerings, the firm can claim that any imitator is violating trademarks, patents, or copyrights. (EN: This seems vague and inaccurate, so I'm doubtful. Trademarks protect brand elements such as logos and slogans, copyrights cover text and musical compositions, and patents cover engineering mechanisms. In truth, there really is no legal protection that is specifically applicable to design elements, though the existing mechanisms have been leveraged in that way.)
(EN: The author provides some photographs, which I don't think I can copy in my notes without violating copyright, that illustrate the difference in the visual language of the brand. It's actually quite striking how subtle differences show when a dial or a handle is shown side-by-side.)
Buildings Talk: The Language of Architecture
The author borrows the term "architecture" to explain how the visual language of a product is clearly connected to product-related emotions.
A distinction is drawn between art and design: we may look at a picture for a few minutes, watch a movie for an hour or so, or read a novel for a few days - but when it comes to the artifacts we use in our daily lives, we live with them for years.
Architecture, proper, is particularly of interest to store design. Consider the design of Apple stores - the brand speak to anyone who passes by before they enter the place, generating a sense of curiousness and excitement. The dramatic, clean design creates a powerful first impression.
Architecture itself is a visual communication: when a building is constructed, the character of the edifice matches that of the business that occupies it. Consider the design of bank buildings, on main streets throughout the nation: they borrow on the grandiose style of the classical age, and convey by their very structure a sense of stability and power. Consider also, how ludicrous it would be for a bank to take over the abandoned building of a fast-food restaurant, changing nothing about the exterior appearance but the signage.
In all, choosing the right visual language can strengthen your brand and choosing the wrong one can weaken it.
Translating Emotions into Features
The skills that go into developing a product are often associated with many dull professions: engineers, computer programmers, and chemists are generally not known for their warm and personable nature - yet these are some of the professionals that build, and often design, the products that others will use.
The designer should not be called in to add emotions onto a product that has already been designed by technical experts, but to consider the emotions the product will deliver before the technical experts begin work. That is, emotion shouldn't be layered on top of a design, but it should be among the purposes for which it is designed.
Consider the example of an electric vehicle. It appeals to people who want to get esteem from others by demonstrating their concern for the environment, and as such must be designed to send the right visual cues: any non-visible element of the vehicle is of less value than those that can be seen by others, such as fluorescent lighting, a smart phone dock, and other fashion items. These have little to do with the way the product is designed to operate, and more to do with the way the vehicle's driver desires to be seen and appreciated by others.
Form, like function, can also be evolved over time - designed according to the reactions of customers in test situations, or in reaction to customer feedback, improving the way in which it appeals to the emotions, and changing as the interests of people change over time.
Shape Grammars and Computation
The author refers to the training and expertise that is necessary to create visual forms that support emotions, and implies the danger of letting design be done by people who are not designers. Witness the Pontiac Aztek - an embarrassment and financial failure that's listed as one of the greatest flops ever. (EN: There is a lot of speculation and conjecture over the Aztek, such that the truth is well clouded - whether it was executive narcissism, design by committee, a compromise to the engineers, etc.)
The author refers to the earlier notion of expert systems - in which knowledge could purportedly be stored in a computer system in such a way that answers to questions should be generated automatically. While it never delivered on the promise, the theory behind it included some innovative ways to store information - one component of which pertained to organizing information in the form of visual elements, which were distilled to geometric shapes - hence "shape grammars"
The idea of developing a style based on permutations of basic shapes is not new: any visual theme, even back to the classical world. Consider the example of pottery in China: the definition of key shapes that consulted a theme, such that the use of certain shapes and patterns made a Yuan dynasty vase distinct from a Ming dynasty vase. It is in the same way that Harley Davidson was able to define a shape grammar that made its line of cycles similar to one another, yet distinct from competitor's offerings.
The author suggests that computers can be used to generate thousands of variations when selecting a product design, making it more feasible to test a variety of proposed design features with customers or customer segments. The example given suggests a survey in which customers were shown images of an SUV and asked to report their preferences - which is much faster and more flexible than using focus groups or building prototypes. Using multiple tests enabled the firm to refine, even to the level of considering the size of the grille and the precise slope of the windshield.
Visual Closure
In this chapter, the author has described in a general way the manner in which the visual appearance of items evokes emotional reactions. This is not new, as western philosophers back to Plato had much to say about beauty and the feelings it is capable of evoking.
It is important, but it is admittedly only skin deep. Especially when it comes to useful objects, customers buy them to use, not simply to gaze lovingly upon. There is generally some balance between the two - a beautiful object that works well is the ultimate achievement. For some, function can be abandoned for fashion (designer clothing, for example), for others, fashion is abandoned for function (a claw hammer) - but most have an optimal placement between these extremes.