I get this question fairly frequently…. Are you familiar with VBL’s or Design Language ? – Yes of course I say, I mean why wouldn’t I be familiar, but then I realize that less experienced designers don’t often know too much about this subject, and even more seasoned designers can overlook the the importance of it or even the relative sensitivity of clients or others.

In simple terms Design Language is the art of communicating without spoken words. It connect the aesthetic to the manufacturer/ brand , and controls objective values and subjective ideas. When done correctly it can make the consumer feel unequivocally like “this is the one for me”

Why?

Design Language is critically important for companies that already have existing products , a line of products already selling so to speak. On a visceral level consumers connect the “look” of a product with a particular brand. They then connect the brand with buying attributes, ie cheap, quality, hi tech, durable and so on.
We have often heard a comment such as “that’s a great Honda”, later to find out it was a KIA but we were mistaken because a key element like headlight style had been copied from Honda and applied to a Kia model. That’s the power…applying Honda values (and mis use) of Design Language. Another classic example is a Apple with its clean minimal looks, consistent use of simple colors and finishes make an Apple product identifiable at a glance. We can all find copies of this look on amazon, where manufacturers are trying to ride on the tail coats of Apple’s quality and brand, yet providing technically inferior products at lower prices.

This is all current talk, identifying brands by existing Design Language, But as designers, the DNA / Language is important for the “future” design… how do you evolve the design without loosing what makes a BMW a BMW? I mention BMW because there was a bit of controversy recently on the styling of their new M3 where an element near the rear wheel was not deemed as “BMW” enough or even the controversy of the grille redesign of 2021.

BMW defends controversial new styling language

New creation or evolution?

In many ways, creating from scratch is the easiest and cleanest because you have no baggage to consider. You can start from a blank page, understand the value and create a pure design language that can then be applied. This however is rarely the case, as companies often have history.
Evolution is not bad per se, but can be tricky as you have to proverbially “trre the elastoplast off” so to speak. This leads to the BMW type criticism, where you always are walking a tight balancing line of new and old.
I have done both, worked with new identities and refreshed existing languages. Ultimately the choice is for the client on how far to leap.

How do we create a design language?

Creating a design language mainly falls on a Designer, but the best thought out works involve heavy input and collaboration from Product Managers, Category Managers and business leaders to influence the role of designer. Good designers naturally look for a starting place, and that normally starts with meaning and understanding the root or the Why cause. We know that design can express different sensed attributes like strong, delicate, intricate…etc so one challenge is what exactly do we want to express? This aspect of deciding on what is important and what is already conveyed is often the most difficult, as non designers often have a hard time linking sensed attributes to descriptive words.
There is no hard and fast process, but the steps below allow you to understand and consider what is in a Design DNA / Language document and how to get there.

A look internally:

• What values do we want to express?
• What values are already established?
• What aspects do we already communicate?
• How does the current product or marketing express the values now?
• Re establish the company and brand value
• Where did our product come from?

A look externally:

• Who do we compete with?
• How do they win? or not
• What role does trend play?
• What role does technology play?
• What do consumers expect?
• What’s appropriate to the market?
• What are the design and visual trends?
  What are the market / category factors shaping things?

A look at the consumer:

• Who is our consumer / customer?
• Where are they headed and what is pulling them there?
• What are the design and visual trends affecting them?
• What is influencing the consumer?

Creation

• the crux! – Design time to synthesize and generate design elements

Documentation

• Values & Vision
• History
• Statement of unique offering
• Target / Persona
• Design Principals
• Design Elements
• Materials, Texture, Color
• Graphics
• Inspiration
• Examples

What makes a good design language?

Critically, what does make a good language? If you ask specific disciplines, the sales guy will say a Good Language drives sales. An engineer will say a good language is one that is easy to manufacture, you get my point here. Ultimately f we have had a langauage for 10years and we look back to the overarching pillars that made it successful, these will be them:

Longevity

The test of time is the ultimate measure. Often companies have good intention of updating the design language, say every 5 years. But we know in reality business pressures may slip this. That’s why in my experience a good design language has to have legs and thinking built in for longevity. It needs to last more than a year!

Appropriateness

If all goes well and a designer / team do their jobs then the language produced should be spot on and appropriate to market, category, industry and consumer set. To the insider this may look / feel a little risky as teams are often very sensitive to change. But remember that, externally it would be considered moderately progressive. Which means it will be attractive, appealing and stand the test of time, back to point 1.

Thoroughness

This is stating the obvious 🙂 , but as an outsider or new person you may not realize what you need or the depth needed. This comes with working with a professional that has insight and experience. They have the ability to provide a deep level of thoroughness and depth, which in the long-term will make product and brand creation easier and cause less confusion.

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I hope you found this article useful, if you need any help with Design languages or any questions please drop them in the comments box below or drop me a mail at jbucky1@gmail.com