Have you ever heard of brand engram? Engram is actual physical location of memory in our brain, it is a memory trace. Omuus key focus is to design for brand engrams. This empowers brands to have memorable connections to consumers by designing with sensitivity to the shape, finish and to combine different materials focusing on every aspect of the digital and physical experience. These aspects consist of the sense of weight, touch, texture, visual stimulation, sound and scent.

Omuus was invited to Turkey Design Week as a guest panelist to speak about strong brand. Companies should think more, how to build a strong brand through the experience driven design. Therefore, we wanted to share our thoughts with you about brand engram through couple case studies.

 

1st case study Nokia:

We all share the brand engram of the memory how Nokia looks & feels. Omuus industrial designer Pekka Majanen industrial design for Nokia 8800 is a perfect example of brand engram. The iconic design was part of creating the most loved brand in the world at its time due to it’s premium experience.

We design for the 7 seconds that is studied for a consumer to make a judgement how the product feels, the weight, the materials and the construction. The judgement is about the brand promise, and the trustworthiness of the product.

In 2013 our team members were part of driving one strong global Industrial & CMF design strategy across the portfolio. The Lumia concepting was all about statement of form, color & material being inseparable from one another. Our brief was to have pure, seamless industrial design with premium plastic to design a single color and material palette, less than 15 colors to create distinct brand identity.  It’s not about one color, it’s about choice, confident and distinct character.

2nd case study Arcelik IOT smart home assistant:

This has been a true privilege for us, to be working with Arcelik R&D and design specialists, to create a smart device that is designed for home environments. Here is link to product experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yp1EC5lsW2o

Technology is all around us. People are drawn to familiar things and we need to design for human experiences, to make technology approachable. Our promise is to humanize technology. People will want to be in touch with things that touches them, and moves them. It is time for companies to get in touch with the consumer.

Today it is so important for brands to manage the mood. Brands are targeting the emotions of the consumers in various mediums. It is truly about designing for the experiences, to design for the brand engram. The new desire to reconnect with things that really touches us physically or emotionally. How do products feel and how should they feel? Enhancing sensoriality in both physical and digital realms. These aspects lead to mood making moments and mood making experiences. Products and intervals need to calm energies through color, texture, light and shape. These are the fundamentals where we can intervene. In the end of the day emotion sells.

Sensoriality in design with surfaces that engage and provide advanced functionality is very
progressive. We want to improve the quality of life by using ingredients, finishes and materials that are providing the sensoriality and healthiness, without toxicity. From within to the outside, from the people to the planet. Consumers are increasingly investing in brands that do good, invest to sustainable methods and are transparent in production, companies that give back to the communities.