Eton
October 1, 2018, 8:49pm
4
Yes, We used to get hired to make them quite frequently when I was at frog. Since I went out on my own a couple of years ago I’ve done several. It is frequently called a Design Language System (DLS). Typically when we do them I like to do the following in the research phase:
Internal stakeholder interviews
Then recap all of this in a 1-2 day workshop with key project owners.
Next we will visualize all of the critical elements of the DLS and frequently do several “Reference Designs” in the language (sometimes just sketches, sometimes all the way through appearance models depending on the client.
The final DLS document (usually a hard bound printed book, sometimes called a playbook, distributed to the team and key vendors) typically contains the following:
Brand story
It can be difficult to find to find examples of these documents as they are not typically publicly distributed. When done well it can be so much easier to align things. At my last company we made them for each brand and were able to hand them off to everyone all the way to ad agencies and trade show booth design/build vendors. It got everything aligned much faster and helps the brand have one voice.
Typically the process takes 3-4 months depending on the willingness of the organization. In my experience the most important thing is to have ownership from the internal teams at the onset. They have to want to implement it.
Michael- That’s super helpful. You are a fountain of knowledge as always! What have been some of the most helpful components and implementations you’ve used? Was there anything that made your vendors more open to adopting the new line of thinking?