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    Posts Tagged ‘Corporate Design’

    “We think that our job is to take responsibility for the complete user experience”, Steve Jobs

    Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

    That is what we had in mind when developing Vizuarna’s 365i, a design tool for interactive annual reports. Taking the responsibility for the complete product.

    Interactive annual reporting is a fact. The client needs to have a solution that will enable him not only a professional interactive report but also a possibility that the user groups will find the information they want. Annual reporting of the corporation has a complex content, be that describing the business milestones or presenting the rich info-graphics of the annual or presenting the financial results in the balance sheet, income statement and its disclosure’s. This is why Vizuarna’s 365i design tool enables to automate on screen presentation of the annual report and at the same time enabling standard user search experience. And on the other hand we did not forget that .pdf publication of the annual reports are still de facto standard, so the design tool enables to automate that part too.

    Maybe we were lucky (or maybe smart) enough not to develop another flash flip book application. Really early in the process of idea testing, one of our first clients said: “But, hey guys, I do not want you to make me another like interactive book, with this buttons to move on. I do not want that.”. And yes, we didn’t developed that. The 365i enables complete standard user search experience.

    Technically, it is based on .xml standard that is totality compliant with the .xbrl standard of the Securities and Exchange Commission from the USA. Even more deeply, the tool makes every object in the report known, be that a paragraph, various titles, graphs or other pie charts, or numbers in income statements of your profit line. All that in accordance with the corporate identity of the corporation. What that means? That by default user are able to find what they want. How? Usually by goggling, as we all have to admit.

    We did not forget the processionals who use the annual reports as part of their job. We found out that financial departments are sending to bank annalists their own spreadsheets. Independently from the designed official annual report. The 365i enables to group all the spreadsheets (and that spreadsheets that are designed in accordance with the corporate identity) or only some of them. All the spreadsheets may also be published in the Download Centre, naturally locked in. But no need to look for the files and compiling them together when your CEO bumps into your office to send all the figures to some new important potential investor. With one click you choose all the spreadsheets and send them to appropriate address. And be sure that those spreadsheet are all following your corporate design guidelines so the corporate communications manager will be happy too (not to mention your in-house design department).

    Steve Jobs also said in one other occasion: “Learning about serif and san-serif typefaces and varying the amount of space between letter combinations… all came back to me, and we designed it all into Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography”.  Similarly, we believe that 365i is the first design tool for complete interactive reporting enabling beautiful interactive annual reports.

    Black and white photo of Steve Jobs
    Source of Steve Jobs quotes: Success, June 2010
    Photo source: www.macstories.net

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    A small case study of New York based corporations on reporting systems

    Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

    This case study includes corporations with its headquarters in New York. In the small sample there are corporations like: PEPSICO, Thomson Reuters, WPP, LVMH and others.

    It was interesting that in many cases, the LinkedIn proved to be valuable source of the information where are the headquarters of some of the corporations. Like, if I search for our company Vizuarna headquarters, the first result on Google is the Vizuarna’s profile on LinkedIn. Interesting, isn’t it? The same way it is possible to find some other corporations headquarters. And yes. Many of the worlds most known corporations actually have their headquarters in New York. Not necessary in New York City but still.

    And after studying the reporting systems of some of the corporations in New York, what have I found out? The most important lesson: all of them have actually a reporting system established. No mistakes. Some have appointed even executives director for investment affairs. What were some of the best features in this reports in my opinion? Three things really to remember:

    + first, one of the corporation studied has its interactive annual report made already in 2003. And the reports are published on the web site as way back as in 1999. And everything about the annual report is totally integrated into the site. Really remarkable. Interactive version made rather simple like a flash publication but with good possibilities of printing, mailing and others, be that the whole report or its part by pages.

    + second, promise of the annual report, let say some kind of tactical tag-line, a sort or even really a brand promise explained in short and in details. That’s the way to do it. and

    + third, the whole annual report presented in a summary. All the chapters are there but everything is in short. Really in short but with all relevant information. What do I really need to know about the income statement? There are really only 2×3 things to know. Revenues (in sales, financial, other) and expenses in the other way (again operations, financial and other) and that’s it. And some make even a summary from the summary. Shorter version of the short version. And that is true for other chapters of the annual report as well. That way it becomes more interesting for larger target groups not only for people who have to read the reports by duty. Enhanced transparency, I would called it.

    The web page of the LVMH web site presenting annual reports for ten years

    Interactive annual report of Pepsico wits its promise in detail

    Interactive annual report summary of WPP

    the results from Google on the term Vizuarna headquarters

    There are some other things to be mentioned, like sharing possibilities on SlideShare or some reports really followed the line throughout the years. Just like their corporate strategy is to be followed (if successful), so have the annual reports its design consistency.

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    A short introduction to the steps of the corporate identity audit

    Friday, March 26th, 2010

    Corporate design is an instrument for transformation and, at the same time, a guarantee of continuing corporate recognition (Van Cauwenberge, 2008). And that could be developed only if the proper corporate identity audit has been made.

    A corporate identity audit has been developed in 9 steps. These 9 steps are: + step 1: select the audit team; + step 2: asses key elements in the corporate identity; + step 3: determine who should be interviewed; + step 4: conduct audit interviews; + step 5: audit corporate identity factors; + step 6: summarize salient points; + step 7: determine the options for change; + step 8: present the audit results; + step 9: use the audit data to improve the corporate identity (Ollins and Selame, 2002).

    The scheme presentig the Corporate Identity Audit in 9 steps

    Sources:
    Ollins, Wally and Selame Elinor. 2002. The Corporate Identity Audit. Pearson Education. 130 p.
    Van Cauwenberge, Rennat. 2008. Corporate design instrument for change. In a transition, the corporate design should fit the new mental attitude in de Bruijne A.; P Brandt, Hans; de Boer, Sieds. (ed) 2008. Identity 2.0. Bis Publishers. 229 p.

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    What are the laws of corporate design in developing corporate identity? How to approach to corporate design?

    Saturday, March 20th, 2010

    There are some proposals from different authors. It seems that the proposals depend from the point of view  of the authors. If authors write from the perspective of corporate consultants, then they develop a rough process that uses the business language and it should appeal to the boards of the corporations.

    Such a business proposal of a process approach in developing corporate identity or other design fields to gain a competitive advantage usually include different steps: + articulating the firms competitive strategy; + design requirements and resources; + insuring communication among design and other functions; + the design brief; + measuring performance (Olson et al., 2000). It is somehow obvious that designers themselves need some different and more specific information.

    The specific and different information could be presented in complex models or could be put in simple laws of corporate design that are the constitution of the corporate identity. In the process of developing the corporate identity, corporate design needs to assure: + change, but sensible change; + understanding that design is order, and + repetition is power. First law means that corporate design provides the footing, a bridge between the past, present and the future. The second law is about considering the ties that have been forged in cultures and individual minds between images and experiences. And the third law means that corporate is to be integrally and systematically applied to all manifestation of a corporation, be that a sign or annual report. Be that a letterhead or a flag (Van Cauwenberge, 2008).

    It is obvious that what is needed is not cosmetic design but the essence of the corporation.

    Sources:
    Olson, Eric M. et al. 2000. Managing Design for Competitive Advantage: A Process Approach. Design Management Journal: 11/4, p. 10-17.
    Van Cauwenberge, Rennat. 2008. Corporate design instrument for change. In a transition, the corporate design should fit the new mental attitude in de Bruijne A.; P Brandt, Hans; de Boer, Sieds. (ed) 2008. Identity 2.0. Bis Publishers. 229 p.

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    How will design become a way of life in your organization?

    Friday, February 12th, 2010

    “Champions may push from above, policies may sit off to one side, programs tend to be temporary and functions isolated, whether leading or lagging. In contrast, design as infusion works alongside, and especially within other functions. Managers whose responsibilities touch design do not merely accept it, but become part of it. Design thus becomes a way of life in the organization.” (Dumas and Minztberg, 1989).

    Design Champion is according to one of the design consultancy approaches one of the most suitable ways for an organization to promote design. The champion could be the chief executive officer or other executive too or even an outside consultant. This person acts as a patron and even if he/she leaves the organizations there is the possibility to leave something important behind. The problems could occur when there are promoted beliefs about design rather than good design per se. In that case usually nothing tangible is left behind. This is why Dumas and Minztberg claim that design champion – be that patron, crusader, team or consultant – in only a necessary first step in order an organization to be infused with design (Dumas and Minztberg, 1989). Out of that first step there are three other options of managing design and designing management.

    Design policies very often occur because “everybody” has them. They are supposed to be suitable approach if they clarify beliefs that already exist in an organization. Other wise they are of little consequence. Design program has the main disadvantage as being “temporary design”. If this program is really a part of corporate strategy then as such could have a lasting effect for other initiatives. When design is only lagging in function it could be considered as only “cosmetic design”. The products may look a little better but this is only effect. It is difficult for designer in such an organization to make a difference without firm belief and commitment. In managing design as a leading function design could end up with “encapsulated design”. This could cause problems in internal efficiency of the organization (Dumas and Minztberg, 1989).

    The least formal in the most developed is supposed to be approach were design is infused in the organization. It was pointed out that design cannot be managed as just another cog in a bureaucratic wheel. The infusion of design into an organization is described also as “silent design” (Dumas and Minztberg, 1989). And this is how design becomes a way of life in your organization.

    The Figure of ways to manage design is already published in on the blog Design Strategy & Branding in the Corporations in the post Why is design-aware executive extremely important for any organization?.

    Surce: Dumas, Angela and Mintzberg, Henry. 1989. Managing Design Designing Management. Design Managemet Journal: 1/1, p. 37-43.

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    Why is design-aware executive extremely important for any organization?

    Saturday, February 6th, 2010

    Because this is the easiest way to infuse an organization with design.

    In Slovenia there are 14 corporations among top 500 in Central Europe, according to consulting house Deloitte, data from 2008. These corporations are:
    + Petrol group on the 41st place;
    + Mercator group: 46th place;
    + Gorenje group: 134th place;
    + Merkur group: 143th place;
    + Revoz: 151st place;
    + HSE group: 199th place;
    + Lek: 204th place;
    + Krka group: 208th place;
    + Telekom Slovenije Group: 238th place
    + SIJ: 312nd place;
    + Engrotuš: 330th place;
    + Salbatring: 384th place;
    + Impol at 448th place and
    + Eles at 495th place.
    There is no serious research needed to know that in these corporations there is no design or design management profile close to boards or CEO-s. In we take for granted the statement from professor Robert Hayes, Harvard Business School, who few years ago said: “Fifteen years ago, companies competed on price. Today is quality. Tomorrow it’s design.” then we know that tomorrow is today. Design needs to be a continuous process and as such part of any corporate strategy.

    How to infuse corporation with design was in a stylized figure below presented already in 1989 by renown authors Dumas and Minztberg. These authors claim that is much more likely to infuse an organization with design via a design champion than via a function per se, because of its informal nature. And although the reality is much more complex this is the main reason why design-aware-executive is so important. In Slovenia we had such a case already in 1960’s when Davorin Savnik was not only the art director but also an influential consultant of general manager of Iskra corporation. And Iskra had in 1970’s 35.000 employees. My guess is that it was much bigger than all the above mentioned corporations. Maybe this is the route to be followed?

    Figure: Ways to Manage Design

    Source of tge figure: Dumas, Mintzberg, 1989, p. 43

    Sources:
    Angela Dumas and Henry Mintzberg. 1989. Managing Design Designing Management. Design Management Journal: 1/1.
    Saša Bojc. 2009. Neuvrščeno oblikovanje. Delo: 13.11.2009.
    www.deloitte.com
    more authors in T. Lockwood&T. Walton (ed). 2008. Buiding Design Strategy: Using Design to Achieve key Business Objectives.

    Marko Savić, managing director at Vizuarna, strategic design consultancy. Design manager and corporate identity consultant.

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    Predstavitev teme o dizajn strategijah na okrogli mizi Društva oblikovalcev Slovenije

    Thursday, January 28th, 2010

    Na povabilo Društva oblikovalcev Slovenije, katerega član sicer sem, sem se odzval in pripravil predstavitev na temo dizajn strategij. Kratko, desetminutno predstavitev sem poimenoval Kdo rabi dizajn strategije? Dizajn ali gospodarstvo? – Zakaj povezati dizajn in dizajn strategije v korporativne strategije?

    Več o sami predstavitvi je možno izvedeti neposredno iz pripete predstavitve: Kdo rabi dizajn strategije? Dizajn ali gospodarstvo? – Zakaj povezati dizajn in dizajn strategije v korporativne strategije
    Predstavitev sicer vsebuje pet točk:
    + dizajn in korporacije;
    + dizajn strategije v korporacijah;
    + sodelovanje uprav, strateških načrtovalcev, dizajn managerjev in dizajnerjev;
    + kakšna je vloga dizajnerjev v razvoju dizajn strategij?; in
    + zakaj rabimo dizajn strategije?

    V predstavitvi ugotavljam, da je na strateškem nivoju  v Sloveniji absolutno premalo dizajna, dizajn svetovalcev in dizajnerjev. Nujna bi bila izraba tudi dizajn managementa, kot sem že pisal o “stopnicah dizajn managementa”. Dizajnerji bi pa na drugi strani morali podrobno in natančno poznati tako generične strategije v življenskem ciklu izdelkov ali storitev – glej prvo sliko spodaj kot tudi znati prikazati vrednost dizajna v denarju.

    Slika spodaj prikazuje šest generičnih strategij s primeri izdelkov iz leta 2007 in z navedenimi primeri korporacij, ki dokaj zvesto sledijo posamični generični strategiji.

    Naslednje slika prikazuje optimalen primer razvoja inovativnosti v strateških investicijskih projektih. S krogom je označena vključitev dizajn za razvoj dizajn strategije že na začetku projektov oz. investicijskih ciklov, ko je običajno denarni tok še negativen.

    Če vse skupaj poenostavim. Profesor Robert Hayes, Harvard Business School je pred leti povedal: “Petnajst let nazaj so gospodarske družbe tekmovale s ceno. Danes je to kakovost. Jutri bo dizajn.” Jutri je danes. Tu in zdaj.

    In kot sta ugotavljala profesorja iz mariborske in ljubljanske ekonomske fakultete jeseni leta 2009, ena od možnih strategij Mure, podjetja in ne reke, bi bila ustanovitev oblikovalskega oddelka s 500 oblikovalci, če bi želeli zadržati 3.000 zaposlenih za doseganje ustrezne dodane vrednosti.

    Zaradi vsega povedanega je jasno, da bi morala vsaka resna gospodarska družba imeti postavljeno celovito dizajn strategijo znotraj korporativne strategije.

    Še fotografiji. Na prvi fotografiji z leve predsednik DOS-a g. Robert Klun, predsednica uprave Peka ga. Marta Gorjup Brejc, kreativna direktorica Gorenje Design Studia ga. Lidija Pritržnik in generalni direktor Gospodarske zbornice Slovenije g. Samo Hribar Milič. Na drugi je moja malenkost v očitno zelo sproščeni pozi. :)

    Viri:
    + več avtorjev v T. Lockwood&T. Walton (ur). 2008. Buiding Design Strategy: Using Design to Achieve key Business Objectives.
    + S. Bojc. 2009. Neuvrščeno oblikovanje. Delo.
    + www.deloitte.com
    + M. Tajnikar, K. Pušnik. 2009, Mura ni reka, je podjetje. Reševanje tekstilnega giganta. Delo, Sobotna priloga.

    Marko Savić, managing director at Vizuarna, strategic design consultancy. Design manager and corporate identity consultant.

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    Trends that recognised design as a core competency in creating a sustainable corporate advantage

    Monday, January 18th, 2010

    Trends, according to the Joziasse, that caused design going beyond merely estethics and/or decoration in becoming a source for gaining sustainable competitive advantage were supposed to be:
    + design as a core competency
    + integration of design into the business world
    + design management and planning as a focus for consultancies
    + the merging of business and design education:

    The consequence was that some prospect corporations have developed design as a continuous element of corporate strategy.  And out of that is the claim that sustained design strategy allows companies to take leadership positions in their sectors.

    Sources:
    Joziasse, Frans. Corporate Strategy: Bringing Design Management into the Fold in Lockwood Th. & Walton Th. (eds). 2008. Building Design Strategy: Using Design to Achieve Key Business Objectives. DMI & Allworth Press, 257 p.
    Lockwood, Thomas. Design Value: A Framework for Measurment in Lockwood Th. & Walton Th. (eds). 2008. Building Design Strategy: Using Design to Achieve Key Business Objectives. DMI & Allworth Press, 257 p.

    Marko Savić, managing director at Vizuarna, strategic design consultancy. Design manager and corporate identity consultant.

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    Why corporate design should be viewed as a investment?

    Monday, January 19th, 2009

    It would be an honour if I would be the author of that answer but I’m not. Rennat Van Cauwenberge, General Manager/Managing Partner from Gramma in the article Corporate design instrument for change, wrote:
    “Above all, corporate design is an instrument for transformations and, at the same time, a guarantee of continuing corporate recognition. A design that is new, surprising and historically consistent, and that corresponds to the basic motives of the employees? Few advertising agencies can handle this paradox. Most of them see a given cultural context as oppressive. By fits and starts, they like to present changes and breaks in trends in a corporate design as ‘progress’. The client does not benefit from this in the least. The internal and external images of the organisation are even more confused than they were. But the biggest mistake is the break with the perception that has been carefully built up in the minds of hundreds of thousands, even millions of observers. This collective perception belongs to the intangible assets of a company. For this reason alone, corporate design should be given the attention that is give to every other area of investment.”

    Source: Hans P Brandt (ed): Identity 2.0

    Marko Savić, managing director at Vizuarna, strategic design consultancy. Design manager and corporate identity consultant.

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    Design definitions

    Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

    Design = intentions + drawing

    “Design is an activity involving a wide spectrum of professions in which products, services, graphics, interiors, and architecture all take part.” (ICSID)

    Design and branding: design is a link in the chain of a brand, or a means of expressing brand values to its different publics.

    Design and corporate strategy: design is a tool for making a strategy visible.

    Source: Borja de Mozota, Brigitte: Design Management.

    Marko Savić, Managing Director at Vizuarna, strategic design consultancy, design manager and corporate identity consultant

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