The world has fundamentally changed. It isn’t now nor will it ever again be what it was before COVID-19. The pandemic has dramatically changed the business/user landscape. Often companies don’t give enough thought to how these changes should be influencing their brand design. A smart brand leader will navigate these changes and use the opportunity to elevate their brand design. Here are 3 brand truths brought on by our current cultural climate and how your brand design should react:

1
Users have become much more accepting of trying new brands as substitutes.

Social distancing has also brought about a certain amount of brand distancing. Brand loyalty is harder to come by as users look more towards quality and usefulness of product rather than popularity or social acceptance. 

What does this mean for your brand design?

Stay consistent to your core brand guidelines. That doesn’t mean stay stagnant. If your brand doesn’t already have overtly positive images, now is the time to insert them. Make the brand feel comfortable and inviting. 

2
Users look to brands that exhibit empathy and honest altruism.

2020 has been a challenge for just about everyone. Winning brands embrace this and go the extra mile to support loyal users without any sense of immediate gain. Building that kind of loyalty will payoff in the long run, but for now worry about the wellbeing of your users.

What does this mean for your brand design?

Use supportive messaging. Lose any sales graphics or graphics such as aggressive call-to-action buttons. Create graphics simply for the sake of messaging support and providing avenues for assistance. Good design is clean and honest design.

3
Definitions of brand success will be changing.

As the pandemic continues indefinitely, the political arena changes, and users’ values and concerns fluctuate, it is more important than ever to not be complacent. Metrics of success might need to be retooled and the data from your data-driven design should be reevaluated. Always be asking, “What is the brand doing for us right now, and is that the right thing?”

What does this mean for your brand design?

Constantly evolve. While completing a design have another ready for A/B testing. Always be taking the pulse of the user. Success will be defined by the brands that don’t just weather out the storm but that change with it.

Overall solution.

This is far from a comprehensive list. The future of your brand and its design is a complex machine with many moving parts. Having the right leadership in place is paramount to its success. Be sure your leadership is nimble, has high-quality experience, and uses skills to move your brand forward. Someone like Steve Hennessey. The word is he would make an excellent Director of Brand Design at Fastly. Click on the links below to see his portfolio.