Identity?
- Jan 30, 2024
- 3 min read
Brand Identity. It's a really interesting subject. My understanding of the subject, from a design perspective, is key features that are visible across an entire company or product range. What examples of design features can you think of from brands...?
Here are a few I immediately think of:
All great examples of brand identity but the company I am going to focus on today is SharkNinja. Now I have plenty of experience with this brand so I believe it is a great vessel for me to talk about the importance of brand identity implementation for designers. I have been to their offices in London, I have done teardowns of their products in University and I own a few Ninja items myself.
I think the best way to go about this is to play a game I like to call "Reverse Spot the Difference". Essentially the game is about finding things that are the same in different products. Do you want to play...? Yes? Let's get into it then.
See anything? Well, I certainly do! The first and most obvious one is the chrome-plated and embossed Ninja Logo on every single product. This is a staple of both Shark and Ninja and allows for both product ranges to be instantly recognizable by the consumer. The fact that it is chrome evokes a sense of quality and luxury that I don't think sits right with the SharkNinja value proposition. SharkNinja products arent thought of as luxury so I feel as thought this material choice is slightly out of touch.
Here is the Shark and Ninja range showing off their chrome logos:
Now the second thing I noticed was the consistency of user interface and touch points across the Ninja range. Just look at the touchpads used to control the product... they are all the same:
I think this is great! It allows the user to become comfortable with the interface of one product. When they see another Ninja product with the same interface and touchpoints they will be much more likely to buy it as they will already understand how to interact with it. The position of the buttons, the feel of the touchpoints, the size of the dials, and even the fonts used all make the product intuitive for users of various Ninja products. This will encourage consumers to have a "Ninja kitchen", where everything is Ninja, as everything will be interactable in the same way.
Now I want to look at the Shark range for round 2 of "Reverse Spot the Difference":
The first thing I notice is the use of symmetric design. To demonstrate this let's draw a wee line vertically down the middle of some of those vacumes.
Look at that! Now, I believe that there is a time and a place for both asymmetric and symmetric design, however, I think that symmetry in the context of vacuum clears is smart. It gives a sense of simplicity to what, many people believe, is a simple product. It makes it digestible for the viewer. Just look at them... you can tell straight away what that product is and most importantly, what it does!
The next thing I noticed was those exaggerated air vents:
I can get what Shark is trying to do with the design here. They want their vacuum cleaners to say, "Hey! Look how good my performance is! I have big air vents!". I am not sure if that is exactly what a vacuum cleaner would say but hey ho. It does convey that message well, regardless of the actual performance ratings of the product. However, I think it does take away from the simplistic look that the symmetric design language is trying to convey. There is a balance to it and I think, for a lot of these products, there is a stronger focus on aggressive performance-enhancing features than simplicity.
Now, every company has some sort of brand identity in their designs but I think SharkNinja is a great example of how this can be used over a massive portfolio of different products. I mean it must be effective. SharkNinja is one of the fastest-growing home appliance companies in the world. I bet their brand identity has something to do with that!
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