Humankind have been using symbols and images for eons as a way to express themselves, tell a story and evoke emotion. Fast forward to 2022 and nothing much has changed in this regard. The power of symbolism and imagery in design to inspire, influence or (on the darker end of the spectrum) control individuals has been well known. Advertising and Propaganda for either good or bad has been a powerful tool for much of the last century. What does all this history have to do with your brand?

 If you know what you want your customer to feel about your brand and you are able to effectively communicate this and evoke that particular emotion then the success of your brand is virtually guaranteed. In a nutshell, good design does matter. This doesn’t mean that your product and service doesn’t matter, it absolutely does, but having a brand that supports and inspires your product or service, that builds trust, grabs attention and cuts through all the other noise in the market place will have you heads and shoulders above your competitors and ensure your story gets maximum impact.

 As a creative agency, the primary goal is to work with clients to understand their unique brand story and then communicate this through a series of visual cues, messaging and brand assets. A very big part of this communication is evoking emotion and there are a few core emotions that are considered. Do you want to communicate and evoke joy and happiness so that customers associate your product and service with these emotions. Coca Cola have done this brilliantly with their advertising  campaign Coke is Life! Or their other tagline Open a Coke, Open Happiness! Coke have been building this positive brand image for decades and have resulted in a mega successful global brand.

Maybe the emotion to be evoked is fear and anger or fear and disgust. These emotions are powerful drivers of behaviour. Not that these emotions are used to associate your product and service with these negative emotions but to reassure your customer base that you understand their pain and that your product or service can help you avoid or eliminate this from their life. The Quit Smoking campaigns run by the NSW Government were a great example of the use of fear and disgust. Images of victims of smoking breathing through throat tubes or with missing or gangrenous fingers and toes sent a powerful message on the dangers of tobacco and smoking.

There are many other emotions graphic designers and creative agencies use when communicating powerful messaging or brand stories. Whether its surprise or anticipation or trust and loyalty, one thing is certain, emotion and connection is a powerful tool when it comes to your company brand story. It takes the skill and expertise of an experienced branding agency to understand how best to evoke emotion and make this connection, its well worth the investment.