Advertising and design must work together for creative magic

Harmony and unity elevate design on the page but off it too. Indeed, collaboration throughout the creative process is the key to great work, Bruce Duckworth writes.

 I remember David Turner arriving in our London studio with one of the first iPhones, and its box, a few days after the launch in 2007. And I remember being blown away by it. By the design of the phone, of course, and by the whole experience of using it, but also by the box, and the slow, almost pneumatic way it closed, and opened, and by the way everything was laid out inside, and by the materials, and finishes, and the photography, and the typography, and by the line: "Designed by Apple in California." Because, of course, that was what it was: design, at its best, with every design discipline contributing something deeply empathetic and attractive to the success of the whole.

Ten years on, in the world that the iPhone opened up, it’s hard to think of a modern, successful brand that’s not putting design at the centre.

Because design is central to our experience of brands today. It’s the bit of the brand that we are most familiar with, and that brands are known for and famous for. Think about a modern brand and you think about design – marks, interfaces, objects. And there is huge power in this stuff when you get it right. A power that can play out across the brand. And across culture.

And people like design. In a way that they don’t like other kinds of marketing. People take design into their homes and into their lives. They pin it and post it and share it. And they like the good stuff. A visual age means visual literacy. And people today are looking for the photogenic, the carefully-put-together and the original. And rejecting the antisocial, the sell and the mediocre. Which is good news for everyone who values creative excellence.

And design opportunities are everywhere. Brands are more productive than ever. More creative than ever. And marketers are taking a broader view of media than ever. An anything-and-everything view of media. And they are looking again at every aspect of the experience – from drinks coasters to the architecture of the visitor centre – with a view to making it better, making it remarkable. And when you step back and look at all this, all the stuff that brands are doing, so much of it is design.

"People like design. In a way that they don't like other kinds of marketing. People take design into their homes and into their lives"

So we are seeing what feels like a generational shift towards design. A rise in design opportunities. A shift towards design at its most likeable, pinnable and social. And finally a real excitement about the core of the experience, and the things that brands are known for, and the latent power of this.

But perhaps what is most exciting is that it’s not just the artisan coffee roasters and tech start-ups that are taking design seriously, it’s the biggest brands in the world. Coke, Samsung, Levi’s, MillerCoors, Burger King. Every one of our clients has a real enthusiasm for, and a commitment to, design excellence. And this was unthinkable ten years ago.

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