Which design company?

A quick UK only google of design companies reveals a selection of 71,800,000 entries. Granted some of these are directories and other related sites and the like but an awful lot are companies. If I narrow my search to brand design companies the list gets slightly shorter but is still 309,000. So I ask myself, what makes one design company distinct from another? If, as a trade we are selling brands, it makes sense that we too should have strong unique selling points and stand out from the crowd.

Could it be that we are all a little bit worried about placing our stake too firmly in the ground. Design is a chamelon art, ever changing to suit the specific needs of our clients and in turn their customers. Few design companies talk about what is important to them, they pedal their clients work and talk about creativity and strategic thinking but fail to articulate what they see as the role of design, what it means to them and how they make it work. These core values are the things that make one company different to the next.

There are a good proprtion of companies that offer indistinct products. This could be a combination of not really understanding there own values or by desparately not wanting to put anyone off and so being all things to all people. This comes across as confusing at best and bland at worst. These companies are a bit like a badly designed 'own brand' option, and as such will always compete on price.

When we consider the better design companies, the ones that have a strong brand. I would say that they fall into 4 camps.

The first being the 'look at me' agencies those that believe that the world revolves around design and more specifically their company. They talk a lot about the glittering design awards they have won. If you are in it for the money, this is your agency. They only represent a small proportion, perhaps 10%. They come across as being arrogant in thier approach and promise 'big returns on your investment' for them it is all about the money.

The second are the 'Big safe pair of hands'. They believe in strong partnerships, working closely with their clients to produce design that is socially acceptable. To them design is a way to gain respect, love and popularity. They appeal to the majority of people, especially a lot of the big multi nationals.

The Third are 'simply fabulous darling' their exuberance for design gushes forth in bucket loads. They love design and are most anxious to produce stunning work that other designers will love too. They want to set themselves apart from others.These companies are the next biggest proportion of design companies. For them if it is beautiful it is successful. Like the 'look at me' types they like awards but for different reasons. For these companies, challenging the norm is key, and there designs will often fly against convention.

The Fourth is a rarer brand of design company the 'what ifs'. The most strategic of all the design agencies; Big on intellect, not in the least bit ideallistic. They are pragmatic in their approach but still challenge convention. They use a lot of genuine (not just for the waffle) strategic thinking and intellect to solve design problems. The brief is the best measure of a design solution's effectiveness. That and those that buy it.

To my mind, if design is about pleasing people, you need a big safe pair of hands. If it's all about the profit margins, head for the 'look and me's. If you want to be the cool kid at school you need to be 'simply fabulous darling'. If you are prepared to keep the ego out of it and want effective design based on intellect, you should ask... 'what if'

Montana Wines

Montana are the goliath of New Zealand wines. They are the country's biggest producer and exporter. As I am currently in New Zealand and drinking a fair bit of the stuff, (well it would be rude and uncultural not to). I was wondering if the design on their bottles and other public literature matches the values I can surmise from their website. If we take a look at the site we see that there is a strong natural theme in the imagery used. On there front page they state their mission "we work hard to deftly coax out all the nuances that nature offers us, so that the truly vibrant taste of Montana wines can shine through".The power of nature plus the craft of the wine maker equals great wine... sounds simple but is very powerful. This to some degree is suggested on the website but it would seem in a rather superficial way. The shots of the vines are somewhat generic, how exactly do you "coax out nuances of nature" and what are they? We learn more when the different branded varieties are described. "The cool, sunny climate, rugged topography and geologically young soils combine to produce some of the world’s most distinctive wine" Still the explanations are vague and do not bring the relationship of winemaker and nature to life. And if we weren't sure about the quality of the wine there is good lengthy description of the production methods, full of tradition and care. A good proportion of the site is given over to the promotion of New Zealand and it's attraction to the tourist. So mixed messages coming from the site. How do the bottles measure up to that core statement.



The logo is somewhat monolithic in its execution. The mountains pictured are foreboding rather than inviting. They say little of the nuances of nature that produce the vibrant wine inside. Come to that there is little to communicate the vibrancy of the product inside. I would judge that this wine was dependable and of good quality but vibrant? I don't think so.


In short I think that Montana is suffering somewhat of an identity crisis. The mantle of being NZ's biggest wine, seems to weigh heavy on its shoulders. There is not enough vibrancy inspired through nature and it looks like the craftsman has been replaced by a big shiny metal machine.



To further confuse the matter their new series of premium quality wines move further away from the nature and craft message. The idea behind this range is simple and powerful. The wines are reflective of the area they come from, representative of the different natural elements that their geography provides. They are crafted by artisans.The letters on this series although visually striking communicate little of this. I like their simplicity and the idea of a simple logo that represents the different areas but couldn't that work harder?







These coffees by Robert Harris sucessfully communicate that they are created by craftsmen inspired by and in tune with nature. And to boot they have a strong New Zealand identity and a vibrant appeal.

Chasing design awards

I was recently asked by another designer what design awards I had received for my work. I told him that I had just one from the DBA. Part of me of course wished I could wow him with my long list of accolades. I think it is natural that everyone wants to be rewarded for their efforts, to be told they did a good job and to be held in high regard by their peers, but is a design award the best way to do it? When most awards are given, they are not furnished with a brief, don't congratulate the marketeer or even the product that goes with it, just the design. Aesthetics and originality should of course be key objectives of a designer but they should almost be taken for granted when being considered for a design award. Does the design effectively communicate what is at the heart of the brand that it is promoting? That should be the first question. An award should be given to the whole package, of which design is a part of rather than being judged as a complete article. In that way we might just stop a little bit of the egoism that goes with design and concentrate on getting back to doing what we should be. That is working with companies to succesfully communicate their brand.